Phys.org news

Phys.org / Young brood-parasitic cowbirds may seek out unrelated adult females as role models

Unlike most other bird species, the brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) lays its eggs in the nests of other bird species and leaves the host to raise its young—a behavior known as brood parasitism. To become a successful ...

Jul 7, 2025 in Biology
Phys.org / An approach to realize heralded photon storage in a Rydberg superatom

Quantum technologies, systems that operate leveraging quantum mechanical effects, have the potential to outperform classical technologies in some specific tasks. Over the past decades, some researchers have also been trying ...

Jul 7, 2025 in Physics
Phys.org / Grigoriev 1: New eclipsing variable star discovered in the Pegasus constellation

Astronomers from the Center of Astronomical and Space Education in Moscow report the discovery of a new star, which turned out to be an eclipsing variable binary. The finding of the new star, which received designation Grigoriev ...

Jul 7, 2025 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / Fig trees convert atmospheric CO₂ to stone, research reveals

Some species of fig trees store calcium carbonate in their trunks—essentially turning themselves (partially) into stone, new research has found. The team of Kenyan, U.S., Austrian, and Swiss scientists found that the trees ...

Jul 7, 2025 in Earth
Phys.org / A new organometallic compound challenges a fundamental principle of textbook chemistry

For more than a century, the well-known 18-electron rule has guided the field of organometallic chemistry. Now, researchers at Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST), in collaboration with scientists from Germany, ...

Jul 7, 2025 in Chemistry
Phys.org / Cold hydrogen clouds discovered inside superheated Fermi bubbles at Milky Way's center

Researchers have found clouds of cold gas embedded deep within larger, superheated gas clouds—or Fermi bubbles—at the Milky Way's center. The finding challenges current models of Fermi bubble formation and reveals that ...

Jul 7, 2025 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / Scientists discover giant 'sinkites' beneath the North Sea

Scientists have discovered hundreds of giant sand bodies beneath the North Sea that appear to defy fundamental geological principles and could have important implications for energy and carbon storage.

Jul 7, 2025 in Earth
Phys.org / Steering brain cells with magnetic nanoparticles to rebuild lost connections

A collaborative study led by Professor Vittoria Raffa at the University of Pisa and Assistant Professor Fabian Raudzus (Department of Clinical Application) has unveiled a novel approach that uses magnetically guided mechanical ...

Jul 7, 2025 in Nanotechnology
Phys.org / Scientists uncover 'superfamily' of bacterial predator proteins

Scientists have identified a new type of protein in bacteria that could change our understanding of how these organisms interact with their environments.

Jul 7, 2025 in Biology
Phys.org / Plate tectonics—mineral olivine found crucial for heat transport in the mantle

Due to the radiative thermal conductivity of the mineral olivine, only oceanic plates over 60 million years old and subducting at more than 10 centimeters per year remain sufficiently cold to transport water into Earth's ...

Jul 7, 2025 in Earth
Phys.org / Hydrogen atom transfer method selectively transforms carboxylic acids using an inexpensive photocatalyst

Carboxylic acids are ubiquitous in bioactive organic molecules and readily available chemical building blocks. Carboxylic acids can be converted into carboxy radicals that can initiate versatile carbon–carbon and carbon–heteroatom ...

Jul 7, 2025 in Chemistry
Phys.org / Mutagenesis technique boosts the efficiency of rubisco, a key enzyme in photosynthesis

During photosynthesis, an enzyme called rubisco catalyzes a key reaction—the incorporation of carbon dioxide into organic compounds to create sugars. However, rubisco, which is believed to be the most abundant enzyme on ...

Jul 7, 2025 in Biology