Phys.org news
Phys.org / Introducing Weather Jiu-Jitsu, a new approach to avert catastrophic weather events
In a new perspective paper, Qin Huang of Arizona State University and colleagues propose that the worst damage from extreme weather events could be prevented through Weather Jiu-Jitsu, a theory-based approach to "nudge" weather ...
Phys.org / Synthetic DNA toolkit expands scientists' ability to recognize genetic targets
A new method for recognizing and targeting DNA that dramatically expands the range of genetic sequences scientists can identify has been developed by experts at the University of Portsmouth. Published this week in Nature ...
Phys.org / A magnetic field that kills superconductivity can also bring it back
Magnetic fields are generally known to destroy superconductivity in a material. However, in exceptional cases, they can lead to what is known as "re-entrant superconductivity"—where superconductivity disappears as expected, ...
Phys.org / Contagious cancer likely crossed an ocean, triggering severe outbreak in Pacific Northwest clams
Researchers have identified a severe outbreak of a rare contagious cancer in soft-shell clams in Washington state's Puget Sound and found evidence that the disease was recently introduced to the Pacific Northwest from Atlantic ...
Phys.org / Out of darkness, blind Mexican cavefish illuminate brain evolution
Deep within the dark caves of northeastern Mexico lives a fish that has spent hundreds of thousands of years adapting to a world without light. The blind Mexican cavefish (Astyanax mexicanus) has evolved in perpetual darkness, ...
Phys.org / Solar blast's magnetic cloud grew by one-fifth en route to Earth, spacecraft reveal
A University of Iowa-led physics team has detailed the extreme expansion of a magnetic cloud that originated from a huge, gaseous explosion on the sun. In a new study, the researchers describe the inflated magnetic cloud ...
Phys.org / How longer exciton lifetimes could ease efficiency trade-off in organic solar cells
Although the efficiency of organic solar cells has now risen to more than 20%, there are physical limits that make it difficult to further increase their performance. A research team from Linköping University in Sweden, the ...
Phys.org / Room-temperature laser hits record stability with 68-cm optical cavity
Scientists at NPL have demonstrated the best-reported laser frequency stability achieved with an optical reference cavity operating at room temperature, marking a major advance in ultrastable laser technology. The team's ...
Phys.org / Web archive lets you easily search millions of government documents
At the end of every presidential term, the End of Term Web Archive preserves that administration's web presence as a vast trove of documents and webpages. The archive began in 2008, with George W. Bush's second term, and ...
Phys.org / What happens when environmental change outpaces life's ability to adapt?
When an animal's environment changes faster than the animal can adapt, its chances of survival can flatline. The same is true for populations and even entire species. Now, scientists at MIT and the University of Leicester ...
Phys.org / A nanotrap for HIV: Liposomes repurposed to trigger immune response
Medical advancements over the last several decades have made great strides in the treatment of HIV. Pharmaceutical treatments are able to contain and reduce a patient's viral load to the point where it is nearly undetectable. ...
Phys.org / 'Collapsible scissored surfaces' complete trilogy of metamaterial design principles
Over the past decade, Professor L. Mahadevan's Soft Math Lab at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) has helped establish how the ancient Japanese paper arts of folding or cutting ...