Phys.org news
Phys.org / How plants respond to changing environments for better reproductive success
Once a seed germinates, it is committed to one location. Plants are sessile—stuck where they started out—forced to cope with whatever conditions arrive next. The only way out of trouble is to rebuild themselves in place.
Phys.org / Photocatalysis enables direct coupling of native sugars and N-heteroarenes
Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have developed a "capping-and-coupling" strategy to transform naturally occurring (native) sugars directly into compounds known as C-heteroaryl glycosides. This ...
Phys.org / Collective intelligence: How to incentivize problem solving in groups
When a crowd gets something right, like guessing how many beans are in a jar, forecasting an election, or solving a difficult scientific problem, it's tempting to credit the sharpest individual in the room. But new research ...
Phys.org / Self-powered composite material detects its own cracks
A new multifunctional composite made of carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRP) and piezoelectric materials can use vibrations to self-detect tiny cracks. This material could be used in the aerospace, automotive, and construction ...
Phys.org / One single protein, one big decision: How brown algae know when to reproduce
Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Biology have discovered a remarkably streamlined strategy for developmental control in brown algae. They have shown that a single ARGONAUTE (AGO) protein orchestrates the transition ...
Phys.org / Refractive-index microscope measures a sample's optical properties with pinpoint accuracy
By combining two fundamentally different microscopy techniques, researchers can now measure the optical properties of a sample with pinpoint accuracy. The original goal was to investigate biological samples on a molecular ...
Phys.org / Biodegradable bark–plastic composite lets engineers predict product lifetime from tensile tests
Old trees are learning new tricks with the advent of composite materials. A "green composite" made from biodegradable polymers and the waste bark of the Yakushima Jisugi tree was developed by a research team at Tohoku University. ...
Phys.org / Superfluids are supposed to flow indefinitely. Physicists just watched one stop moving
Ordinary matter, when cooled, transitions from a gas into a liquid. Cool it further still, and it freezes into a solid. Quantum matter, however, can behave very differently. In the early 20th century, researchers discovered ...
Phys.org / The infant universe's 'primordial soup' was actually soupy, study finds
In its first moments, the infant universe was a trillion-degree-hot soup of quarks and gluons. These elementary particles zinged around at light speed, creating a "quark-gluon plasma" that lasted for only a few millionths ...
Phys.org / Saltwater crocodiles traveled thousands of miles across the Indian Ocean, genetic study suggests
Accounts from early expeditions to the Seychelles more than 250 years ago described crocodiles as common along the coasts of the archipelago. But after the first settlers established a permanent presence in 1770, the Seychelles ...
Phys.org / Deforestation is drying out the Amazon rainforest faster than previously thought
Deforestation is having a more devastating effect on the Amazon rainforest than earlier data suggested. While cutting down large swaths of trees destroys vital habitats, it also harms the region's ability to generate its ...
Phys.org / The first direct observation of a liquid charge density wave
Charge density waves (CDWs) are ordered, crystal-like patterns in the arrangement of electrons that spontaneously form inside some solid materials. These patterns can change how electricity flows through materials, in some ...
