Phys.org news

Phys.org / Sharper MRI scans may be on horizon thanks to new physics-based model

Researchers at Rice University and Oak Ridge National Laboratory have unveiled a physics-based model of magnetic resonance relaxation that bridges molecular-scale dynamics with macroscopic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) ...

Nov 18, 2025 in Physics
Phys.org / Ancient and colonial legacies continue to shape Amazon forest biodiversity today

Human influence across centuries continues to define biodiversity and carbon storage in the world's largest rainforest, according to a new international study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ...

Nov 18, 2025 in Biology
Phys.org / CT scans reveal hidden details of ancient copper smelting in early Iran

About 5,000 years ago, people living in what is now Iran began extracting copper from rock by processing ore, an activity known as smelting. This monumental shift gave them a powerful new technology and may have marked the ...

Nov 18, 2025 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / How bacteria 'feel' surfaces: Fluorescent probe visualizes and quantifies membrane tension

In natural environments, bacteria rarely live as free-swimming cells but are attached to surfaces as biofilms in medical devices, mobile phones or human tissue. The bacterial behavior, how they attach and grow, group together ...

Nov 18, 2025 in Biology
Phys.org / Single-celled organisms have more complex DNA epigenetic code than multicellular life, researchers discover

Multicellular organisms (animals, plants, humans) all have the ability to methylate the cytosine base in their DNA. This process, a type of epigenetic modification, plays an important role in conditions such as cancer and ...

Nov 18, 2025 in Biology
Phys.org / Quantum-centric supercomputing simulates supramolecular interactions

A team led by Cleveland Clinic's Kenneth Merz, Ph.D., and IBM's Antonio Mezzacapo, Ph.D., is developing quantum computing methods to simulate and study supramolecular processes that guide how entire molecules interact with ...

Nov 18, 2025 in Chemistry
Phys.org / Efficient quantum process tomography for enabling scalable optical quantum computing

Optical quantum computers are gaining attention as a next-generation computing technology with high speed and scalability. However, accurately characterizing complex optical processes, where multiple optical modes interact ...

Nov 18, 2025 in Physics
Phys.org / Researchers decode the chemistry behind a deadly genetic disorder

Northeastern University researchers used an original machine learning tool to predict how genetic mutations cause a rare metabolic disease known as OTC deficiency, uncovering some underlying biochemical mechanisms at play ...

Nov 18, 2025 in Chemistry
Phys.org / Quantum imaging settles 20-year debate on gold surface electron spin direction

Researchers at the Institute for Molecular Science (IMS) have definitively resolved a two-decade-long controversy regarding the direction of electron spin on the surface of gold.

Nov 18, 2025 in Physics
Phys.org / Chiral skyrmion flows enable new approach to nanoscale logic devices

In magnetic materials with antisymmetric exchange interactions, novel particle-like spin textures called magnetic skyrmions can appear and be manipulated by electrons. First observed in 2009, they have been created and controlled ...

Nov 18, 2025 in Nanotechnology
Phys.org / The genome editing playbook is different in neurons and other nondividing cells, researchers discover

The gene editing tool known as CRISPR-Cas9 is changing what's possible for treating a wide range of diseases caused by genetic mutations. But so far, attempts to use the technology to address brain-based genetic disorders ...

Nov 18, 2025 in Biology
Phys.org / Antarctic ice loss linked to 'storms' at ocean's subsurface

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have identified stormlike circulation patterns beneath the Antarctic ice shelves that are causing aggressive melting, with major implications ...

Nov 18, 2025 in Earth