Phys.org news

Phys.org / African frogs haven't forgotten the ice ages. Scientists can tell by where they live.

Why are frogs diverse in some parts of Africa's rainforests and less so in others? The patterns of cooling and glaciation during the last ice age would probably not have been your first answer or even your last-ditch guess, ...

Apr 7, 2026
Phys.org / Metamaterial chains learn new shapes by sharing data hinge to hinge

In a new Nature Physics publication, University of Amsterdam researchers introduce human-made materials that spring to life. These 'metamaterials' don't just learn to change shape, but can autonomously adapt their shape-changing ...

Apr 7, 2026
Phys.org / Fly ball: Drosophila can learn while playing with tiny spheres

For more than a century, the fruit fly has been a workhorse of the biological sciences that has helped scientists to make fundamental breakthroughs in fields such as genetics and neuroscience. As it turns out, human scientists ...

Apr 7, 2026
Phys.org / Born to roam, built for home: New genomic insights for snapper fisheries

Snapper are central to coastal life across southern Australia, supporting fisheries, local businesses, and regional tourism. New Flinders University research has found that although snapper populations across southern Australia ...

Apr 7, 2026
Phys.org / Network analysis reveals mammal food web drivers across Africa

Ecology is often understood as a hyperlocal thing. The ecology of a pond, for instance, is vastly complex, even if the pond is tiny. But learning solely from local ecosystems is a slow and laborious approach that may not ...

Apr 7, 2026
Phys.org / Phengite identified as key carrier of halogens into Earth's deep mantle

Surface volatiles—chemical substances that easily become gases or fluids at relatively low temperatures and pressures—are transported into Earth through subduction zones, with some being transported into the deep mantle and ...

Apr 7, 2026
Phys.org / 3D microscopy reveals how a tick-borne virus reshapes human cells to replicate

Researchers at Umeå University show how tick-borne viruses remodel human cells into virus factories, using an advanced microscopy method. The findings provide new insight into how the virus replicates and matures, knowledge ...

Apr 7, 2026
Phys.org / Would you spread pain to be fair? fMRI study tests moral choices in ice water

When making ethical decisions, university students appear to prioritize fairness and the fate of the worst-off over either reducing total harm or obeying unconditional moral precepts, according to a study published in PNAS ...

Apr 7, 2026
Phys.org / Quantum computing without interruptions

Mid-circuit measurements are one of the biggest practical hurdles in quantum error correction on encoded qubits. Researchers in Innsbruck and Aachen have now proposed and experimentally demonstrated that a universal fault-tolerant ...

Apr 7, 2026
Phys.org / Teachers tend to help the same kids repeatedly when using AI-powered tutoring tools

A new study finds teachers tend to provide assistance to similar subsets of students when using AI-powered educational tools, rather than touching base regularly with everyone in their classes. The findings could be used ...

Apr 7, 2026
Phys.org / Rich biodiversity found in Japan's deepest ocean trenches, including an unidentified 'mystery' species

A new study published in the Biodiversity Data Journal provides a profound look at life up to nearly 10 kilometers below the ocean's surface in the Japan, Ryukyu, and Izu-Ogasawara trenches. The research catalogs at least ...

Apr 7, 2026
Phys.org / How stem cell descendants preserve flexibility while maintaining distinct identities

Stem cells are the body's ultimate shape-shifters, sustaining tissues by balancing two competing demands: maintaining their own population and generating specialized descendants. In many tissues, some early descendants can ...

Apr 7, 2026