Phys.org news
Phys.org / Clean drinking water gaps linked to hunger and unsafe food worldwide
A new global study has found that people without access to clean drinking water are significantly more likely to experience food insecurity and food safety threats, underscoring the urgent need for coordinated global action ...
Phys.org / Atacama Desert's extreme aridity initiated 20 million years earlier than previously thought, study finds
A collaborative study with the University of Cologne, recently published in Nature Communications, provides compelling evidence that the extreme aridity in the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert began over 40 million years ...
Phys.org / New mantises planking their way to urban dominance
A team of scientists have discovered and named three new "leaf-planking" praying mantis species and recorded another mantis species turning up far from its assumed habitat. JCU Ph.D. candidate Matthew Connors recently discovered ...
Phys.org / Tiny membrane tethers revealed as key to plant cell survival in drought
Water deficit resistance in plants has long been a topic of interest for cultivating reliable crops. Some plants can alter their above-ground structure to lock in moisture, while others develop deep, industrious roots that ...
Phys.org / Extreme weather is making Antarctic research harder, but new technology is providing some answers
When you think of Antarctica, you might imagine a stark, otherworldly continent of endless, white ice, with the only sound being the wind punctuated by the crack of a glacier calving in the distance.
Phys.org / Antibiotic resistance turns up in Australian horses, raising new concerns about animal and human infections
Research into a common environmental germ that can cause severe infections in people and animals has raised concern that horses are starting to develop antibiotic resistance towards it. The University of the Sunshine Coast ...
Phys.org / 'Genetic brakes' reveal how embryos shape their limbs
Canadian scientists have made a significant advance in understanding the mechanisms that enable embryos to properly form their limbs, thanks to new research led by Université de Montréal medical professor Marie Kmita at the ...
Phys.org / From flat moss to forests and flowers: Protein discovery may explain how plants conquered land
If plants had never learned to grow in multiple directions, our world would look very different. No trees, flowers, or other complex plants—and therefore no animals or humans. New research from the University of Copenhagen ...
Phys.org / Fluorescent nanosensor detects key gut biomarker in minutes for faster testing
A research collaboration has developed a novel fluorescent nanosensor capable of rapidly detecting indole-3-propionic acid (IPA), an emerging biomarker linked to gut health and disease. The breakthrough is described in the ...
Phys.org / Mathematician solves origami donut efficiency challenge with fewest folds
Most people wouldn't think that it would take rigorous mathematical proof to show how many folds it takes to make a donut shape out of paper. Yet, no one could quite figure it out until recently.
Phys.org / One of our planets may be missing, and it could explain why the solar system looks the way it does
Our solar system has two ice giants, Uranus and Neptune, but there may have been a third. According to a new study published in the journal Icarus, this extra world might have triggered a violent planetary shuffling billions ...
Phys.org / A giant star may have destroyed itself in one of the universe's rarest explosions
Astronomers may have discovered one of the clearest examples yet of a rare "pair-instability" supernova. It is a catastrophic explosion thought to completely destroy some of the most massive stars in the universe, leaving ...