Phys.org news
Phys.org / Synchrotron X-rays uncover hidden protein binding sites, enabling two new functions
Using bright X-rays from the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), researchers pioneered an innovative approach to designing proteins with targeted ...
Phys.org / No more guesswork in drug design—atomic-resolution method exposes what trial and error keep missing
Drug discovery still too often relies on expensive trial and error. Researchers from ICTER show there is another way—building molecules step by step and observing their behavior at atomic resolution. This approach could significantly ...
Phys.org / Climate change increases spillover risk of rodent-borne arenaviruses, study warns
Climate change is likely to drive rodent-borne arenaviruses into parts of South America that have never faced these diseases, putting new communities of people at risk, finds a study from the University of California, Davis. ...
Phys.org / Hidden risk pushes 459 Northwest communities higher on wildfire danger scale
A new wildfire risk assessment tool that takes social vulnerability into account indicates that more than 400 communities in the Pacific Northwest are at greater risk than previously thought. However, researchers at Oregon ...
Phys.org / Louisiana's shrinking coast may offer world early guide to climate adaptation
A Tulane University-led team of interdisciplinary researchers says coastal Louisiana's climate-driven land loss and population shifts could position the state to become a global leader in planning for climate adaptation.
Phys.org / A quiet Alaska fault is missing the fluids scientists expected, and it's changing what we know about earthquake zones
Not all earthquake faults behave the same. Some stick and snap, causing earthquakes. Others move slowly over time.
Phys.org / Eucalyptus bark points the way to cleaner water and air
Eucalyptus bark, usually stripped from logs and treated as waste, could be repurposed to help clean polluted water, filter dirty air and capture carbon dioxide, according to new research from RMIT University. Researchers ...
Phys.org / The Big Bang of plant life: Discovery sheds light on how cells form walls
Cell walls are a crucial structure of plant life, protecting cells from damage, giving plants shape, and containing energy-rich nutrients. And yet the process of how the walls begin to form remains mysterious.
Phys.org / Scientists uncover beetle transport system for newly identified 'towering' nematodes
In 2025, Konstanz scientists looked very closely at rotting fruit in local orchards, and observed what no one had before—worms, hundreds of them, twisting skyward into self-assembled living structures known as "towers." It ...
Phys.org / Beam-splitting approach reveals hidden changes in vitamin B12
Researchers at European XFEL have developed a way to study liquid samples that are too dilute for many existing X-ray experiments. The method is highly sensitive, and in the first experiment a group of international scientists ...
Phys.org / Climate change is rewriting winter lakes in a way that looks completely backward at first glance
Climate change undoubtedly affects lakes and the functioning of their ecosystems, but seasonal impacts are not always straightforward. An international team of researchers from York University in Canada, the Finnish Environment ...
Phys.org / How plants make copies of themselves—key 'cloning switch' gene identified
A Hiroshima-University-led research team has discovered a key gene responsible for the initiation of gemma development, acting as a "master switch" to start asexual reproduction (cloning) in the model plant Marchantia polymorpha ...