Phys.org news
Phys.org / Electrically tunable spin polarization in graphene opens path toward low-power spintronic devices
Researchers at the National Graphene Institute, in collaboration with the National University of Singapore, have shown that the magnetic behavior of electrons in graphene can be precisely controlled using electricity, revealing ...
Phys.org / Corrected microbial family tree offers statistically sound model for how earliest life forms evolved
In this era of Big Data, the prevailing wisdom is that more information leads to better answers. However, a new Canadian study shows that in the hunt for life's ancient ancestors, more data can actually lead to less truth. ...
Phys.org / How sea-ice microbes survive the Southern Ocean's harsh winter has implications for climate change
A study led by South African scientists reveals that during winter, the sea ice around Antarctica harbors a reservoir of microbes, most of which have one thing in common—the ability to produce and break down a compound known ...
Phys.org / How to train your magnet: Excitons as a new knob for magnetic control
Scientists can learn a lot about a quantum material by watching how it responds to light. In magnetic semiconductors, one especially useful messenger is the exciton: a pairing of a negatively charged electron and the positively ...
Phys.org / What if there is no one to farm? Scientists reveal a hidden risk to future food security
The cause of future food shortages may not be a lack of farmland, but a shortage of agricultural workers. Amid low birth rates and rural decline, a joint international research team from KAIST has developed a new data-driven ...
Phys.org / Brain enzyme caught doing something unexpected—it builds polysialic acid on itself
A chance discovery at Nagoya University in Japan has shown that a well-known brain enzyme has a hidden ability: It builds a sugar chain on itself, becomes secreted from the cell and deactivates, then switches on outside the ...
Phys.org / Circular polarization could cut laser backscatter in fusion experiments
Experiments at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility (NIF) require breathtaking precision. Each of the 192 lasers is focused to a width of a few millimeters to enter a 3-millimeter hole at the ...
Phys.org / Climate change is now causing more local extinction in temperate regions than the tropics, study shows
Imagine returning to a favorite hiking trail 15 years after your first visit and discovering that many of the plants and animals that once lived there are gone. While these species may still exist elsewhere, these disappearances—known ...
Phys.org / Long gamma-ray bursts may trace collapsing stars rather than neutron-star mergers
Long-duration gamma-ray bursts are some of the most energetic events in the universe, releasing more energy in just a few seconds than the sun emits in 10 billion years. Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists, having discovered ...
Phys.org / How do flocking birds and schools of fish move? New research offers crystal-clear answer
Flocking birds and schools of fish are a familiar sight. While previous research has uncovered the broad dynamics driving these movements, their underlying intricacies remain a mystery. Now a study by a team of New York University ...
Phys.org / Energetic neutral atoms may help map Uranus's odd magnetic environment
Sending a spacecraft to the underexplored planet Uranus is at the top of many planetary scientists' wish lists. But which spacecraft-mounted instruments would be most useful for answering questions about the mysterious ice ...
Phys.org / Fermi mission uncovers possible sibling supernova remnants
A new study of two supernova remnants, the debris left behind after stars explode, suggests the explosions came from stellar siblings that once orbited each other. The first star's detonation sent its binary companion hurtling ...
