Phys.org news

Phys.org / South Pole Telescope detects energetic stellar flares near center of galaxy

Researchers from the South Pole Telescope project team looked deep into the center of the Milky Way, discovering powerful, surprising bursts of light from two accreting white dwarf systems.

Jan 20, 2026 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / Bats use 'acoustic flow velocity' to navigate complex environments in darkness

A long-standing mystery about how wild bats navigate complex environments in complete darkness with remarkable precision, has been solved in a new University of Bristol-led study. The findings are published in Proceedings ...

Jan 20, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Anglo-Saxon center unearthed near Skipsea castle

Archaeologists working near Skipsea Castle in East Yorkshire say a series of rare discoveries is transforming understanding of life in the centuries before the Norman Conquest.

Jan 20, 2026 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / North Atlantic deep waters show slower renewal as ocean ventilation weakens

The ocean is continuously ventilated when surface waters sink and transport, for example, oxygen and carbon to greater depths. The efficiency of this process can be estimated using the so-called water age, which describes ...

Jan 20, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / Drones reveal how feral horse units keep boundaries

For social animals, encounters between rival groups can often lead to conflict. While some species avoid this by maintaining fixed territories, others, like the feral horses, live in a "multilevel society" where multiple ...

Jan 20, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Failed battery chemistry offers new way to destroy PFAS

Researchers in the lab of Asst. Prof. Chibueze Amanchukwu at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago PME) have spent three years looking for failure, scouring the academic literature for ...

Jan 20, 2026 in Chemistry
Phys.org / Water makeup of Jupiter's Galilean moons set at birth, new study finds

While Io, the most volcanically active moon in the solar system, appears completely dry and devoid of water ice, its neighbor Europa is thought to harbor a vast global ocean of liquid water beneath its icy crust. A new international ...

Jan 20, 2026 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / Direct visualization captures hidden spatial order of electrons in a quantum material

The mystery of quantum phenomena inside materials—such as superconductivity, where electric current flows without energy loss—lies in when electrons move together and when they break apart. KAIST researchers have succeeded ...

Jan 20, 2026 in Physics
Phys.org / New quantum boundary discovered: Spin size determines how the Kondo effect behaves

Collective behavior is an unusual phenomenon in condensed-matter physics. When quantum spins interact together as a system, they produce unique effects not seen in individual particles. Understanding how quantum spins interact ...

Jan 20, 2026 in Physics
Phys.org / Beyond chemistry: How mechanical forces shape brain wiring

During brain development, neurons extend long processes called axons. Axons link different areas of the brain and carry signals within it and to the rest of the body. Growing axons "wire up" the brain by following precise ...

Jan 20, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Pūkeko birds combine sound elements to create complex call sequences for communication, study reveals

Pūkeko use sound elements to create calls and combine them to create complex call sequences in order to expand the range of options for expressing themselves—these are the findings of an international team including Konstanz ...

Jan 20, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / ChatGPT found to reflect and intensify existing global social disparities

New research from the Oxford Internet Institute at the University of Oxford, and the University of Kentucky, finds that ChatGPT systematically favors wealthier, Western regions in response to questions ranging from "Where ...

Jan 20, 2026 in Other Sciences