Phys.org news
Phys.org / AI can predict how you'll respond to a survey—but that's not the same as understanding you
What makes people change their minds or their behavior? Social scientists spend a lot of time thinking about this question, and experiments are one of the most powerful ways to answer it.
Phys.org / New neutron method reveals inner architecture of drug delivery particles
Modern medicine increasingly relies on targeted drug delivery—a process during which tiny particles (nanoparticles) transport drugs to specific parts of the body. To ensure these treatments are safe and effective, scientists ...
Phys.org / High-throughput search tests 200 catalysts, revealing hidden routes for methane chemistry
Catalysts are the hidden engines of modern manufacturing, directly involved in more than 80% of chemical processes. However, catalyst development is highly complex because performance is governed by the interplay of the catalyst, ...
Phys.org / JWST's 'overmassive' early black holes may not be so massive after all
Astronomers studying a population of unusually X-ray-silent and overmassive black holes discovered by the James Webb Space Telescope have found that they may not be as massive as they appear. The new paper, outlining a plausible ...
Phys.org / Could geoengineering work to tamp down super El Niños?
With an anticipated "super" El Niño looming, a new study led by UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography considers whether society could use a weather-altering technique as a tool to mitigate the floods, extreme ...
Phys.org / Black hole collisions may follow entropy law, offering simpler remnant predictions
When two black holes orbit each other, they eventually spiral inward and collide in one of the most violent phenomena in the universe. The event is so energetic that it significantly distorts the universe around it. It emits ...
Phys.org / Long-theorized electron-on-helium qubit achieves strong coupling to a single microwave photon
Quantum computers, devices that store and process information leveraging the principles of quantum mechanics, have been found to be promising for tackling some problems that cannot be solved by classical computers. Quantum ...
Phys.org / Tiny Jurassic bird reveals a key step in bird evolution
The transition from a lumbering, heavy dinosaur body to the flight-adapted bird body plan is one of many fascinating episodes in evolutionary history. Working out how this massive transformation took place relies heavily ...
Phys.org / Nanoplastics found in Antarctic soils for first time, suggesting long-range atmospheric transport
Microplastic contamination has been a much-discussed topic over the last several years, but contamination from even smaller plastic particles represents another pressing issue. Nanoplastics—defined as being under a micrometer ...
Phys.org / The oldest deliberately collected fossil ichthyosaur was discovered in Roman Britain around 1,800 years ago
Around 1,800 years ago, a fossilized spinal bone lay on the windswept beaches of Roman Britain until a curious passerby picked it up and carried it far away, only to drop it in a pit.
Phys.org / This rare British butterfly looks familiar, but its genome tells a very different story
The British swallowtail butterfly (Papilio machaon britannicus) is the U.K.'s only native swallowtail and its largest native butterfly. It's instantly recognizable by its striking light yellow-and-black wings, with twin tail-like ...
Phys.org / How Fourth of July celebrations and the national political mood may shape psychedelic experiences
Psychedelic drugs are known to make people highly sensitive to their surroundings. In other words, a user's mindset and immediate environment heavily shape the entire trippy experience. In a study published in the journal ...
