Phys.org news
Phys.org / Not all roads lead to Rome: Research challenges what we think we know about Roman roads
A multidisciplinary team of researchers from Aarhus University in Denmark, Queen Mary University of London and other European institutions analyzed a data set representing almost 300,000 kilometers (186,000 miles) of Roman ...
Phys.org / Heat-stable enzyme from deep-sea microbe turns nitrogen gas into ammonia
Microorganisms can do remarkable things—for example, nitrogen fixation, the conversion of nitrogen gas (N₂) into a form that organisms can use. Although nitrogen gas makes up around 78% of Earth's atmosphere, plants and animals ...
Phys.org / Greenhouse gas benefits of agricultural irrigation far outweigh emissions costs, study finds
Irrigating U.S. crops prevents higher greenhouse gas emissions by avoiding land conversion, new research by Colorado State University shows. Agricultural irrigation allows the United States to grow more food on less land. ...
Phys.org / Weather forecasts are significantly less accurate in poorer countries, analysis finds
Weather forecasts inform countless everyday decisions—from farmers deciding when to sow crops and energy companies anticipating demand to public authorities preparing for heat waves. But how useful those forecasts are depends ...
Phys.org / Plans to artificially dim the sun have divided scientists—here's what they're actually arguing about
No, President Joe Biden did not engineer Hurricane Milton. No, the ice crystal contrails left behind by high-altitude aircraft are not "chemtrails" sprayed by governments to control the weather or manipulate populations. ...
Phys.org / How a pathogen turns flowers into leaves
Scientists have found how a protein produced by bacteria disrupts the mechanism that controls flower development in plants, turning reproductive organs into leaf-like structures. These findings shed light on a plant disease ...
Phys.org / Why most rivers don't respond to storms the same way twice
The same amount of rain falling on the same landscape at different times can send very different amounts of water into its rivers, according to a new study in Nature Water. The research offers a global picture of how catchments ...
Phys.org / Responsibilities in close social relationships explain Eastern–Western cultural differences
Do you think that a person who reorganizes their life so that their aging parents can live with them would be likely to push another out of the way on the subway? What about greeting strangers with a smile? The answers to ...
Phys.org / Record-breaking levels of plastic found in seabirds, with almost 900 pieces found in one bird alone
For more than a decade, it was thought that the world's most plastic-polluted birds couldn't get any more contaminated by the man-made material. But then, from 2023–2026, the record was broken every single year.
Phys.org / Disordered atoms steer shared light pulses by matching motion and timing
A research team at the Institute of Applied Physics at TU Darmstadt has shown for the first time that atoms that are completely disordered and in constant motion can nevertheless emit jointly directed light preferentially ...
Phys.org / Marine bacteria team up to break down one of the ocean's toughest carbon-storing molecules
Deep in the ocean, brown algae and diatoms produce a complex carbohydrate molecule called fucoidan, which helps form their protective outer layers. The fucoidan molecule is very difficult for microbes to break down because ...
Phys.org / Laser altimeter BELA ready to explore Mercury's surface
Launched on Oct. 20, 2018, the joint ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission has traveled for almost eight years, using a carefully planned but eventful sequence of planetary flybys and solar-electric propulsion to gradually approach ...
