Phys.org news

Heterogeneous catalysis—in which catalysts and reactants are of different phases, e.g., solid and gas—is important to many industrial processes and often involves solid metal as the catalyst. Ammonia synthesis, catalytic ...

Rivers are rarely the calm, orderly streams we imagine on maps. Over time, their winding paths—called meanders—shift, bend, and occasionally snap off in sudden "cutoff" events that shorten loops and reshape the landscape. ...

The history of science and technology is marked by major breakthroughs—the theory of evolution, the splitting of the atom, the development of antibiotics—and a research team including faculty at Binghamton University, State ...

Researchers at the Technion—Israel Institute of Technology have, for the first time, measured the temporal duration of individual pulses of an extraordinary form of quantum light known as bright squeezed vacuum (BSV). Their ...

Researchers have uncovered new evidence that short-lived spikes in ocean phosphorus may have played a major role in two of the most severe marine extinctions in Earth's history. Dr. Matthew Dodd from The University of Western ...

Accents are usually thought of as a human trait, indicating where a person has grown up or the communities they belong—and new research shows the same dialects can also occur in Australia's largest carnivorous bat.

Farmers, gardeners, and botanists have long observed that plant diseases tend to flare up during periods of high humidity, particularly after rainfall. Humid conditions help bacteria enter plant leaves, and once inside, certain ...

Cholera-causing bacteria are locked in an evolutionary arms race with a viral nemesis, according to a new genomic study. Researchers have found that, in the Ganges Delta, cholera bacteria rapidly gain and lose special armor ...

The way a key cellular motor works at an atomic level has been uncovered by simulations conducted by RIKEN biophysicists. This finding, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, provides important ...

Diverse soil microbial communities may help suppress pathogens naturally, acting as a biological barrier against their establishment and spread, according to a new study. Professor Brajesh Singh, from The University of Western ...

Reducing aircraft soot emissions may not reduce contrail clouds, according to in-flight observations of emissions from a passenger jet with modern "lean-burn" engines, reported in Nature. Contrails from aircraft contribute ...

Before a cell can divide, it has to precisely duplicate its entire genetic information. However, the DNA in the cell exists as part of a DNA-protein complex known as chromatin. For this purpose, the DNA is wrapped around ...