Phys.org news

Phys.org / A tiny protein tweak, finally traceable: How light-based tagging targets pyroglutamate

Amino acids are like Lego blocks—they can be linked together to form complex structures called proteins. Unlike Legos, however, there are only 20 different types of amino acids available to build a protein. Proteins depend ...

Mar 24, 2026
Phys.org / A complicated future for a methane-cleansing molecule

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that is second only to carbon dioxide in driving up global temperatures. But it doesn't linger in the atmosphere for long thanks to molecules called hydroxyl radicals, which are known ...

Mar 24, 2026
Phys.org / New NMR method allows the observation of chalcogen bonds

Toward the right side of the periodic table below oxygen, are the chalcogens, or "ore-forming" elements. The chalcogens that occur naturally, including sulfur, selenium and tellurium, are all somehow involved in biological ...

Mar 24, 2026
Phys.org / Magnetic microbots steer quantum sensors inside living cells

Cells are squishy and soft. Tiny nanometer-sized particles such as quantum sensors cannot move freely inside them due to viscous drag, which makes sensing challenging. Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) ...

Mar 24, 2026
Phys.org / A much more sensitive fentanyl detection strip, thanks to physics

Following the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, lateral flow assays (LFAs)—the category of test strips in which the presence or lack of a pink line indicates whether a specific molecule, like a drug or a virus, has been ...

Mar 24, 2026
Phys.org / Fish gill-inspired panels reveal path to efficient thermal mixing

A fascination with fish gills has led researchers at Cornell to develop a bio-inspired approach to mixing heat and molecules in fluids—findings that could inform future biomedical devices, heat exchangers and soft robotics.

Mar 24, 2026
Phys.org / Shift in key cosmic inflation measurement could be a statistical artifact

For the last few decades, researchers have been studying what the universe looked like in its first seconds. It is generally accepted that the universe expanded exponentially in the first fraction of a second after the Big ...

Mar 23, 2026
Phys.org / The 'private solution trap': Why richer countries may favor adaptation over public solutions, and who pays

A new study, led by the University of Nottingham and conducted by a team of 72 economists and psychologists across the world, has identified a potential "private solution trap" in problems requiring international cooperation ...

Mar 23, 2026
Phys.org / Quantum computers could have a fundamental limit after all

The performance of quantum computers could cap out after around 1,000 qubits, according to a new analysis published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Through new calculations, Tim Palmer at the University ...

Mar 23, 2026
Phys.org / Superconducting quantum processor performs well with significantly less wiring

Quantum computers, computing systems that process information using quantum mechanical effects, could outperform classical computers on some computational tasks. These computers rely on qubits, the basic units of quantum ...

Mar 23, 2026
Phys.org / Self-cleaning fabric could eliminate the need for detergent

Detergents may begin their journey by cleaning our clothes, but they end up contaminating the environment, flowing into rivers, ponds, and oceans, where they severely disrupt aquatic animal life. Even after wastewater treatment, ...

Mar 23, 2026
Phys.org / How soil microbes may control the future of our planet

The soil beneath our feet is a huge carbon bank storing up to approximately three times more carbon than the entire atmosphere. That makes it a significant player in the future of our climate. If even a small fraction of ...

Mar 23, 2026