Phys.org news

Phys.org / Medieval text family trees suggest 60% of works vanished over centuries

For every King Arthur or Roland, whose adventures readers can still enjoy today, another hero of ancient literature may have been lost forever. Before the printing press, texts were copied manually. This process introduced ...

Jul 7, 2026
Phys.org / New ultrathin lens focuses light into an optical needle

Researchers have created a special flat lens that shapes light into an optical needle—a thin beam that stays tightly focused over a long distance. Combining this lens, which is about 7 microns thick, with optical coherence ...

Jul 7, 2026
Phys.org / Massive calving episode in Greenland may foreshadow more rapid ice sheet loss

In November 2025, a study led by Adrien Wehrlé, a researcher in the Department of Geography at the University of Zürich, Switzerland, looked at the massive calving response of one of West Greenland's active glaciers, Sermeq ...

Jul 7, 2026
Phys.org / Day-night ocean warming helps explain why El Niño outpaces La Niña in models

Researchers have long known that there is an asymmetry in the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the confluence of wind and water currents that creates warm El Niño events and cooler La Niña events. Large-scale climate ...

Jul 7, 2026
Phys.org / Pressure unlocks 3D superconductivity in tantalum disulfide at triple the temperature

Superconductors have long been considered a promising technology for the energy systems of the future. They can conduct electricity without resistance, thus eliminating both conduction losses and waste heat. Up to now, however, ...

Jul 7, 2026
Phys.org / Tiny carbon rings enable a new form of quantum control

Quantum states can be precisely controlled with the help of tiny carbon rings measuring only a few nanometers in size. This is made possible by a class of rarely used electromagnetic dipoles called toroidal moments. Using ...

Jul 7, 2026
Phys.org / New biobased polymers exhibit excellent tensile properties beyond polyolefins

The research group of Professor Kotohiro Nomura, Tokyo Metropolitan University, in cooperation with the research groups of Senior Researcher Hiroshi Hirano and Director Seiji Higashi of the Osaka Research Institute of Industrial ...

Jul 7, 2026
Phys.org / Ancient jaw wound reveals possible violence in Homo sapiens 90,000 years ago

Violence, the care of injured or ill individuals, and funerary behavior are among the most challenging aspects of the human past to reconstruct. A study published in Scientific Reports and led by researchers from the Centro ...

Jul 7, 2026
Phys.org / Magnetic octupole model captures domain-wall motion in noncollinear antiferromagnets

Researchers from The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed the first magnetic multipole-based micromagnetic model for antiferromagnets. Published in Applied Physics ...

Jul 7, 2026
Phys.org / Migratory birds may carry fewer parasites between islands than expected, DNA shows

A new study published in the Journal of Helminthology by researchers from the Estonian University of Life Sciences and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, together with collaborators from Greenland and the Faroe ...

Jul 7, 2026
Phys.org / Raptorial insect forelegs evolved repeatedly but never converged on one winning design

The evolutionary paths that created snatching forelimbs in insects multiple times moved in a similar direction but didn't end at a single solution. Kobe University research is pioneering a study of how organs with similar ...

Jul 7, 2026
Phys.org / Where rivers face collapse: New tool shows where conservation dollars can do most good

Freshwater ecosystems are under growing pressure worldwide, but conservation resources are limited. A framework developed by IIASA researchers and partners can help identify where conservation could prevent biodiversity loss ...

Jul 7, 2026