Phys.org news

Phys.org / Seychelles leads the way in the protection of sharks and rays, finds study

A new study published in Ecology and Evolution has evaluated the extent to which recently identified Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRAs) in the Western Indian Ocean overlap with existing marine protected areas.

Jan 19, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / 3D mapping of fault beneath Marmara Sea reveals likely sites for future earthquakes

According to researchers from Science Tokyo, a new three-dimensional model of the fault beneath the Marmara Sea in Turkey reveals where a future major earthquake could take place. Using electromagnetic measurements, the team ...

Jan 19, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / World's smallest capacitor paves way for next-generation quantum metrology

Nanomechanical systems developed at TU Wien have now reached a level of precision and miniaturization that will allow them to be used in ultra-high-resolution atomic force microscopes in the future. Their new findings are ...

Jan 19, 2026 in Nanotechnology
Phys.org / Golden Gate method enables fully-synthetic engineering of therapeutically relevant bacteriophages

Bacteriophages have been used therapeutically to treat infectious bacterial diseases for over a century. As antibiotic-resistant infections increasingly threaten public health, interest in bacteriophages as therapeutics has ...

Jan 19, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Mercury's BepiColombo Mio and Earth's GEOTAIL show shared wave frequency properties across planetary magnetospheres

An international team from Kanazawa University (Japan), Tohoku University (Japan), LPP (France), and partners has demonstrated that chorus emissions, natural electromagnetic waves long studied in Earth's magnetosphere, also ...

Jan 19, 2026 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / Polar weather on Jupiter and Saturn hints at the planets' interior details

Over the years, passing spacecraft have observed mystifying weather patterns at the poles of Jupiter and Saturn. The two planets host very different types of polar vortices, which are huge atmospheric whirlpools that rotate ...

Jan 19, 2026 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / Soil ecoacoustics: Researchers call for global effort to listen underground

An international team of researchers has mapped a new way forward to monitor the health of the planet by listening to the soil beneath our feet.

Jan 19, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Vibrational spectroscopy technique enables nanoscale mapping of molecular orientation at surfaces

Sum-frequency generation (SFG) is a powerful vibrational spectroscopy that can selectively probe molecular structures at surfaces and interfaces, but its spatial resolution has been limited to the micrometer scale by the ...

Jan 19, 2026 in Nanotechnology
Phys.org / Twisted 2D materials get an ultraclean, scalable upgrade for future quantum devices

Exciting electronic characteristics emerge when scientists stack 2D materials on top of each other and give the top layer a little twist.

Jan 19, 2026 in Nanotechnology
Phys.org / Ecosystem productivity shapes how soil microbes store or release carbon, challenging old assumptions

Soils store more carbon than the atmosphere and vegetation combined, with soil microorganisms playing the main role. As a result, the global soil carbon cycle—by which carbon enters, moves through, and leaves soils worldwide—exerts ...

Jan 19, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / Woodland birds living among native trees produce more chicks, study shows

Native trees, such as oaks, have long held a special place in our culture and countryside. Now, researchers have shown that these trees are also important to woodland birds and their offspring.

Jan 19, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Nanoscopic raft dynamics on cell membranes successfully visualized for first time

A collaborative team of four professors and several graduate students from the Departments of Chemistry and Biochemical Science and Technology at National Taiwan University, together with the Department of Applied Chemistry ...

Jan 19, 2026 in Biology