Phys.org news

Phys.org / Students with lower grades earn degrees more often when they belong to an academic major's majority group

Despite efforts to encourage broader participation, women earn about 25% of undergraduate engineering degrees and 18% of undergraduate computer science degrees—and men remain a small minority among people earning nursing ...

Sep 4, 2026
Phys.org / A new type of LED light could bring significant efficiency gains

Researchers at Lund University have developed a new type of light-emitting diode based on thin, branched nanowires that could offer significantly higher efficiency and lower production costs than current technology. By controlling ...

Sep 4, 2026
Phys.org / Periodical cicadas may be doomed to extinction

Every 13 or 17 years, swarms of cicadas emerge from the ground, their black bodies, orange-tinged wings and ruby-red eyes enveloping trees and forests. It is a biological marvel unique in the insect world, and when it happens, ...

Sep 4, 2026
Phys.org / Magic-angle graphene provides evidence for unconventional superconductivity

Researchers have completely suppressed superconductivity in magic-angle graphene by screening interactions between electrons, helping resolve a long-running debate about the origin of the phenomenon.

Sep 4, 2026
Phys.org / Sound waves and water droplets transform paper waste into higher-value chemical compound

Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed a fast, simple way to turn lignin, a plentiful plant-based byproduct of the papermaking industry, into potentially more valuable renewable chemicals.

Sep 4, 2026
Phys.org / How Mercury formed its graphite crust and core

As the BepiColombo mission prepares to enter the final phase of its journey to Mercury, a series of studies conducted by researchers at the University of Liège and KU Leuven sheds new light on the early stages of the evolution ...

Sep 4, 2026
Phys.org / Virus-like particles enable gene activity tracking over time in the same cells

In recent years, scientists have developed methods to measure a cell's transcriptome, or all the RNA produced by a cell, to study the cell's identity and genetic activity. However, these methods rely on killing the cell to ...

Sep 4, 2026
Phys.org / Ultrafast electrons and lasers reveal unexpectedly strong radiation signals in common semiconductors

Detecting radiation is key to technologies ranging from particle accelerators and scientific instruments to medical imaging and security screening. But current detectors must often make trade-offs, providing signals that ...

Sep 4, 2026
Phys.org / Researchers tune into Arctic under-ice sounds and test through-ice communication

Beneath the Arctic Ocean is an orchestra featuring natural and human composers, from cracking sea ice and whistling beluga whales to humming shipping-vessel engines. Researchers from MIT Lincoln Laboratory heard some of this ...

Sep 4, 2026
Phys.org / In ant nervous systems, gene expression may drive rescue behavior

Why do some ants help nestmates in distress while others don't? A research team from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and Tel Aviv University addressed this question in a new study. The researchers examined worker ...

Sep 4, 2026
Phys.org / New AI tool maps the hidden universe of small molecules

The human body and its gut microbiome produce thousands of small molecules that shape how the body functions—influencing immunity, metabolism and more. Identifying what those molecules actually are has been one of the biomedical ...

Sep 4, 2026
Phys.org / Archaea as 'flexitarians': Ammonia-oxidizing microbes also feed on amino acids

Symbiotic ammonia-oxidizing archaea in marine sponges are not strict specialists but true "flexitarians." A team led by microbiologists Bettina Glasl and Katharina Kitzinger from the University of Vienna, in collaboration ...

Sep 4, 2026