Phys.org news

Phys.org / Analysis reveals interhemispheric thermal imbalance as key to Asian-Australian monsoon variability

The Asian-Australian monsoon system (A-AuMS) is the world's most typical cross-equatorial coupled monsoon system. On a seasonal timescale, the summer monsoon in one hemisphere is usually linked to the winter monsoon in the ...

Feb 4, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / DIVE multi-agent workflow streamlines hydrogen storage materials discovery

Developing new materials can involve a dizzying amount of trial and error for different configurations and elements. Artificial intelligence (AI) has seen a surge of popularity in energy materials research for its potential ...

Feb 4, 2026 in Chemistry
Phys.org / From single queens to mega-colonies: How ant societies are shaped by the environment

A single queen in the tropics; large colonies in deserts; workers with uniform morphology in temperate regions; ant social structures vary according to environmental conditions. This is shown, for the first time at a global ...

Feb 4, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / From sea to space: Turning the tide on microplastic pollution with satellite technology

What do microplastics, water color, and satellites have in common? Dr. Karl Kaiser, professor of marine and coastal environmental science in the College of Marine Sciences and Maritime Studies at Texas A&M University at Galveston ...

Feb 4, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / Orange, camphor-smelling solid could be a key to the next generation grid-storage batteries

An orange solid with a camphor-like odor has helped aqueous zinc-iodide batteries move a large step closer to supplying safe and economic grid and household energy storage.

Feb 4, 2026 in Chemistry
Phys.org / Friendly bacteria can unlock hidden metabolic pathways in plant cell cultures

Plants are a rich and renewable source of compounds used in medicines, food ingredients, and cosmetics. Since growing an entire plant just to extract a few specific compounds is rather inefficient, scientists are turning ...

Feb 4, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Hard to recycle packaging? This glue could let plastics peel apart on cue

Newcastle University engineers are at the forefront of adhesive technology that promises to change how we recycle. They have developed a reversible glue that sticks things together like any other glue but can debond on demand. ...

Feb 4, 2026 in Chemistry
Phys.org / Cracking the rules of gene regulation with experimental elegance and AI

Gene regulation is far more predictable than previously believed, scientists conclude after developing the deep learning model PARM. This might bring an end to a scientific mystery: how genes know when to switch on or off.

Feb 4, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Hadean zircons reveal crust recycling and continent formation more than 4 billion years ago

Parts of ancient Earth may have formed continents and recycled crust through subduction far earlier than previously thought. New research led by scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison has uncovered chemical signatures ...

Feb 4, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / Researchers uncover a one-hour 'crown' checkpoint that enables malaria reproduction

A new study has uncovered a hidden step that helps the deadliest malaria parasite survive and multiply inside the human body. Researchers studying Plasmodium falciparum found that the parasite relies on a brief but essential ...

Feb 4, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Experiments with 1,600 volunteers link social exclusion to higher interest in gossip

Ages ago, when societies were organized around small villages, a person's security and sense of belonging depended partly on how close they were to the village chiefs and elders. If the village was attacked, those closest ...

Feb 4, 2026 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / A minimalist bacterial defense strategy: Scientists discover single protein that disrupts viral assembly

University of Toronto researchers have expanded our understanding of bacterial immunity with the discovery of a new protein that can both sense and counteract viral infections. In the study, published in Nature, researchers ...

Feb 4, 2026 in Biology