Phys.org news

Phys.org / Methane's missing emissions: The underestimated impact of small sources

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, with an impact estimated at 80 times that of CO₂. Although efforts are being made to reduce the contribution of big polluters to methane in Japan, new research from Osaka Metropolitan ...

Feb 24, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / With the flip of a switch, scientists harness light to program how particles interact and assemble

NYU scientists are using light to precisely control how tiny particles organize themselves into crystals. Their research, published in Chem, provides a simple and reversible method for forming crystals that can be used to ...

Feb 24, 2026 in Chemistry
Phys.org / Ant queen frozen in time: New ant species found in Dominican amber

A study by Dr. Gianpiero Fiorentino and his colleagues, published in the Journal of Paleontology, describes the identification of a new species of ant, Hypoponera electrocacica, belonging to the genus Hypoponera and representing ...

Feb 23, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Quantum algorithm beats classical tools on complement sampling tasks

Quantum computers—devices that process information using quantum mechanical effects—have long been expected to outperform classical systems on certain tasks. Over the past few decades, researchers have worked to rigorously ...

Feb 23, 2026 in Physics
Phys.org / Astronomers discover rare super-Jupiter orbiting distant star

Using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), an international team of astronomers has discovered a new exoplanet orbiting a distant star known as TIC-65910228. The newfound alien world is slightly larger and ...

Feb 23, 2026 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / Earth's mantle may have been cooler than thought before Pangea's breakup

When the supercontinent Pangea began to fragment around 200 million years ago during the Early Jurassic, it reshaped the face of the planet. Vast new oceans opened, continents drifted apart and the familiar geography of today ...

Feb 23, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / Mysterious Greek inscription reignites debate on whether a Syrian mosque stands atop Roman Emperor Elagabalus' Temple

A recently discovered Greek inscription at the base of a column inside the Great Mosque of Homs in Syria has rekindled a longstanding scholarly debate about the exact location of the Temple of the sun, whose high priest ascended ...

Feb 23, 2026 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / CT scans of Inca child sacrifices reveal new details about capacocha rituals

The Incas were known to engage in a sacrificial ritual involving children to appease their gods. Archaeologists have found and analyzed the remains of these human sacrifices, although not all of them have undergone CT scanning, ...

Feb 23, 2026 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / Global greening: Study shows Earth's green wave is shifting northeast

A team of scientists led by the German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research (UFZ), and Leipzig University has developed a new method to track Earth's greenness—a ...

Feb 23, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / Iron Age massacre targeted women and children, new research reveals

New research has revealed that women and children were deliberately targeted in one of the largest prehistoric mass killings discovered in Europe. Archaeological investigations at the Gomolava burial sites in northern Serbia ...

Feb 23, 2026 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / Quantum computers go high-dimensional with a four-state photon gate

The collaboration of TU Wien with research groups in China has resulted in a crucial building block for a new kind of quantum computer: The realization of a novel type of quantum logic gate makes it possible to carry out ...

Feb 23, 2026 in Physics
Phys.org / Jupiter's Galilean moons may have gained life's building blocks at birth

Southwest Research Institute was part of an international team that demonstrated how complex organic molecules (COMs), key chemical precursors to life, could have been incorporated into Jupiter's Galilean moons during their ...

Feb 23, 2026 in Astronomy & Space