Phys.org news

Phys.org / AI and 'Ramanomics' could eliminate a major obstacle to studying living cells

Fluorescent dyes have long been used in biological research to identify and visualize structures within living cells. Although effective, they have several drawbacks, including altering the cells under study, limiting the ...

Aug 6, 2026
Phys.org / Your next handbag could start with mushrooms

The search for leather alternatives has led researchers somewhere unexpected: fungi. Although traditional leather is durable, producing it requires animal agriculture, which carries negative environmental impacts. Meanwhile, ...

Aug 6, 2026
Phys.org / First metabolically activated molecular glue degrader may target cancer cells under oxidative stress

Investigators at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have developed a platform for systematically discovering molecular glues that could become protein degradation drug candidates. The platform could help drug developers dramatically ...

Aug 6, 2026
Phys.org / Light-activated nanoparticles could help surgeons find and destroy brain cancer remnants

Glioblastoma is the most aggressive form of brain cancer. It's difficult to treat because tumor cells infiltrate the surrounding brain tissue, making it hard for surgeons to remove the cancer completely without damaging healthy ...

Aug 6, 2026
Phys.org / Earthquake sensors can help forecast how hurricanes intensify

Stanford researchers have shown that instruments primarily used to understand earthquakes can capture key details about hurricanes, helping meteorologists better predict how storms will evolve and intensify.

Aug 6, 2026
Phys.org / Random physics helps model individual ant motion

Ants make up one of the most diverse groups of animals on the planet, with many species boasting remarkable physical abilities and social behaviors, and an overall species richness that far exceeds that of mammals. Various ...

Aug 6, 2026
Phys.org / Sizing errors can hide true nanoparticle behavior

Nanoscience, which studies small objects, has a big problem. According to a team of scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the field confronts a pervasive data analysis error that can give ...

Aug 6, 2026
Phys.org / Fluorescent nanosensors help distinguish between healthy and diseased immune cells in blood samples

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and SciLifeLab have developed a new method to analyze the condition of immune cells in the blood. The method has been tested on patients with atherosclerosis and can distinguish their ...

Aug 6, 2026
Phys.org / Interlocking molecular propellers create stable 'islands' in artificial lipid membranes

Cells are enclosed by a cell membrane, a sophisticated structure mainly made of lipids that is vital for fundamental biological processes. Artificial lipid membranes have many practical applications, such as drug delivery, ...

Aug 6, 2026
Phys.org / Neanderthal growth hormone receptor increases muscle mass in people today, study shows

Neanderthals were generally more strongly built than most people living today. Their bones show signs of large muscles, and they had characteristic features such as prominent brow ridges and relatively short tooth roots.

Aug 5, 2026
Phys.org / Two origins of life: Free-living cells may have emerged twice as bacteria and archaea diverged

How and where did the first forms of life arise? These are the main questions driving research at the Institute of Molecular Evolution at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU). In a new publication in Science Advances, ...

Aug 5, 2026
Phys.org / Runaway supermassive black hole RBH-1 offers new way to reconstruct ancient merger

Black holes are fascinating regions in space where gravity is so strong that nothing, even light, can escape them. The largest known black holes, called supermassive black holes, contain millions to billions of times the ...

Aug 5, 2026