Phys.org news

Phys.org / Air pollution causes social instability in ant colonies, triggering attacks on returning nest mates

A research team from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology has shown in a new study that ants returning from habitats affected by air pollution are attacked when they re-enter the colony. The cause: air pollution, ...

Feb 2, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Two-step approach creates more sustainable protein nanostructures for advanced sensing and therapeutics

Gas vesicles are among the largest known protein nanostructures produced and assembled inside microbial cells. These hollow, air-filled cylindrical nanostructures found in certain aquatic microbes have drawn increasing interest ...

Feb 2, 2026 in Nanotechnology
Phys.org / Resilience bonds could serve as an insurance solution to address climate change risks

Researchers with Lehigh University's Center for Catastrophe Modeling and Resilience, led by anthropologist David G. Casagrande, have identified two urgent challenges the United States faces in adapting to climate change: ...

Feb 2, 2026 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / How bacteria learned to target numerous cell types

Viruses attack nearly every living organism on Earth. To do so, they rely on highly specialized proteins that recognize and bind to receptors on the surface of target cells, a molecular arms race that drives constant evolution. ...

Feb 2, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Mapping how Arctic groundwater will respond to thawing permafrost

Dalhousie researchers have revealed how Arctic aquifers—permeable layers of the ground that store and transmit water to rivers, lakes and terrestrial ecosystems—behave today and how these vital resources will change with ...

Feb 2, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / New class of catalysts could dramatically change playing field in nickel catalysis

Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have reported a breakthrough in nickel catalysis that harnesses a rare oxidation state of nickel that has proved challenging to control yet is highly valued for its ...

Feb 2, 2026 in Chemistry
Phys.org / AI mapping reveals over 20,000 malaria protein interactions across parasite life cycle

An international research team headed by scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and the Center for Structural Systems Biology and Bernhard-Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Germany has revealed ...

Feb 2, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Nanotubes with lids mimic real biology

When water and ions move together through channels only a nanometer wide, they behave in unusual ways. In these tight spaces, water molecules line up in single file. This forces ions to shed some of the water molecules that ...

Feb 2, 2026 in Nanotechnology
Phys.org / Bigger is not always better: Smaller leaves optimize light use in soybeans

In efforts to better understand how soybean plants capture and use light, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign investigated how leaf size and shape affect light distribution within the crop canopy. Using ...

Feb 2, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / North Sea sandstone could be used to store carbon dioxide, report suggests

Sandstone beneath the North Sea could be used to store carbon dioxide, a study has claimed. The British Geological Survey (BGS) report shows how sandstone beneath the North Sea could assist with the U.K.'s plans for carbon ...

Feb 2, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / Analyzing an enigmatic enzyme with potential for new antibiotic drug discovery

An analysis of an unusual enzyme could result in a new generation of antimicrobial medicines to counter antibiotic resistance. Key details in the enzyme-driven biosynthesis of a natural molecule with potent antibiotic activity ...

Feb 2, 2026 in Chemistry
Phys.org / 'Northwest Passage' mechanism of bile acid transport reveals a voltage-dependent pathway

In a study published in Nature on January 28, a research team led by Eric H. Xu (Xu Huaqiang) from the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, along with Ma Xiong from Renji Hospital, determined ...

Feb 2, 2026 in Biology