Phys.org news
Phys.org / Quantum optics may turn this rare visual phenomenon into an eye test
Modern life depends on quantum physics. It makes technologies such as GPS navigation, MRI scanners and computer chips possible. Now, the same science may also lead to a new way to test the health of our eyes. A University ...
Phys.org / Medieval Islamic societies considered lovesickness a distinct mental illness, research shows
Lovesickness was taken seriously as a distinct mental illness by physicians in the medieval Islamic world, new research shows. Islamic scholars considered lovesickness, which they called ʿishq, to be different from melancholy—unlike ...
Phys.org / Observing oscillations, flares and tornados on the sun
For six and a half days in July 2024, the balloon-borne solar observatory Sunrise III kept its gaze fixed on the sun. The stratospheric flight, which stretched from the northernmost tip of Sweden to Canada's Northwest Territories, ...
Phys.org / Heat waves push tropical forests past photosynthesis limits across 57 million hectares
As heat waves continue one after another, we are feeling their effects on our own bodies: It becomes harder for us to function normally. Trees also have their limits when temperatures are too high. Above a certain critical ...
Phys.org / Transparent nanosheets could shrink phone cameras while preserving high-resolution color images
Researchers at Nagoya University in Japan have developed gallium-doped zinc oxide (GZO) nanosheets that may enhance camera resolution in compact devices, including smartphones and medical endoscopes.
Phys.org / Krill buildup could slow fin whale filter-feeding unless baleen stays 15% clear
Usually there's safety in numbers, but it doesn't always work that way. Fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) filter-feed on immense shoals of krill, engulfing colossal mouthfuls of water containing up to 144 kg of the crustaceans. ...
Phys.org / The ghost in Orion's shell: Hydrogen maps show repeated stellar feedback sculpted around Orion Nebula
An international team led by Juan Diego Soler at the University of Vienna used two of the world's most powerful radio telescopes to uncover previously hidden structures within the Orion Nebula. The project produced the sharpest ...
Phys.org / Newborn stars preserve organic-rich gas within ancient supernova debris
For the first time, astronomers have discovered stellar cocoons rich in complex organic molecules within a supernova remnant. A research team from Niigata University, Gifu University, RIKEN and Kyoto University in Japan used ...
Phys.org / Fish DNA and 10,000 crystals rewrite Colorado River's Grand Canyon origin story
For more than 150 years, scientists have debated when and how the Colorado River first carved its way through the Grand Canyon. Now, a new study led by researchers at the University of New Mexico offers evidence that the ...
Phys.org / Fast charging can cause irreversible lithium migration in solid-state batteries
Solid-state batteries are often viewed as a promising path toward safer and more powerful energy storage. However, one key question has remained difficult to answer: How does lithium actually move inside the solid materials ...
Phys.org / Young giant gas planet Beta Pic B refuses to reveal its origin
The young planetary system of the 23-million-year-old star Beta Pictoris (short: Beta Pic) is regarded as an iconic circumstellar dust disk, which hosts at least three giant gas planets. Discovered in 2008 by direct imaging, ...
Phys.org / Self-propelled microparticles scrub stubborn biofilms, improving wound care and instrument cleaning
Newly developed microparticles can infiltrate stubborn bacterial matrices and release tiny oxygen bubbles to clean surfaces and wounds more efficiently than hydrogen peroxide or other cleaning agents alone, researchers at ...
