Phys.org news
Phys.org / Western US is fending off more fires before they start—and still getting hit by its biggest blazes yet
The number of wildfires burning in the Western United States each year dropped roughly 28% over the past three decades, even as annual burned area and damage from wildfires have soared. A decline in fires accidentally sparked ...
Phys.org / Malaria parasite sneaks mRNA into immune cell nuclei, disrupting defenses
RNA technology is regarded as one of the newest frontiers in medicine, but in fact a primordial innovator got there way before we did. The malaria parasite, an ancient single-celled organism, has been using sophisticated ...
Phys.org / Captured mid-reaction, RNA polymerase reveals universal blueprint for gene transcription
The enzyme RNA polymerase (RNAP) carries out transcription, copying DNA into RNA. It's the first step in gene expression, and a process fundamental to all life. But the inner workings of this essential enzyme have long baffled ...
Phys.org / Light-activated protein illuminates when embryos can cope with disruptions to cell division
Cell division during the early stage of embryo development is a trade-off between speed and accuracy; the cells need to divide quickly to enable rapid growth, but it's important not to introduce errors that could be fatal ...
Phys.org / Feeding shift may have steered 55 pilot whales toward Scotland mass stranding
New research, focused on the feeding behavior of long-finned pilot whales, has shed light on one of Scotland's largest mass stranding events. The study, led by the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS) based at ...
Phys.org / Standardized runoff dataset could improve forecasts of urban microplastic pollution
As rain falls, lurking within stormwater runoff are hidden microplastics, polluting the water sources they drain into. Even though microplastics originate in urban environments such as cities, existing data sets focus on ...
Phys.org / Researchers create DNA 'nano-rings' to control viral cell proteins
Scientists at Durham University, working in partnership with Jagiellonian University in Poland, have developed a new nanoscale tool that can capture and precisely position some of the most important proteins in the human ...
Phys.org / Hidden 3D atomic structure of relaxor ferroelectrics revealed for first time
Materials called relaxor ferroelectrics have been used for decades in technologies like ultrasounds, microphones, and sonar systems. Their unique properties come from their atomic structure, but that structure has stubbornly ...
Phys.org / Superconducting quantum circuit simulates proton tunneling phenomenon in chemical systems
Researchers at Yale, Google, and the University of California-Santa Barbara have created a device that simulates the quantum "tunneling" behavior of protons that occurs in chemistry, a process so common it occurs in everything ...
Phys.org / Gene circuits reshape DNA folding and affect how genes are expressed, study finds
When a gene is turned on in a cell, it creates a ripple effect along the DNA strand, changing the physical structure of the strand. A new study by MIT researchers, appearing in Science, shows that these ripples can stimulate ...
Phys.org / Chemists unlock two-step alkene alkylation using stable acids and polar coupling
Chemists at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung have developed a practical two-step method for alkylating alkenes via thianthrenation, addressing a long-standing synthetic challenge. This breakthrough simplifies complex ...
Phys.org / Physicists reveal universal speed limit on quantum information scrambling
Theoretical physicists in the US have discovered a "speed limit" on the time taken for quantum information to spread through larger systems. Publishing their results in Physical Review Letters, Amit Vikram and colleagues ...
