Phys.org news

Phys.org / One step closer to the ideal glass—simulations reveal hidden order at absolute zero

In the physical sense, glass is not limited to familiar window glass; it forms whenever a liquid is cooled so quickly that it cannot crystallize. As a result, glass has an amorphous structure—that is, its "building blocks" ...

Aug 24, 2026
Phys.org / Natural gas drilling could raise salt levels, in turn boosting radium in water

Pennsylvania ranks second in U.S. natural gas production, accounting for about one-fifth of U.S. output in 2024, and has one of the most extensive histories of energy extraction in the country. A team of researchers from ...

Aug 24, 2026
Phys.org / Corners in focus: Metasurface enables motion tracking without digital image processing

A research team at City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK) has developed a new optical corner-detection imaging method that uses azimuthal Hilbert transform metasurfaces and is designed to work as a universal framework. The ...

Aug 24, 2026
Phys.org / Wildlife trafficking spreads across social media, putting thousands of species at risk

Researchers monitoring online activity for six weeks in mid-2025 found primates, birds, snakes, frogs, orchids and many other wildlife groups advertised for sale across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Wildlife is ...

Aug 24, 2026
Dialog / A bird's eye view of illegal logging and its consequences in the Peruvian Amazon

When I first arrived in Peru's Allpahuayo-Mishana National Reserve in 2005, a local youth surprised me with an offer to sell me a live owl, despite the fact that we were in a protected area where commercial hunting was prohibited. ...

Aug 24, 2026
Phys.org / Nanoparticle flu vaccine protects against three influenza strains in mice

A new nanoparticle vaccine could one day give patients immunity to the flu with fewer trips to the doctor and without requiring health officials to correctly guess which flu strains will become dominant each year.

Aug 24, 2026
Phys.org / LST-1 and MAGIC telescopes shatter distance record for the very high-energy blazar OP 313

On Aug. 15, the CTAO LST Collaboration and the MAGIC Collaboration released findings from observations of OP 313, the most distant very-high-energy blazar ever recorded. The paper, published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, presents ...

Aug 24, 2026
Phys.org / A 2-degree twist creates a nanoscale grid that traps light energy at room temperature

You may have once tried taking a close-up picture of a computer screen and noticed a wavy, rippling effect. This optical effect occurs whenever two fine, repeating grids overlap and slightly misalign, such as when the pixel ...

Aug 24, 2026
Phys.org / Catching cow burps in real time: Methane sensor matches industry monitor in early field test

Methane is a short-lived but powerful greenhouse gas; cutting methane emissions can slow near-term warming and improve air quality by reducing harmful ground-level ozone. As ruminants digest feed, they release methane—through ...

Aug 24, 2026
Phys.org / Shell-crushing predators may have sparked early Cenozoic boom in marine snail evolution

A large-scale study of nearly 700 species reveals the evolutionary relationships and history of Neogastropoda, a diverse group of marine snails. The findings provide new evidence for their single origin, identify four new ...

Aug 24, 2026
Phys.org / Bacteria from ancestral wheat microbiomes help protect plants against root rot fungus

In the journal npj Biofilms and Microbiomes, researchers from the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA) and the University of São Paulo (USP) describe the role of three bacteria in suppressing a soil-borne ...

Aug 24, 2026
Phys.org / Antarctic bacteria share 'life‑support' genes to survive extreme conditions

Antarctica is one of the driest, coldest places on Earth. Very little life survives its extremes. In the soils scattered around the frozen ice sheets, however, communities of microbes do survive. And one of the keys to their ...

Aug 24, 2026