Phys.org news

Phys.org / Capybaras in the desert? Fossil casts doubt on Atacama as world's oldest continuously dry region

Ask any zoo-goer and they will tell you that capybaras are adorable. Ask a scientist specializing in the rodents, which resemble oversized guinea pigs, and they will tell you they are obligate semiaquatic herbivores that ...

Sep 17, 2026
Phys.org / Chemists overturn 40-year assumption about a key class of superconductors

Scientists at Warwick have shown that a material treated for 40 years as a uniform, textbook superconductor is in fact a patchwork of different crystal structures throughout its bulk, using an advanced 3D imaging technique ...

Sep 17, 2026
Phys.org / New krypton-88 data narrow a key gap in stellar strontium models

An international research team has reported the first experimental investigation of a nuclear physics reaction essential for understanding how the element strontium is produced in stars—specifically in stellar environments ...

Sep 17, 2026
Phys.org / European ash pangenome could help researchers breed a generation of trees resistant to ash dieback

In a study published in the journal Nature Communications, researchers from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Forest Research and collaborating organizations present the first-ever European ash (Fraxinus excelsior) pangenome, ...

Sep 17, 2026
Phys.org / A new bridge for quantum networks: Physicists convert microwaves to light using 2D magnets

Physicists at The City College of New York have demonstrated a new way to transfer microwave signals onto light using magnetic waves inside a layered semiconductor. The work establishes a materials platform for building interfaces ...

Sep 17, 2026
Phys.org / Black holes from stellar to supermassive size may follow one jet-launching rule

An early-career Western Australian astrophysicist has helped uncover a universal rule behind one of the most powerful behaviors in the universe: when black holes launch jets. The discovery, published in the journal Nature ...

Sep 17, 2026
Phys.org / A glimpse of the solar system's origins: Striking details on the molecules inside a meteorite

Researchers at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory and Brookhaven National Laboratory have teamed up to get a fresh look at the complex makeup of meteorites and glimpse into our solar system's past.

Sep 17, 2026
Phys.org / Using sound waves to turn iron and water into magnetic nanoparticles

Iron rusts on its own, slowly, over months or years. Now, researchers at Tohoku University have found a way to compress the process of metal reacting with water to form oxide, taking mere hours and using nothing more than ...

Sep 17, 2026
Phys.org / Nullarbor mapping reveals surface signs of deep, hidden cave systems

Mysterious trenches stretching for kilometers across southern Australia's Nullarbor Plain have been revealed as the surface footprints of deep, hidden ancient cave systems.

Sep 17, 2026
Phys.org / Fossil plankton shells reveal reduced nitrogen fixation in warmer oceans 3 million years ago

Nitrogen is a key nutrient because it fuels the growth of plankton, which forms the basis of the marine food web. Two opposing processes determine the global nitrogen cycle: nitrogen fixation and denitrification.

Sep 17, 2026
Phys.org / Ubiquitin marks abnormal glycogen for destruction to protect the brain, study finds

Researchers at the University of Cambridge and the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology have discovered a previously unknown cellular defense system that protects the brain from abnormal glycogen accumulation, which is linked ...

Sep 17, 2026
Phys.org / A finely tuned mess—how disorder can make networks more stable

Perfection is overrated—at least when it comes to complex systems like the power grid, food webs and advanced materials. For decades, scientists generally assumed that networks function most reliably when their individual ...

Sep 17, 2026