Phys.org news
Phys.org / Red-tailed hawks maintain flight performance despite missing feathers
Red-tailed hawks can compensate for feather loss during molt by subtly changing their wing and tail movements, according to a new study by University of California, Davis, researchers in the College of Engineering and the ...
Phys.org / Ultra-faint galaxy discovered near Andromeda may be 12.5 billion years old
A new ultra-faint dwarf galaxy has been discovered in the vicinity of Andromeda (M31), the Milky Way's large neighboring galaxy. The new study, published in Astronomy & Astrophysics suggests that the galaxy, named And XXXVI, ...
Phys.org / Ozone depletion began decades before discovery of ozone hole, scientists find
The Antarctic ozone hole was discovered in 1985, when scientists observed a severe depletion in Earth's protective layer of stratospheric ozone. Industrial chemicals known as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), then widely used as ...
Phys.org / Deep inside crocodile skulls, 100 million years of brain evolution barely registers
Although modern crocodiles, alligators, caimans and gharials are restricted to the tropics, their fossil record tells a very different story. Ancient crocodylians once inhabited much of the globe and exhibited a remarkable ...
Phys.org / New Horizons tracks solar wind slowdown as interstellar atoms add drag
A new Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) study based on data from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has uncovered insights into why the solar wind gradually slows as it moves toward the edge of the solar system and the boundary ...
Phys.org / Disorder creates direction-dependent optics in compound semiconductors
An international research team has demonstrated that the intrinsic disorder of the compound semiconductor CuInSnS₄ can be exploited to influence its optical properties. While the atomic vibrations also sense the local disorder, ...
Phys.org / Why Europe's rising plant diversity may signal habitat disruption, not ecological recovery
The number of plant species in many ecosystems in Europe has grown rather than shrunk over the last 100 years. However, this is not necessarily cause for celebration, as this local increase is primarily due to generalists ...
Phys.org / Childbirth is not uniquely difficult to humans
The tight fit of a baby's head through a mother's birth canal, which causes great difficulty in childbirth, is not unique to humans, as previously understood. Instead, some small-bodied primate babies have heads almost twice ...
Phys.org / A goat's tooth may have solved a 100‑year debate about ancient Greek farming
The agricultural economy was the backbone of wealth in ancient Greece. Food brought people together, whether in smaller groups at a wine-drinking symposium or the entire community in a sacrificial feast of epic proportions. ...
Phys.org / Great Barrier Reef drilling reveals repeated collapse, regrowth and migration since last ice age
An international expedition including University of Sydney researchers has pieced together the clearest picture yet of how the Great Barrier Reef responded to dramatic environmental change over the past 30,000 years. Multiple ...
Phys.org / Analyzing avalanches on asteroid Vesta offers new method for understanding regolith processes
A study conducted at the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris uses images from NASA's Dawn mission and a Bayesian inversion of the Hapke photometric model to analyze avalanches and ejecta deposits on the asteroid Vesta. ...
Phys.org / There may be 3 times more insect species than previously thought
A new estimate of insect species globally finds that there may be 8 million to 14 million more species than people thought, with few of them discovered.
