Phys.org news

Phys.org / Prussian blue goes from pigment to purification

The deep, murky pigment known as Prussian blue put the "blue" in traditional blueprints, colored Hokusai's "Great Wave off Kanagawa" and today is used for industrial purposes, from laundry to battery components to poison ...

Feb 23, 2026 in Chemistry
Phys.org / Globe-trotting ancient 'sea-salamander' fossils rediscovered from Australia's dawn of the Age of Dinosaurs

Around 250 million years ago, what is today scorching desert in remote northwestern Australia was the shore of a shallow bay bordering a vast prehistoric ocean. Fossils recovered from this region over 60 years ago, and almost ...

Feb 23, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Big broods, better manners: What a fish study suggests about siblings and social skills

For many animals, siblings are a key component of their social environment during early life. Previous research has shown that the early social environment is important, but it has not yet been clear whether the number of ...

Feb 23, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Researchers copy viral strategies to get mRNA medicines into cells in one piece

Drugs made of mRNA have the potential to transform medicine—if only they could get into cells in one piece. Now, University of Connecticut researchers have shown that packaging mRNA like a virus could smuggle it into cells ...

Feb 23, 2026 in Nanotechnology
Dialog / Bringing quantum ideas to the messy world of disordered proteins

Imagine trying to design a key for a lock that is constantly changing its shape. That is the exact challenge we face in modern drug discovery when dealing with intrinsically disordered proteins.

Feb 23, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / EPA criminal sanctions align with a county's wealth, not pollution, study finds

When the federal government brings its toughest environmental enforcement actions against polluters, they tend to be in communities of greater wealth, not the most polluted places. That's the takeaway from a new paper co-authored ...

Feb 23, 2026 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / Ultra-efficient optical sensors can keep light circulating longer inside a microscopic chip

CU Boulder researchers have built high-performing optical microresonators, opening the door for new sensor technologies. At its simplest form, a microresonator is a tiny device that can trap light and build up its intensity. ...

Feb 23, 2026 in Physics
Phys.org / Study reveals hidden climate impact of digital industries

Digital technologies are widely viewed as drivers of efficiency, growth, and innovation. However, their contribution to climate change is significantly greater than previously understood. A new study published in the journal ...

Feb 23, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / Scientists isolate climatic fingerprints of wildfires and volcanic eruptions

Volcanoes and wildfires can inject millions of tons of gases and aerosol particles into the air, affecting temperatures on a global scale. But picking out the specific impact of individual events against a background of many ...

Feb 23, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / Ultrafast X-rays reveal physical principles behind lipoprotein motion within egg yolk plasma

Egg yolk may appear runny and uniform, but on the nanoscale, it is one of the most crowded biological fluids in nature. Packed with proteins and fats, it serves as a dense storage reservoir for a developing embryo. Yet the ...

Feb 23, 2026 in Nanotechnology
Phys.org / How cells manage nitric oxide: Research uncovers dynamic 'gate' that tames powerful signaling molecule

Cornell researchers have uncovered a built-in molecular "gate" that controls the production of the molecule nitric oxide, a crucial signaling molecule throughout biology that in humans helps regulate blood pressure, brain ...

Feb 23, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / A new method reveals hidden rules of gene control

Inside every cell, thousands of molecular signals collide, overlap, and compensate, obscuring the true drivers of gene expression. Scientists have now developed a way to silence that cellular noise, revealing transcription ...

Feb 23, 2026 in Biology