Phys.org news

Phys.org / Human DNA can survive on cave walls for thousands of years, opening new window into prehistory

For the first time, scientists have shown that ancient human DNA can survive for thousands of years on cave walls, opening new ways to study prehistoric human activity. This interdisciplinary study was conducted within the ...

Jun 24, 2026
Phys.org / Surprising diversity found among Europe's last Neanderthals

A new study published in Nature provides the most detailed picture to date of Neanderthal diversity in Western Europe shortly before their extinction.

Jun 24, 2026
Phys.org / Sicily remained a medieval melting pot despite major political and religious upheavals, ancient DNA reveals

Sicilian populations have been genetically diverse for many centuries, and they have remained that way even through major regime changes and religious transitions, according to a study published in PLOS One by Aurore Monnereau ...

Jun 24, 2026
Phys.org / Preserving wooden heritage in the Arctic as thaw, rot and tourism converge

Historic wooden structures across Svalbard are crumbling under the combined weight of climate change and human activity. Longer, warmer, and wetter seasons fuel wood-decaying fungi, while tourism adds physical wear to sites ...

Jun 24, 2026
Phys.org / Euclid mission view of Milky Way's heart previews upcoming survey by NASA's Roman

A new look at the heart of our Milky Way galaxy by Euclid, an ESA (European Space Agency) mission with NASA contributions, overlaps with a region scientists will observe with NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, launching ...

Jun 24, 2026
Phys.org / CleanFinder brings browser-based genome editing analysis to labs without coding

Genome editing lets scientists rewrite DNA, the instruction manual inside every living cell, with a precision that was unthinkable a generation ago. Technologies such as CRISPR have made this almost routine, and its uses ...

Jun 24, 2026
Phys.org / Introducing Weather Jiu-Jitsu, a new approach to avert catastrophic weather events

In a new perspective paper, Qin Huang of Arizona State University and colleagues propose that the worst damage from extreme weather events could be prevented through Weather Jiu-Jitsu, a theory-based approach to "nudge" weather ...

Jun 24, 2026
Phys.org / A magnetic field that kills superconductivity can also bring it back

Magnetic fields are generally known to destroy superconductivity in a material. However, in exceptional cases, they can lead to what is known as "re-entrant superconductivity"—where superconductivity disappears as expected, ...

Jun 24, 2026
Phys.org / Scientists catch classical space-time crystals moving like Majorana quasiparticles

A research team from Hiroshima University, the University of Colorado, and other collaborators have demonstrated that space-time crystals—exotic structures that, under external drive, loop endlessly through both space and ...

Jun 24, 2026
Phys.org / Contagious cancer likely crossed an ocean, triggering severe outbreak in Pacific Northwest clams

Researchers have identified a severe outbreak of a rare contagious cancer in soft-shell clams in Washington state's Puget Sound and found evidence that the disease was recently introduced to the Pacific Northwest from Atlantic ...

Jun 24, 2026
Phys.org / Synthetic DNA toolkit expands scientists' ability to recognize genetic targets

A new method for recognizing and targeting DNA that dramatically expands the range of genetic sequences scientists can identify has been developed by experts at the University of Portsmouth. Published this week in Nature ...

Jun 24, 2026
Phys.org / By making key signaling molecules called β-arrestins into druggable targets, scientists crack long-standing challenge

To function normally, nearly every cell in the human body relies on G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) to receive and send signals. That's why GPCRs are targeted by roughly one-third of all FDA-approved drugs.

Jun 24, 2026