Phys.org news
Phys.org / Orange, camphor-smelling solid could be a key to the next generation grid-storage batteries
An orange solid with a camphor-like odor has helped aqueous zinc-iodide batteries move a large step closer to supplying safe and economic grid and household energy storage.
Phys.org / Platinum nanostructure sensor can differentiate mirror-image volatile scent compounds
Terpenes are volatile organic compounds that are responsible for, among other things, the typical scents of plants, resins or citrus fruits. These compounds occur naturally in the environment and influence chemical processes ...
Phys.org / How lipid nanoparticles carrying vaccines release their cargo
A study from FAU has shown that lipid nanoparticles restructure their membrane significantly after being absorbed into a cell and ending up in an acidic environment. Vaccines and other medicines are often packed in little ...
Phys.org / From single queens to mega-colonies: How ant societies are shaped by the environment
A single queen in the tropics; large colonies in deserts; workers with uniform morphology in temperate regions; ant social structures vary according to environmental conditions. This is shown, for the first time at a global ...
Phys.org / From sea to space: Turning the tide on microplastic pollution with satellite technology
What do microplastics, water color, and satellites have in common? Dr. Karl Kaiser, professor of marine and coastal environmental science in the College of Marine Sciences and Maritime Studies at Texas A&M University at Galveston ...
Phys.org / DIVE multi-agent workflow streamlines hydrogen storage materials discovery
Developing new materials can involve a dizzying amount of trial and error for different configurations and elements. Artificial intelligence (AI) has seen a surge of popularity in energy materials research for its potential ...
Phys.org / Friendly bacteria can unlock hidden metabolic pathways in plant cell cultures
Plants are a rich and renewable source of compounds used in medicines, food ingredients, and cosmetics. Since growing an entire plant just to extract a few specific compounds is rather inefficient, scientists are turning ...
Phys.org / Analysis reveals interhemispheric thermal imbalance as key to Asian-Australian monsoon variability
The Asian-Australian monsoon system (A-AuMS) is the world's most typical cross-equatorial coupled monsoon system. On a seasonal timescale, the summer monsoon in one hemisphere is usually linked to the winter monsoon in the ...
Phys.org / Hadean zircons reveal crust recycling and continent formation more than 4 billion years ago
Parts of ancient Earth may have formed continents and recycled crust through subduction far earlier than previously thought. New research led by scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison has uncovered chemical signatures ...
Phys.org / Cracking the rules of gene regulation with experimental elegance and AI
Gene regulation is far more predictable than previously believed, scientists conclude after developing the deep learning model PARM. This might bring an end to a scientific mystery: how genes know when to switch on or off.
Phys.org / Hard to recycle packaging? This glue could let plastics peel apart on cue
Newcastle University engineers are at the forefront of adhesive technology that promises to change how we recycle. They have developed a reversible glue that sticks things together like any other glue but can debond on demand. ...
Phys.org / A minimalist bacterial defense strategy: Scientists discover single protein that disrupts viral assembly
University of Toronto researchers have expanded our understanding of bacterial immunity with the discovery of a new protein that can both sense and counteract viral infections. In the study, published in Nature, researchers ...