Phys.org news

Phys.org / 'Speed scanner' can test thousands of plant gene switches at once

Agriculture, from the outset, has been made possible by humans tweaking the genes of plants to make them grow faster, produce more of what we want, and survive drought, pests, and infection. For millennia, we did it with ...

Dec 18, 2025 in Biology
Phys.org / Light-controlled cholesterol 'look-alikes' point toward smarter drug delivery

High levels of cholesterol are linked to heart disease, stroke, and many other health problems. However, this complex and vital fatty, water insoluble molecule—a lipid—is found in every cell of the body and is not all ...

Dec 18, 2025 in Chemistry
Phys.org / Enzyme shape-shifting captured in real time during catalysis

Researchers have captured real-time "molecular movies" showing how an enzyme changes shape during catalysis. The study was published in Nature Communications.

Dec 18, 2025 in Chemistry
Phys.org / Improved tracer labeling expands PET imaging possibilities

Imagine being able to watch organs and tissues work in real time. That's the power of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging, a technology that gives physicians and researchers a window into cellular processes.

Dec 18, 2025 in Chemistry
Phys.org / Key proteins reveal how evolution of locomotion shapes bone remodeling processes

An international collaboration study reveals how evolution and locomotion patterns, such as bipedalism, shaped bone structures through proteins present in the bone matrix. The findings of the study, led by researchers from ...

Dec 18, 2025 in Biology
Phys.org / Cell death discovery could aid cancer treatments

La Trobe researchers have made a discovery about the way dying cells are cleared from our bodies, which could have important impacts on recovery from diseases including cancer infection and inflammatory diseases.

Dec 18, 2025 in Biology
Phys.org / Public seed banks can fast-track corn quality research

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign corn breeders know profitability is about more than yield. By tweaking kernel composition, they can tailor corn for lucrative biotech applications, industrial products, overseas markets, ...

Dec 18, 2025 in Biology
Phys.org / Ancient hunter-gatherer DNA may explain why some people live to 100 years or more

Our hunter-gatherer ancestors have given us many things. They passed down mastery of fire for cooking and early survival technologies, such as stone tools. They may also have given us the secret to a long life. A new study ...

Dec 17, 2025 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / Physicists push superconducting diodes to high temperatures

For the first time, researchers in China have demonstrated a high-temperature superconducting diode effect, which allows a supercurrent to flow in both directions. Published in Nature Physics, the team's result could help ...

Dec 17, 2025 in Physics
Phys.org / Saturn's rings extend further above and below the ring plane, forming a 'halo'

The Cassini probe took its final orbits, referred to as the Grand Finale Orbits (GFOs), in 2017, before launching itself into Saturn's atmosphere. During these GFOs, the probe collected samples of dust above and below Saturn's ...

Dec 17, 2025 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / How a new diet of penguins is changing puma behavior and social lives in Patagonia

Penguins in the coastal steppes of Argentina have a new enemy to worry about: the increasing numbers of pumas in Monte León National Park (MLNP). These powerful mountain cats were once on the brink of disappearing from this ...

Dec 17, 2025 in Biology
Phys.org / Subtle twist in materials prompts surprising electromagnetic behavior

Materials react differently to electric and magnetic fields, and these reactions are known as electromagnetic responses. In many solid materials, unusual electromagnetic responses have been known to only emerge when specific ...

Dec 17, 2025 in Physics