Phys.org news
Phys.org / Scattered Roman bones point to potential fourth-century purge at Brading Villa
Disarticulated bones found scattered across a luxurious Roman villa on England's Isle of Wight may be evidence of a massacre carried out during a brutal political purge in the fourth century, a new study in Britannia suggests.
Phys.org / Astronomers catch 'Hatchling' quasar breaking out of its dusty cocoon
Using observations from multiple powerful telescopes, a team of astronomers studied a red quasar nicknamed "the Hatchling" at redshift 3.7. They may have identified one of the clearest examples yet of a quasar caught in transition ...
Phys.org / A new species of Ice Age toad discovered at La Brea Tar Pits: The spadefoot toad Spea labreae
For the first time, researchers have discovered a new species of extinct amphibian from Ice Age Los Angeles at La Brea Tar Pits: a spadefoot toad they have named Spea labreae. Only one other extinct Pleistocene amphibian ...
Phys.org / Were there tiny dinosaurs? New study explores one of evolution's biggest mysteries
Dinosaurs are famous for being big, from the towering Tyrannosaurus rex to the colossal Apatosaurus. But a new study published today in the journal Evolution by scientists at the American Museum of Natural History and Princeton ...
Phys.org / Backpack lab finds wastewater contamination and drug-resistant bacteria in Galápagos waters
From routine surgeries to cancer treatment, modern medicine depends on drugs that can fight infections caused by microbes such as bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites. But some microbes are becoming resistant to the drugs ...
Phys.org / Turning one of the world's most difficult plastics into premium lubricant
Virginia Tech chemist and chemical engineer Guoliang "Greg" Liu and his lab have developed a process that converts the plastic polyvinyl chloride (PVC) into polyalphaolefin, a key component in lubricants such as engine oil. ...
Phys.org / 'Little red dots' may be pulsating monster stars that created early-universe black holes
Astronomers have speculated about the mysterious "little red dots" seen through the James Webb Space Telescope's images of the early universe: They could be galaxies, black holes, quasi-stars, starbursts ... or something ...
Phys.org / Melting sea ice combines with Arctic sea to make clouds
Scientists have uncovered a previously unknown natural process that dramatically increases the number of cloud-forming particles in the Arctic atmosphere—potentially altering cloud cover, sunlight reflection and future climate ...
Phys.org / One of the world's only two complete dodo skulls reveals new clues about the extinct bird
Only two complete dodo skulls are known to exist anywhere in the world: one at the Natural History Museum Denmark and one at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. The specimen housed in Copenhagen has been preserved ...
Phys.org / New semiconductor maser operates continuously above room temperature
Lasers have become indispensable in everyday life and research, with applications ranging from data transmission and metrology to manufacturing. Masers, by contrast, have so far found hardly any practical applications.
Phys.org / Ancient armored fish that narrowly avoided meteorite strike reveals life before Earth's largest mass extinction
A rare fossil discovered near South America's largest known meteorite crater has been named a new species. Initially mistaken for a frog by locals, Leolepis matogrossensis is actually a species of ancient ray-finned fish—the ...
Phys.org / Air-stable, ultrathin superconductors developed for more scalable quantum devices
Super-thin superconducting materials, which are only one or a few atoms thick, have unique properties scientists can leverage to produce more compact, scalable, and efficient quantum devices. But these fragile materials degrade ...
