Phys.org news
Phys.org / When uncertainty spikes, chasing rewards backfires and a more informed strategy pulls ahead
Humans and other animals are constantly required to make decisions under uncertain conditions or while in rapidly changing environments. Past psychology and biology studies showed that some decision-making strategies can ...
Phys.org / How a single star can reshape an entire galaxy
Astronomers who simulate galaxies do not always get the same result, even when they start from identical conditions. New research from Leiden University shows that this is not a flaw, but a consequence of how galaxies behave—and ...
Phys.org / Deep beneath Swiss Alps, researchers trigger 8,000 tiny quakes in controlled test
Researchers have made the ground shake in southern Switzerland, triggering thousands of tiny earthquakes in a monitored setting, as they seek to discover seismicity insights that could reduce risks.
Phys.org / Heat index maps uncover when city greening cools most—and when it can backfire
Tree shade is one of the fastest ways to make heat more bearable. It cuts direct sunlight, protects people walking or working outdoors, and remains essential for heat action plans. A new study by researchers from the Indian ...
Phys.org / Shark face study uncovers 400-million-year-old blueprint shared across jawed vertebrates
Most of what scientists know about face development comes from studies in bony vertebrates such as mice, chickens, and zebrafish. However, their evolutionary counterparts, cartilaginous fishes, have remained largely unexplored. ...
Phys.org / Hubble survey sets up Roman's future look near Milky Way's center
The Milky Way's galactic bulge, the bulbous region that surrounds the galactic center, contains a dense collection of stars, planets, and other free-floating objects. This region has been studied for decades with numerous ...
Phys.org / Metagenomics and AI could unlock uncultivated bacteria and archaea
Advances in DNA sequencing have expanded our view of the microbial world, but the inability to cultivate most microbes has been a major constraint. Now, a systematic, predictive framework that combines existing genomic and ...
Phys.org / Advanced construction techniques and domestic layouts discovered in Roman-Byzantine villages of Syria
Having weathered nearly 1,500 years of time and exposure, the remains of Roman-Byzantine villages in Syria have been the subject of recent architectural investigations, which reveal remarkable design features, local construction ...
Phys.org / Brazilian microfossils interpreted as animal traces are actually algae and bacteria, research reveals
A reexamination of microfossils found in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul shows that the marks previously interpreted as traces of worms or other small oceanic animals are actually communities of fossilized microscopic ...
Phys.org / Researchers find coherent ferrons—polarization waves with potential across quantum and telecom applications
In new research published in Nature Materials, a team of researchers led by Columbia University chemist Xiaoyang Zhu, in collaboration with fellow Columbians Xavier Roy, Milan Delor, Dmitri Basov, and James McIver, has observed ...
Phys.org / New AI tool predicts how cells choose their future—helping uncover hidden drivers of development
What are the first steps that chart the path for a cell to become a blood cell, neuron cell, or pigment cell? Scientists have developed increasingly powerful tools to track those changes, but one challenge has persisted: ...
Phys.org / Why prescribed fire often fails: Scorched invasive shrubs can resprout instead of die
Invasive woody plants present a major ecological challenge in eastern U.S. forests by outcompeting native species and spreading quickly, forming dense thickets that crowd out native plants and disrupt ecosystems. Land managers ...
