Phys.org news

Eating from pouches, sleeping in a bag tied to the wall, using a vacuum-powered toilet: Basic processes of human life require scientifically tested solutions in space. It's the same for menstruation, a process female astronauts ...

When University at Buffalo chemists analyzed samples of water, fish, and bird eggs, they weren't surprised to find plenty of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). After all, these "forever chemicals" turn up nearly ...

The total emissions of greenhouse gases and airborne particles caused by wildfires are almost 70% higher than previously assumed. Researchers at Wageningen University & Research discovered this in a long-term study conducted ...

A completely new order of marine sponges has been found by researchers at the Museum of Evolution, Uppsala University. The sponge order, named Vilesida, produces substances that could be used in drug development. The same ...

Ant colonies operate as tightly coordinated "superorganisms" with individual ants working together, much like the cells of a body, to ensure their collective health. Researchers at the Institute of Science and Technology ...

Seventy light-years from Earth, a star called Kappa Tucanae A harbors one of astronomy's most perplexing mysteries: dust so hot it glows at more than 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit, existing impossibly close to its host star, where ...

Purdue University researchers found that a subset of epidermal cells in plant leaves serves as early responders to chemical cues from bacterial pathogens and communicate this information to neighbors through a local traveling ...

Americans who grow up in historically violent states may move to a safer state, but they remain far more likely to die violently, according to new research co-authored at the University of California, Berkeley.

Archaeologists have played shell trumpets from Neolithic Catalonia, revealing they were highly effective for long-distance communication and may have also been used as musical instruments.

A new study shows that during drought, it's not how hot or how dry it is that determines gas emissions from plants—but how quickly conditions change. This discovery reshapes our understanding of the relationship between ...

To a human, microplastics are very small at less than 5 millimeters (mm) wide. But to an insect, microplastics might be the same size as the food they usually eat. Researchers reporting in the journal Environmental Science ...

Imagine standing on top of a mountain. From this vantage point, we can see picturesque valleys and majestic ridges below, and streams wind their way downhill. If a drop of rain falls somewhere on this terrain, gravity guides ...