Phys.org news
Phys.org / Physicists watch a material's electrons assemble, and reassemble, into coexisting phases
A tall glass of ice water isn't just a thirst quencher; it's also an everyday example of coexisting phases. Water can exist simultaneously in both liquid and solid phases. As it turns out, this phase duality can also exist ...
Phys.org / Galactic spins carry fingerprints of the primordial universe
The origin of spin in spiral and elliptical galaxies has posed a long-standing puzzle for astronomers. One idea, known as tidal torque theory, proposes that galaxies' spins are an imprinted record of the early universe, imparted ...
Phys.org / Tiny floating magnet detects ultrafaint magnetic fields at room temperature
Measuring faint magnetic fields is useful in a number of areas, including mapping brain activity, monitoring hearts and probing fundamental physics. Typically, picking up such weak signals requires expensive or bulky equipment, ...
Phys.org / Boron layers could set a superconductivity record, theoretical study predicts
Scientists in China predict that stacking two microscopic layers of boron could set a new record for superconductivity. Superconductors are materials that conduct electricity with zero resistance. Traditional types need temperatures ...
Phys.org / XENONnT detector narrows the hunt for dark matter
Using a detector filled with nearly 9 metric tons of liquid xenon, researchers have delivered some of the most sensitive dark matter results ever recorded. In the latest analysis from the XENON collaboration, working at the ...
Phys.org / An ultramassive white dwarf half Earth's size may hold a rare oxygen-neon core
Astronomers have found evidence that one of the most massive white dwarfs known has an oxygen-neon core instead of the more common carbon-oxygen core. The finding is important because the composition of a white dwarf's core ...
Phys.org / Crossing into a mirror world: Particles turn to wisps of fog, and the magnetic monopole paradox dissolves
In Goethe's ballad "Erlkönig," immortalized in Schubert's fevered 1815 setting, a dying boy riding through the night sees a spectral king beckoning from the darkness. His father calms him: "Mein Sohn, es ist ein Nebelstreif"—my ...
Phys.org / Phages unlock essential vitamin B12 by bursting open gut bacteria
All living organisms need vitamin B12 to form red blood cells and DNA, as well as to build and support brain and nerve cells. But it's hard to come by: Humans don't make it. Animals don't make it. Plants don't make it. In ...
Phys.org / One million years without sex fails to erase stick insects' unused biological system
Scientists have made a surprising finding about how an asexually reproducing stick insect has evolved. Research led by Dr. Darren Parker, lecturer in evolutionary biology at Bangor University, studied the genes of several ...
Phys.org / US firm takes on backyard mosquitoes—with 600,000 mosquitoes
Todd Montgomery pops the lid off a small tube and taps out hundreds of mosquitoes into the backyard of a suburban home outside Washington.
Phys.org / Birdsong and whale song show patterns similar to human language
An international team of researchers has uncovered a previously undetected structure in the birdsong of Bengalese finches that has the same statistical patterns found in human languages.
Phys.org / New AI model reveals the volume of the world's glaciers
How much ice is stored in the world's glaciers? And where exactly is it located? A new study led by Ca' Foscari University of Venice, in collaboration with the Institute of Polar Sciences of the National Research Council ...