Phys.org news
Phys.org / Ancient zircon crystals provide a window into early Earth history
There are many open questions about how our planet formed 4.55 billion years ago: When did plate tectonics start? When did the Earth's mantle begin to vigorously circulate in a process called convection? What was Earth like ...
Phys.org / The 'Bloom cycle' is a newly described biochemical pathway that explains key plant processes
For decades, the basics of plant growth have been taught in grade school: Plants make their food out of water from the soil, light from the sun and carbon dioxide from the air in a process called photosynthesis. What gets ...
Phys.org / Deadly soil fungal pathogen puts Australia's reptiles at risk of extinction
University of Queensland researchers say Australia's reptiles are at risk of extinction because a little understood fungus is infecting species throughout the environment. Associate Professor Celine Frere from UQ's School ...
Phys.org / Hard-to-make diastereomers: How a cage-like allyl reagent changes the outcome
Diastereomers are structurally identical molecules that are not mirror images of each other. Diastereomers can have different biological activities, potencies or toxicities, which means they can influence biological systems, ...
Phys.org / Liquid crystal phase in antiferromagnets can be detected electrically
The best candidate for next-generation magnetic devices—technology that can power, store, sense or transport information—may be, counterintuitively, antiferromagnets. Today, the most widely used magnetic materials are ...
Phys.org / Jackdaw chicks listen to adults to learn about predators
Jackdaw chicks learn about predators by listening to adults, new research shows. Scientists played recordings of predator calls to chicks in their nests—and paired the sounds with either adult jackdaw "alarm" calls or "contact" ...
Dialog / The wetland puzzle that stumped hydrology for decades—how physics and AI joined forces to predict unmeasured regions
For years, the Prairie Pothole Region has bothered me in a very specific way. On a map, it looks like a normal landscape: fields, gentle slopes, small streams. But hydrologically, it behaves like something else entirely. ...
Phys.org / Did plants nearly wipe out all marine life on Earth—twice?
UC College of Arts and Sciences Professor Thomas Algeo has been studying the planet's five major mass extinctions since the Ordovician Period, when global sea levels were much higher than today. In a paper published in Nature ...
Phys.org / Chemically 'stapled' peptides used to target difficult-to-treat cancers
Researchers at the University of Bath have developed a new technology that uses bacteria to build, chemically stabilize, and test millions of potential drug molecules inside living cells, making it much quicker and easier ...
Phys.org / Asteroid Ryugu samples offer new insights into early solar system magnetism
To uncover the history of our solar system, it is necessary to study the dynamic evolution of the ancient solar nebula materials. These materials interacted and coevolved with the weak but widespread magnetic field of the ...
Phys.org / 'Mismatched' plant water isotopes vanish with better sampling: Study points to better drought forecasts
For decades, scientists have relied on a chemical fingerprint inside water molecules to determine where plants get their moisture. The method shaped our understanding of drought resilience, groundwater use, and ecosystem ...
Phys.org / From hyperbolic in-plane anisotropy to an optical chirality: A new route to nanoscale circular polarizers
In recent years, van der Waals crystals have evolved from scientific curiosities into a versatile platform for exploring novel quantum phases and unconventional nanophotonic phenomena. Their layered nature allows stacking, ...
