Phys.org news
Phys.org / Ancient Greek priestesses may have turned ergot fungus into a psychedelic brew during the Eleusinian Mysteries
The Eleusinian Mysteries were secret religious rites in ancient Greece honoring the goddess Demeter and her daughter Persephone, and aimed to remove the fear of death. The ceremonies included days of fasting, rituals and ...
Phys.org / Rare Type Icn supernova SN 2024abvb is among the most luminous known
An international team of astronomers has carried out photometric and spectroscopic observations of SN 2024abvb—a recently discovered supernova of a rare Type Icn. The new observational campaign yields important information ...
Phys.org / Self-propelling microbes switch up swimming strategy to optimize light intake
Researchers in Hong Kong and the UK have revealed how one species of self-propelling microbes can actively change the path of their swimming motions, depending on how much light they receive. Reporting in Physical Review ...
Phys.org / Trees cover rock, eventually: Study maps how bare Georgia bedrock turns into forest
In the forests of the southeastern United States, dense tree cover dominates most landscapes. That's why the Appalachian Trail is sometimes nicknamed "The Green Tunnel." But avid hikers know that often in the Southeast, they'll ...
Phys.org / Quantum dynamics show 'memory' depends on whether states or observables evolve
An international group of researchers have investigated the role of memory in quantum systems and dynamics. Their findings show that a quantum process can appear memoryless from one perspective while retaining memory from ...
Phys.org / Feral horses and cattle create more resilient nature, rewilding study reveals
Protected natural areas across Europe are changing. Climate change, with rising temperatures and heavy rainfall, is turbocharging the growth of shrubs and trees, choking the flowers and insects that need the light and heat ...
Phys.org / 'Old Mother Goose' challenges a 14-million-year lineage story in New Zealand
The discovery of a rare fossil goose in an ancient Central Otago lake shows the evolutionary history of Aotearoa New Zealand birds is much more dynamic than once thought, a University of Otago–Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka researcher ...
Phys.org / Chemists rapidly assemble fusicoccadiene, a complex fungal molecule tied to cancer research
A Florida State University chemist has developed a method to rapidly assemble significantly complex natural molecules with potential for biomedical applications, opening the door for novel drug therapies based on the molecule's ...
Phys.org / MeerKAT discovers record-breaking cosmic laser halfway across the universe
Astronomers using the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa have discovered the most distant hydroxyl megamaser ever detected. It is located in a violently merging galaxy more than 8 billion light-years away, opening a ...
Phys.org / First 3D reconstruction of the face of 'Little Foot' completed
Identified as the most complete Australopithecus fossil discovered to date, "Little Foot" was buried in sediments whose movement and weight caused fractures and deformations, making analysis of its skull—and more particularly ...
Phys.org / 3D-printed 'plug' links fiber optics to photonic chips with low loss
Physicists and chemists at Heidelberg University have realized a photonic microchip that is driven by light just as easily as electronic components via a "plug." Their development could serve as the basis for fast and cost-effective ...
Phys.org / Physicists discover long-predicted 'clock magnetism' in an atomically thin crystal
Strange things happen to materials when you peel them down, layer by layer, from thick chunks all the way to sheets just an atom thick. Reporting in the journal Nature Materials, a team led by physicists at The University ...
