Phys.org news

Phys.org / Time-gating technique sees through deep tissue, dense fog, and other obstacles

From helping doctors detect cancer to guiding self-driving cars through traffic, many modern imaging systems rely on near-infrared light, producing a crisp picture when visible light would scatter and yield a blurry picture. ...

Aug 17, 2026
Phys.org / Ancient Austronesian seafarers carried symbolic art 4,000 years ago

A 4,000-year-old painted stone plaque discovered on a remote Indonesian island is the first known example of portable art belonging to the Austronesian Painting Tradition (APT), providing a rare glimpse into the symbolic ...

Aug 17, 2026
Phys.org / Gluons may play a central role in baryon number conservation—and matter's stability

New results from the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) suggest that gluons, the glue-like particles that hold quarks together inside protons, play a central role in the conservation of baryon number—an ...

Aug 17, 2026
Phys.org / Hubble solves merger mystery from Milky Way's early years

Our home galaxy, the Milky Way, grew to its current size in part by consuming smaller galaxies. Now, new data from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope show definitive evidence of a dwarf galaxy merging with the young Milky Way ...

Aug 17, 2026
Phys.org / Tiny feet on cells can sense defects and stall migration to heal wounds

Cells travel through the body both individually and in collective groups during development, wound healing and diseases such as cancer. New research from the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. ...

Aug 17, 2026
Phys.org / Graphene device measures fractional electric charges carried by some of quantum physics' strangest objects

An electron is supposed to be indivisible. It carries one fundamental unit of electric charge, and every electron is exactly the same. But under extreme conditions, large numbers of electrons act together and give rise to ...

Aug 17, 2026
Phys.org / Pesticides make Argentine ants go crazy, sending them roaming or clustering before workers die

Don't assume an uptick in ant activity after setting out pesticide traps means the treatment failed. New UC Riverside research shows their behavior changes as chemicals make their way through a colony.

Aug 17, 2026
Phys.org / Red blood cells inspire next-generation therapeutic nanocarriers

Red blood cells serve as the foundation for nanocarriers that show promise in a new study as effective and efficient vehicles for gene therapy, tumor targeting and other medical treatments. Scientists at The Ohio State University ...

Aug 17, 2026
Phys.org / Can computers learn what makes the most iconic jazz musicians stand out?

Machine learning models can identify jazz pianists from recordings and reveal the musical "fingerprints" that make individual performers recognizable, according to a study investigating 20 famous jazz pianists. The research, ...

Aug 17, 2026
Phys.org / Two eyeless shrimp-like species found in Japan's groundwater are new to science

Researchers have identified two new species in the genus Bogidiella, small shrimp-like amphipods that live in subterranean aquatic environments, from cave waters on the Ryukyu Islands, a subtropical island chain in southwestern ...

Aug 17, 2026
Phys.org / World off-track on nearly every food system goal, latest assessment reveals

The latest study from the Food Systems Countdown Initiative (FSCI) reveals the stark reality of where global food systems transformation stands: for most indicators on health, environment, livelihoods, governance and resilience, ...

Aug 17, 2026
Phys.org / Stellar explosions come into focus with new nuclear reaction measurements

In two separate papers published in Physical Review Letters, researchers investigated the nuclear reactions that take place inside supernovae and X-ray bursts—two of the universe's most powerful explosions. Together, the ...

Aug 17, 2026