Phys.org news
Phys.org / Leaf-based fluorescence test speeds search for plant gene-editing targets
Gene editing of plant DNA has the potential to produce crops with increased performance and resilience, but it can take a long time to achieve these gains. To shorten this process, scientists often use screening tools to ...
Phys.org / Four new chameleon species found on Mozambique's mountaintop 'sky islands'
Tropical rainforest patches perched on isolated granite mountains in northern Mozambique have yielded four new species of sylvan chameleons, according to a new study by Prof. Krystal A. Tolley and Dr. Werner Conradie, recently ...
Phys.org / 125-million-year-old fossil reveals 'pregnant' shellfish
An international team of scientists led by Dr. Graciela Delvene of the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain (CSIC) has uncovered the oldest known evidence of maternal care in shellfish, revealing that some freshwater ...
Phys.org / Using less, living better: Demand-side climate action wins public support
Climate strategies are still judged largely across two dimensions: how much they cost and how many tons of CO2 they save. A new study published in Communications Sustainability argues that this narrow lens overlooks much ...
Phys.org / How thousands of nature's longest sperm squeeze into a tiny fruit fly
When Jasmin Imran Alsous peered down her microscope lens, she expected to see chaos—a mishmash of tangled cells. She was viewing the inside of a male fruit fly's sperm storage organ, using a powerful microscope at the CCBScope ...
Phys.org / Cats age like humans—could studying their brains reveal healthy aging secrets?
Domestic cats age in remarkably similar ways to humans and show comparable age-related patterns of brain deterioration, according to an international collaboration among the University of Bath in the U.K., Auburn University ...
Phys.org / How cyanobacteria developed photosynthetic membranes over the course of evolution
A new study provides the first insights into how thylakoid membranes—the internal compartments where oxygen-producing photosynthesis takes place—emerged during evolution. By comparing the genomes of cyanobacteria with and ...
Phys.org / How solar wind forecasting will help define heliosphere's boundaries
Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) scientists are using a solar wind forecasting method combined with analytic and numerical heliosphere models to find out where the first plasma boundary of the outer heliosphere lies as ...
Phys.org / Crashing insect populations lead to smaller tree swallows that reproduce less
Since the 1970s, the number of insects at Canada's Long Point Bird Observatory has dropped by more than 60%, according to a new study led by the University of Michigan. Because of this, today's birds are smaller and facing ...
Phys.org / Protein-tagging technology maps a hidden communication network between organs
The body's organs are in constant communication. Fat tissue tells the liver when to store or release energy, the immune system signals localized inflammation, and thousands of proteins carry these messages to organs throughout ...
Phys.org / A minimal model for how a cell takes shape from the inside
Researchers at the University of Twente and Utrecht University have packed rigid, rod-shaped particles into soft lipid containers the size of a living cell and watched the container and its contents reshape each other. The ...
Phys.org / Insects exhibit evidence of a daily body clock for humidity
In a novel experiment at the University of Cincinnati, researchers recently isolated kissing bugs, fruit flies, mosquitoes and spider beetles in a climate- and light-controlled environment and found that they responded predictably ...
