Phys.org news
Phys.org / Hidden stripe pattern lets microscopes auto-focus across 400 times deeper range
Anyone who has ever used a microscope knows that it takes time to bring a sample into sharp focus. Each time you move the slide, the image blurs, and you have to stop and carefully turn a knob to bring everything back into ...
Phys.org / With a swipe of a magnet, microscopic 'magno-bots' perform complex maneuvers
Under a microscope, a bouquet of lollipop-like structures, each smaller than a grain of sand, waves gently in a Petri dish of liquid. Suddenly, they snap together, like the jaws of a Venus flytrap, as a scientist waves a ...
Phys.org / Decades-long study finds 'stable' soil carbon degrades
After nearly four decades, the world's longest-running soil warming experiment is revealing a surprising result: even "stable" carbon in forest soils can break down as temperatures rise, releasing more CO₂ into the atmosphere. ...
Phys.org / Airborne desert dust may warm climate far more than expected, new analysis shows
Atmospheric dust plays a dual role in Earth's climate: it reflects some sunlight back into space while also absorbing and retaining the planet's heat like an insulating blanket. But while dust likely cools the planet overall, ...
Phys.org / They cover just 3% of Earth, yet the unanswered questions around them could reshape climate action forever
Researchers including a number from the University of Exeter, have identified the most urgent unanswered questions about peatlands, providing a global roadmap to guide future science and policy for one of the planet's most ...
Phys.org / Natural rubber process boosts tire toughness about tenfold while preserving stiffness
Natural rubber, tapped from trees as latex, is the world's most widely used bio-elastomer. Comprising long molecular chains that make it pliable and stretchy yet highly resistant to cracking and strain, natural rubber is ...
Phys.org / A mechanical blue LED: Stretching GaN shifts light from UV to blue without changing chemistry
A research team from the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) has successfully used mechanical stretching technology to dynamically control the emission color of gallium nitride (GaN) material from ...
Phys.org / Rainforests can buffer rising CO₂ in the short term—but this comes at a cost
Tropical forests are among the world's most important carbon sinks. A new study by the Technical University of Munich (TUM), the University of Vienna, and Brazil's National Institute for Amazonian Research suggests that even ...
Phys.org / Research reveals why beavers are getting busy sooner in spring
A University of Alberta study has whittled down climate-related reasons beavers are emerging earlier onto the ice from their lodges in the spring—a shift that helps them store more winter food but could also lead to more ...
Phys.org / Antarctica's ice shelves are vulnerable to melting from below—knowing how far ocean heat reaches is crucial
A rare dataset collected by instruments at the point where Antarctica's largest ice shelf begins to float reveals ocean processes that drive melting at this critical part of the continent.
Phys.org / Investigating the disordered heart of glass
Recent research led by the University of Trento reveals that fundamental atomic vibrations remain unchanged also in ultra-stable glasses. This discovery advances the decade-long debate on the physics of disorder and opens ...
Phys.org / Why do high-speed particles bounce higher in wet collisions?
Researchers have uncovered a counterintuitive phenomenon in collision dynamics: high-speed particles bounce back from wet walls much more strongly than expected. Integrating experimental observations with advanced numerical ...
