Phys.org news

From the rice paddies of South Asia to the wheat fields of northern China, summer monsoon rains sustain the livelihoods of billions. Yet these vital rains fluctuate dramatically from decade to decade—a variability that ...

For sexual reproduction to yield healthy offspring, newly generated oocytes—immature egg cells—must receive the correct amount of DNA after cell division. This process of segregating chromosomes becomes more prone to ...

Humans perceive emotional expressions displayed by non-human primates and spontaneously mimic these expressions, according to a study published in the open-access journal PLOS One by Ursula Hess from Humboldt University of ...

Most solid materials we rely on, from steel, to plastics and ceramics, are designed to have specific properties. Whether a material is soft and flexible, or stiff and tough depends on how molecules within the material are ...

Finding bats in the attic or under roof tiles is no homeowner's idea of fun. But Florida's endangered bonneted bats have few natural options left. With a dwindling number of large, old trees with cavities—their preferred ...

Analysis of a volcanic ash tuff layer, only a few millimeters thick and discovered during excavations in 2024, revealed that the fossil-bearing Bromacker rocks are 294 million years old—four million years older than previously ...

Genome editing-based therapies typically aim to treat disease by correcting underlying genetic mutations in patient's cells. However, most genetic disorders are caused by dozens or even thousands of unique mutations spread ...

Scientists have created a genomic blueprint for Aeromonas bacteria, which can cause antibiotic-resistant diarrheal disease—with symptoms often misidentified as cholera—in humans and animals.

Johns Hopkins Medicine scientists say they have developed a simplified version of biodegradable nanoparticles that can "educate" the immune system to find and destroy disease-causing cells throughout the body. The study, ...

In a new analysis, racial and ethnic disparities in fatal shootings of U.S. residents by police varied widely between states. Roland Neil of the RAND Corporation in California, U.S., and colleagues present these findings ...

Plants are constantly on guard. Their roots are equipped with molecular alarm systems that detect invading microbes and trigger immune responses. Yet beneficial soil fungi routinely enter living root cells and establish close ...

The news media is shaping reproductive narratives and stigma around childlessness, presenting it as a threat to national interests, a deviation from moral or cultural norms, as a risk and, sometimes, as a legitimate life ...