Phys.org news
Phys.org / Compact flat-lens system can generate nondiffracting bottle beams
Most laser sources produce Gaussian beams that diverge as they propagate. This natural spreading limits their effectiveness in applications that require light to remain concentrated over long distances. To overcome this challenge, ...
Phys.org / Protostars 'sneeze' and produce rings of gas and magnetic flux as they grow
Researchers have uncovered new insights into the early development of baby stars. As published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, a research team from Kyushu University and Kagawa University reports that during the early ...
Phys.org / Backyard birdwatchers help scientists uncover what hawks really like to eat
Anyone who keeps a bird feeder has likely had the same uneasy thought after seeing a sudden blur of wings in the yard: What was that hawk doing here?
Phys.org / Watering smarter, not more: A modern-day robotic divining rod
Advanced technology can help farmers get to the root of a growing problem—overwatering in an era of increasing drought and water scarcity. A new UC Riverside system can map soil moisture tree by tree, so growers water only ...
Phys.org / Engineered E. coli dependency may help contain microbes to defined areas
Take a typical fish out of the water and it won't live long. It gets the oxygen it needs from the water it swims in. In a similar way, scientists are exploring dependency as a method of controlling what microbes can do and ...
Phys.org / Rudeness may be rewarded—as a response to rudeness
If you don't have anything nice to say, perhaps it's OK to say it anyway—if responding to someone who has treated you or your team rudely, new Cornell research suggests. Civil responses to disrespectful behavior remain the ...
Phys.org / Tiny frogs prefer concrete apartments over wooden shelters
James Cook University researchers have tested frog housing and nursery preferences in the Wet Tropics rainforest of North Queensland, with frogs finding the thermal regulation of concrete shelters to be the perfect tropical ...
Phys.org / Male fish lose their learning edge in drug-polluted waters, research reveals
A common antidepressant detected in rivers and streams worldwide is disrupting how fish learn, and the impact is strikingly one-sided. New research led by Monash University shows the drug amitriptyline impairs spatial learning ...
Phys.org / A global carbon credit program risks rewarding the wrong behavior
A United Nations-backed framework for protecting tropical forests could allow governments to collect income from carbon credits without advancing forest conservation. The weakness lies in how the program calculates baselines, ...
Phys.org / Software package makes gene regulation easier to study—and tweak
Understanding how genes are switched on and off in specific cell types remains one of biology's central challenges. While AI has made major progress in decoding the regulatory logic of DNA, applying these approaches across ...
Phys.org / UV light method offers repeat recycling for acrylic plastics without the environmental cost
A breakthrough method for chemically recycling acrylic—one of the world's most widely used plastics—has been developed by researchers at the University of Bath. In contrast to conventional mechanical recycling, this method ...
Phys.org / AI turns electron microscopy into materials insights in minutes
An electron microscopy image can capture atoms arranged in a crystal lattice or defects threading through a semiconductor material, but turning that image into materials insight can take weeks of careful analysis. Now, an ...