Phys.org news

Phys.org / Ultrashort laser pulses catch a snapshot of a 'molecular handshake'

Liquids and solutions are complex environments—think, for example, of sugar dissolving in water, where each sugar molecule becomes surrounded by a restless crowd of water molecules. Inside living cells, the picture is even ...

Dec 14, 2025 in Physics
Dialog / Cracking the mystery of heat flow in few-atoms thin materials

For much of my career, I have been fascinated by the ways in which materials behave when we reduce their dimensions to the nanoscale. Over and over, I've learned that when we shrink a material down to just a few nanometers ...

Dec 14, 2025 in Nanotechnology
Phys.org / Scientists discover nine new species of butterfly from South America stored at London's Natural History Museum

An international team of scientists have identified nine new species of butterflies using a combination of geographical, morphological and molecular analysis.

Dec 14, 2025 in Biology
Phys.org / How a new algorithm predicts cell fate from just one genetic snapshot

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and KTH have developed a computational method that can reveal how cells change and specialize in the body. The study, which has been published in the journal PNAS, can provide important ...

Dec 14, 2025 in Biology
Phys.org / Neutron star P13 shows dramatic X-ray variability linked to rotation velocity

A research team has investigated long-term X-ray variability in the neutron star NGC 7793 P13, an object thought to be driven by supercritical accretion, where an extraordinary amount of gas falls onto the object and emits ...

Dec 14, 2025 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / Predictive framework for 2D materials puts low-cost, printable electronics on the horizon

Imagine wearable health sensors, smart packaging, flexible displays, or disposable IoT controllers all manufactured like printed newspapers. The same technology could underpin communication circuits, sensors, and signal-processing ...

Dec 14, 2025 in Nanotechnology
Phys.org / Saturday Citations: Nice people are happier; Uranus may not be icy; SIM farm reporting

This week, researchers identified signaling pathways underpinning drug resistance in pancreatic cancer, a normally lethal diagnosis. A physicist proposed that conscious states in the brain may arise from the brain's ability ...

Dec 13, 2025 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / Misinformation is an inevitable biological reality across nature, researchers argue

From claims that vaccines don't work to manipulated images and deliberately misrepresenting what politicians say, social media is often rife with misinformation. But far from being a recent phenomenon, there is nothing new ...

Dec 13, 2025 in Biology
Phys.org / Yuletide kissers, smooch without guilt: Research suggests your mistletoe didn't harm its tree host

If mistletoe's status as a nutrient-stealing freeloader has been cooling your holiday ardor, new research led by an Oregon State University scientist may help relight the fire.

Dec 13, 2025 in Biology
Dialog / Freezing salty water reveals dynamic brine migration and evolving ice patterns

Imagine holding a narrow tube filled with salty water and watching it begin to freeze from one end. You might expect the ice to advance steadily and push the salt aside in a simple and predictable way. Yet the scene that ...

Dec 13, 2025 in Chemistry
Phys.org / Growth strategy enables coherent quantum transport in single-layer MoS₂ semiconductors

Two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors are thin materials (i.e., one-atom thick) with advantageous electronic properties. These materials have proved to be promising for the development of thinner, highly performing electronics, ...

Dec 12, 2025 in Nanotechnology
Phys.org / Earthquake rupture along Main Marmara Fault shows eastward progression towards Istanbul

In April 2025, the Main Marmara Fault below the Sea of Marmara in northwestern Türkiye experienced its largest earthquake in over 60 years. In a study published in Science, a team of researchers led by Prof. Dr. Patricia ...

Dec 12, 2025 in Earth