Phys.org news
Phys.org / Double spiral inside narwhal tusks may explain their resistance to bending
The narwhal's impressive tusk has long been the subject of myths. In the Middle Ages, they were sold as unicorn horns believed to possess magical powers. Now, an international team of researchers led by Aarhus University ...
Phys.org / 'Switchable' smart gel may pave way for next-gen drug delivery and sensing tech
University of Birmingham scientists have developed a new material that changes from a gel to a liquid-like state under ultraviolet light and can be rebuilt using heat or dismantled by acid.
Phys.org / Each degree of warming could add a month of intolerable heat for 1 billion people
The threat that rising temperatures fueled by climate change pose to the health of older people has been dramatically underestimated, according to a U.S. modeling study published Tuesday.
Phys.org / Plants could transform how scientists measure the climate benefits of tidal marshes
Growing up in New Jersey, Emily Wilson regularly passed tidal marshes without giving them much thought. They were part of the coastal landscape—stretches of green and blue she saw from the road.
Phys.org / Existing drug could treat invasive canine oral tumors
A benign but invasive canine oral cancer is often mistaken for a similar malignant one, leading to misdiagnoses in close to a third of cases. But a new diagnostic tool can now distinguish between the two, according to a new ...
Phys.org / Fifteen years of data link plastic pollution to seabird population losses
Every year, about 50 million metric tons of plastic is dumped into the environment. This waste entangles, chokes and poisons wildlife worldwide, including sable shearwaters living on the remote Australian island of Lord Howe. ...
Phys.org / Building real-time control for engineered biological systems
Scientists can engineer living cells to perform useful tasks, from producing medicines and sustainable chemicals to detecting disease. Unlike traditional engineered systems, living cells are constantly changing as they grow, ...
Phys.org / How only a few tree species drive Amazon forest recovery
When a destroyed section of the Amazon rainforest begins to recover, nature deploys only a few tree species that can withstand poor soil conditions and blazing sun and grow rapidly, a Brazilian study has shown.
Phys.org / Structural snapshots reveal key steps in switching on DNA replication
Every time a cell divides, it must accurately copy its entire genetic instruction manual. Before this process can begin, cells load their DNA-copying motor—a complex of six subunits known as the MCM2-7 helicase—onto DNA. ...
Phys.org / Deep-learning approach rapidly predicts where metals bind within proteins
In the living world, roughly a third of all proteins we know rely on metals to function. Zinc helps enzymes break down molecules, iron helps carry oxygen in the blood, calcium helps relay signals in cells and potassium flows ...
Phys.org / AI and 8 million digitized plant specimens reveal how the climate is changing nature in large parts of the world
AI optimists will be encouraged by a recent report on the state of the world's plants and fungi by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Phys.org / An African bat overlooked for two centuries is confirmed in Europe
An African bat whose presence in Sicily had remained an unresolved zoological mystery for almost two centuries has now been documented on Pantelleria Island. A study published in Global Ecology and Conservation reports the ...
