Phys.org news

Phys.org / New measurements explain how silicon and diamond achieve extreme reversible stretching

A research team led by Yang Lu from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering, The University of Hong Kong (HKU), has uncovered the microscopic physical nature of ultralarge elasticity in covalent ...

Aug 20, 2026
Phys.org / 'Wall-to-wall' map of NYC trees could help cool cities worldwide

Researchers have created an interactive map identifying 1.8 million individual trees in New York City, using a new approach that could optimize the placement of trees for cooling in cities around the world.

Aug 20, 2026
Phys.org / Clubbing may boost well-being for women in midlife

An online survey published in the journal Psychology of Music asked 136 women ages 40 and older about their experiences at electronic dance music (EDM) events. Nine in 10 respondents (91%) said clubbing contributes positively ...

Aug 20, 2026
Phys.org / Designing supramolecular therapies to cross the blood-brain barrier

A new Northwestern Medicine study has uncovered key molecular design principles that could help supramolecular therapeutics cross the blood-brain barrier, a major challenge for this novel approach to treating neurological ...

Aug 20, 2026
Phys.org / Messy life-producing cellular process caught in action for first time

All living things have a fleet of tiny copy machines that turn instructions from DNA into RNA molecules responsible for helping build proteins that keep organisms alive. One of those nanoscale machines, called eukaryotic ...

Aug 20, 2026
Phys.org / Tobacco companies helped flood the federal comment process that stalled menthol cigarette ban

When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed banning menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars in 2022, nearly 250,000 public comments flooded in—a record response that led the Biden administration to delay a final ...

Aug 20, 2026
Phys.org / How sex sheds evolutionary baggage

Why is there sex—or, more precisely, sexual reproduction? If you're an evolutionary biologist, the answer isn't obvious. Sexual reproduction is biologically costly, requiring not only competition for mates but also the creation ...

Aug 20, 2026
Phys.org / Area affected by wildfires in Europe could almost triple due to climate change

Increasingly hot, dry and windy conditions could substantially extend the area affected by wildfires across Europe, according to a new study led by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) with contributions ...

Aug 20, 2026
Phys.org / 100-million-year-old molecular 'bypasses' may have helped grasses dominate landscapes and agriculture

100 million years ago, long before human intervention, ancestors of grasses, including wheat, rice and maize, developed "bypasses" in chemical pathways used to create two critical compounds: lignin and starch. These more ...

Aug 20, 2026
Phys.org / Extreme rain shifts toward larger, less frequent storms across eastern US

Extreme precipitation events are among the most damaging natural disasters and a major concern in our changing climate. In the U.S., since 1980, the most destructive events alone have caused more than 2,800 deaths and $700 ...

Aug 20, 2026
Phys.org / Illuminating the limits of the international unit of light, the candela

The candela, the international unit of light in use for almost a century, forms the basis of photometry. According to a new study, measurements derived from it systematically misjudge the brightness of colored light sources ...

Aug 20, 2026
Phys.org / Warming waters draw summer 'feeding frenzies' by whales off Greenland

The effects of global warming depend on species: The losers are legion, but a lucky few are winners. Now, researchers have shown that baleen whales are taking advantage of a newly opened-up fish bonanza in the Greenland Sea, ...

Aug 20, 2026