Phys.org news
Phys.org / Complexity isn't subjective—the right amount results in new material properties
Complexity may seem subjective, but a quantitative measure of the complexity of nanomaterials was recently developed by a team of researchers from the University of Michigan Engineering, the University of Southern California ...
Phys.org / Extraterrestrial life may be slipping past space missions, astrobiologists warn
Suppose there are signs of extraterrestrial life and we have not yet been able to detect them. What does that mean? In Nature Astronomy, researchers discuss the consequences of these so-called false-negative results. "We ...
Phys.org / Unusual nonlinear thermoelectric effect appears in chiral tellurium, confirming theoretical predictions
An unusual thermoelectric effect has been observed in the semiconductor tellurium by RIKEN physicists for the first time. This demonstration points to the potential of similar materials to be used in applications such as ...
Dialog / A new light-based sensor could help make ultrasensitive disease testing more portable
When we think about highly sensitive medical testing, we often imagine a hospital laboratory filled with large instruments, trained technicians, and carefully controlled conditions. This is especially true for optical biosensing, ...
Phys.org / Wildlife is watching us, too—and changing behavior in response
A new large-scale study led by a research team from the Yale Center for Biodiversity and Global Change has found that wildlife responds not only to how humans reshape their habitats, but also to the simple presence of humans—and ...
Phys.org / NASA's AWE instrument completes mission to study Earth's effect on space weather
On May 21, ground controllers powered down NASA's AWE (Atmospheric Waves Experiment) instrument, bringing the data collection phase of the mission to a successful and scheduled end, surpassing its planned two-year mission.
Phys.org / Astronomers de-fog exoplanet atmospheres with new cloud-detecting method
Sand clouds form every morning but clear up by nightfall on WASP-94A b, a well-studied gas giant in a constellation located nearly 700 light years away from Earth. Using data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), research ...
Phys.org / Evolutionary arms race stretches hawkmoths and flowers to extremes
Long before his days of research, Christian Couch was just a kid marveling at the butterflies in the Florida Museum of Natural History's Butterfly Rainforest. Years later, after enrolling as an undergraduate student at the ...
Phys.org / Dual-atom fuel cell catalysts break single-peak rule, exposing two optima
Researchers have uncovered a new principle that could accelerate the development of cheaper and more efficient fuel cells by revealing how dual-atom catalysts behave during a key energy conversion reaction. The study, led ...
Phys.org / Television news coverage of climate policy is limited and polarized in the US, study finds
Two-thirds of Americans want action on climate change, but people vastly underestimate public support for climate solutions and policy. Historically, U.S. news outlets overrepresented views on climate change that went against ...
Phys.org / Ice core discovery finds volcanic eruptions could cause greater global disruption than previously thought
New research from the University of St Andrews has precisely dated an eruption from Newberry Volcano and discovered that its ash spread more than 5,000 km across the globe, far further than previously thought for an eruption ...
Phys.org / AI-designed miniproteins switch key cell receptors on and off
G protein-coupled receptors, or GPCRs, sit in the plasma membrane, the boundary that defines the inside and outside of a living cell. They communicate with nearly every physiological process in our bodies—from the ability ...
