Phys.org news
Phys.org / Trees cover rock, eventually: Study maps how bare Georgia bedrock turns into forest
In the forests of the southeastern United States, dense tree cover dominates most landscapes. That's why the Appalachian Trail is sometimes nicknamed "The Green Tunnel." But avid hikers know that often in the Southeast, they'll ...
Phys.org / Chemists rapidly assemble fusicoccadiene, a complex fungal molecule tied to cancer research
A Florida State University chemist has developed a method to rapidly assemble significantly complex natural molecules with potential for biomedical applications, opening the door for novel drug therapies based on the molecule's ...
Phys.org / Feral horses and cattle create more resilient nature, rewilding study reveals
Protected natural areas across Europe are changing. Climate change, with rising temperatures and heavy rainfall, is turbocharging the growth of shrubs and trees, choking the flowers and insects that need the light and heat ...
Phys.org / Physicists discover long-predicted 'clock magnetism' in an atomically thin crystal
Strange things happen to materials when you peel them down, layer by layer, from thick chunks all the way to sheets just an atom thick. Reporting in the journal Nature Materials, a team led by physicists at The University ...
Phys.org / First 3D reconstruction of the face of 'Little Foot' completed
Identified as the most complete Australopithecus fossil discovered to date, "Little Foot" was buried in sediments whose movement and weight caused fractures and deformations, making analysis of its skull—and more particularly ...
Phys.org / Large land predators were hunting big plant-eaters more than 280 million years ago, study finds
A study examining fossil evidence shows that large land predators were already hunting big plant-eating animals more than 280 million years ago. University of Toronto Mississauga researchers Jordan M. Young, Tea Maho, and ...
Phys.org / 3D-printed 'plug' links fiber optics to photonic chips with low loss
Physicists and chemists at Heidelberg University have realized a photonic microchip that is driven by light just as easily as electronic components via a "plug." Their development could serve as the basis for fast and cost-effective ...
Phys.org / 'Old Mother Goose' challenges a 14-million-year lineage story in New Zealand
The discovery of a rare fossil goose in an ancient Central Otago lake shows the evolutionary history of Aotearoa New Zealand birds is much more dynamic than once thought, a University of Otago–Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka researcher ...
Phys.org / Dissolvable hydrogel could enable personalized bone implants
Bones broken in a skiing accident usually heal on their own. But if the break is too severe or a bone tumor needs to be removed, surgeons insert an implant that enables the bone to grow back together. Implants often consist ...
Phys.org / Are these killer whales cannibals? They probably don't think so themselves
In 2022, a Russian whale researcher made a remarkable discovery on Bering Island off Russia's Pacific coast: a severed killer whale fin marked with the teeth of another killer whale. In 2024, it happened again. The two finds ...
Phys.org / MeerKAT discovers record-breaking cosmic laser halfway across the universe
Astronomers using the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa have discovered the most distant hydroxyl megamaser ever detected. It is located in a violently merging galaxy more than 8 billion light-years away, opening a ...
Phys.org / Agrivoltaics can increase or reduce yields and profits, depending on the crop and where the systems are deployed
In a world where increasing demands for food security and energy strain existing resources, scientists are looking for new ways to maximize both. One potential option, agrivoltaics, integrates solar photovoltaics with crops. ...
