Phys.org news

Phys.org / Despotic primate societies rarely play as adults, analysis of 37 species reveals

Although about half of primate species play as adults with other adults, a team of international researchers has just unlocked a key factor in the reason why some don't. The answer lies in the type of society in which the ...

May 12, 2026
Phys.org / Quantum circuit test finally exposes what has been warping performance

Quantum computers could someday solve pressing problems that are too convoluted for classical computers, such as modeling complex molecular interactions to streamline drug discovery and materials development.

May 12, 2026
Phys.org / Ancient bacterial toolkit links human gut health to ocean carbon cycling

Our gut is colonized by legions of bacteria, which supply us with essential nutrients and support our health. Among them are Akkermansia bacteria, which might be helpful in the management of conditions like obesity and diabetes.

May 12, 2026
Phys.org / 'Implosion carving' shrinks 3D photonic devices 2,000-fold for visible-light computing

Using a new technique that can create vacancies at any site across a material and then shrink it to about 1/2,000 of its original volume, MIT researchers have designed nanotechnology devices that could be used for optical ...

May 12, 2026
Phys.org / TIME instrument unlocks faint signals from early galaxies across vast stretches of sky

Cornell astronomers are deploying a new instrument that grants them, for the first time, a better view of the universe's earliest galaxies, which can't be observed individually with traditional ground- or space-based telescopes.

May 12, 2026
Phys.org / New tectonic plate boundary could be forming in Zambia, scientists say

Isotope analysis of gas from geothermal springs in Zambia could show that a new continental rift is forming, scientists say. Unexpectedly high helium isotope ratios indicate that a weakness in Earth's crust has broken through ...

May 12, 2026
Phys.org / Method for measuring energy amounts less than a trillionth of a billionth of a joule could boost quantum computing

The fundamentals of quantum mechanics are minuscule. Scientists constantly home in on finer resolutions to measure, quantify, and control these fundamentals, like photons that carry light and have no mass unless they are ...

May 12, 2026
Phys.org / How a single radioactive cloud caused Fukushima particle contamination

A new study shows that a single radioactive cloud was responsible for a large share of the nuclear fallout during the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster on 11 March 2011. The work is published in the Journal of Hazardous ...

May 12, 2026
Phys.org / AI surrogate accelerates nonlinear optics simulations by orders of magnitude

Simulating the nonlinear optical physics that underlies ultrafast laser systems is computationally demanding—a practical bottleneck in settings that require rapid feedback. A study by researchers at Stanford University, University ...

May 12, 2026
Phys.org / JWST maps cosmic web in record detail back to universe's first billion years

Using data from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers led by researchers at the University of California, Riverside have produced the most detailed map of the cosmic web ever made, tracing the network of galaxies ...

May 12, 2026
Phys.org / 'Calm' galaxy cluster hides a violent cosmic scene that took 4 billion years to settle

The galaxy cluster Abell 2029 is sometimes described as "the most relaxed cluster in the universe." This moniker does not arise from some sort of mellow vibe, but rather because of how calm and undisturbed the superheated ...

May 12, 2026
Phys.org / The fog is alive: Droplets host bacteria that clear toxins from our air

What if fog isn't just misty air, but a living ecosystem? This question hung over cloud researcher Thi Thuong Thuong Cao. As a Ph.D. student at Arizona State University, her curiosity led her from knocking on the doors of ...

May 12, 2026