Phys.org news

Phys.org / Identifying mechanisms that support nanoparticle therapy for autoimmune diseases

Northwestern Medicine scientists in the laboratory of Stephen Miller, Ph.D., professor emeritus of Microbiology–Immunology, have identified the cellular and molecular mechanisms required for the antigen-specific tolerance ...

Feb 2, 2026 in Nanotechnology
Phys.org / NASA fuels its moon rocket in a crucial test to decide when Artemis astronauts will launch

NASA fueled its new moon rocket in one final make-or-break test Monday, with hopes of sending astronauts on a lunar fly-around as soon as this coming weekend.

Feb 2, 2026 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / Teen's 1958 find becomes Australia's oldest dinosaur fossil

University of Queensland research has confirmed Brisbane's only dinosaur fossil is Australia's oldest, dating back to the earliest part of the Late Triassic period 230 million years ago. The 18.5-centimeter footprint was ...

Feb 2, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Perseverance rover completes first AI-planned drive on Mars

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover has completed the first drives on another world that were planned by artificial intelligence. Executed on Dec. 8 and 10, and led by the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, ...

Feb 2, 2026 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / A more realistic picture of platinum electrodes

Current electrochemical theory does not adequately describe realistic platinum electrodes. Scientists at Leiden University have now, for the first time, mapped the influence of imperfect platinum surfaces. This provides a ...

Feb 2, 2026 in Chemistry
Phys.org / Two-step approach creates more sustainable protein nanostructures for advanced sensing and therapeutics

Gas vesicles are among the largest known protein nanostructures produced and assembled inside microbial cells. These hollow, air-filled cylindrical nanostructures found in certain aquatic microbes have drawn increasing interest ...

Feb 2, 2026 in Nanotechnology
Phys.org / Air pollution causes social instability in ant colonies, triggering attacks on returning nest mates

A research team from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology has shown in a new study that ants returning from habitats affected by air pollution are attacked when they re-enter the colony. The cause: air pollution, ...

Feb 2, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Resilience bonds could serve as an insurance solution to address climate change risks

Researchers with Lehigh University's Center for Catastrophe Modeling and Resilience, led by anthropologist David G. Casagrande, have identified two urgent challenges the United States faces in adapting to climate change: ...

Feb 2, 2026 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / How bacteria learned to target numerous cell types

Viruses attack nearly every living organism on Earth. To do so, they rely on highly specialized proteins that recognize and bind to receptors on the surface of target cells, a molecular arms race that drives constant evolution. ...

Feb 2, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / As Rubin's survey gets underway, simulations suggest it could find about six lunar-origin asteroids per year

Most near-Earth asteroids are thought to drift in from the main asteroid belt. But a small subset may have a much closer origin: the moon. One intriguing example is 469219 Kamoʻoalewa (2016 HO3), an Earth quasi-satellite ...

Feb 2, 2026 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / New class of catalysts could dramatically change playing field in nickel catalysis

Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have reported a breakthrough in nickel catalysis that harnesses a rare oxidation state of nickel that has proved challenging to control yet is highly valued for its ...

Feb 2, 2026 in Chemistry
Phys.org / AI mapping reveals over 20,000 malaria protein interactions across parasite life cycle

An international research team headed by scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and the Center for Structural Systems Biology and Bernhard-Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Germany has revealed ...

Feb 2, 2026 in Biology