Phys.org news

Phys.org / How Argonaute, a key protein for RNA therapeutics, becomes activated

RNA therapeutics have emerged as one of the most promising new classes of medicines. Eight small interfering RNA (siRNA) drugs have already been approved worldwide for the treatment of genetic diseases, yet scientists have ...

Jun 10, 2026
Phys.org / Acoustic environment may explain why some bird songs outlast others

From melodic morning choruses to territorial songs that echo through forests and grasslands, birds rely on vocalizations to communicate, attract mates and defend valuable habitat. For songbirds, these vocal displays are not ...

Jun 10, 2026
Phys.org / AI model 'hears' Bryde's whale calls in seismic data from South China Sea

Researchers have repurposed an AI model designed for visual identification tasks to detect Bryde's whale calls contained within seismic data collected in the South China Sea. The detection system precisely identified calls ...

Jun 10, 2026
Phys.org / 'Cold insurance' for crops: Researchers unlock 'on-demand' climate resilience

Rapidly intensifying global climate instability is causing increasingly erratic temperature fluctuations. When sudden cold snaps strike during a crop's critical flowering window, they trigger irreversible pollen abortion, ...

Jun 10, 2026
Phys.org / How anti-CRISPR proteins promote the spread of hospital-acquired infections

Researchers from Skoltech—a VEB.RF group institution—and their colleagues from the U.S. and China have explained how the antibiotic resistance gene established itself in the genome of the bacterium Klebsiella pneumoniae. ...

Jun 10, 2026
Phys.org / Algorithm visualizes how cells 'talk' to one another across tissue and time

People communicate with each other, sometimes face to face, sometimes with a text message or phone call. Cells also communicate with each other, sometimes by touching and sometimes by sending signals across space and time. ...

Jun 10, 2026
Phys.org / Dead organisms have a lasting ecological legacy, new research shows

Trees, grasses, corals, and oysters are foundational to the structure of an ecosystem while they are alive. But new research led by the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University ...

Jun 10, 2026
Phys.org / 'Cool Routes' finds cooler walking paths with hourly forecasts and street-level shade data

The Arizona sunshine hits like a blowtorch. The pavement radiates heat like a stove burner. To make hot-weather walking less of an ordeal, Arizona State University researchers have created a web-based app that finds the coolest, ...

Jun 10, 2026
Phys.org / Open-source FLIM Playground could speed reproducible analysis of complex cell images

Modern fluorescence microscopy can generate images of living cells as stunning to look at as they are informative to study. For techniques like fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM), those images provide a window ...

Jun 10, 2026
Phys.org / Dino-killing asteroid may have fueled underground life for 8 million years

The asteroid that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs also created an underground environment suited to supporting new life, and new research suggests it lasted for millions of years longer than previously suspected.

Jun 9, 2026
Phys.org / Maya altar and offerings at abandoned Belize sites highlight enduring ritual activities

Archaeologists excavating Maya sites at Kaxil Uinik and Ayiin Winik in Belize have discovered the first reported Late Postclassic altar in the region, along with additional evidence that Postclassic Maya people continued ...

Jun 9, 2026
Phys.org / Satellite data reveal Southern Ocean vertical currents diving 3,000 feet below surface

Ocean currents are not just horizontal motions that flow from side to side. There are also vertical currents that act like deep-sea elevators, pushing heat and carbon down into the deep, while bringing up vital nutrients ...

Jun 9, 2026