Phys.org news

Phys.org / Climate change could mean four extra hours of extreme heat on hot days

Hot days could gain more than four additional hours of extreme heat by the end of the 21st century under a high-emissions scenario, according to a modeling study published in Nature Climate Change. The findings show that ...

Aug 10, 2026
Phys.org / Photosynthetic microorganisms achieve long-lasting and renewable chemical production

Photosynthetic microorganisms can use light energy to convert carbon dioxide into useful compounds under mild, environmentally compatible conditions. However, many current photosynthetic production systems rely on cells growing ...

Aug 10, 2026
Phys.org / Fermentation emerges as key pathway for ammonium production beneath the Pearl River Delta

A study led by Professor Jimmy Jiujiu Jiao from the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at The University of Hong Kong (HKU) and Professor Meng Li from Shenzhen University has identified microbial fermentation as the ...

Aug 10, 2026
Phys.org / When fever isn't the answer: Infected tadpoles cool themselves to fight viruses

Fever is one of the best-known mechanisms by which animals combat infectious diseases. Sick animals can increase their body temperature in two ways: through physiological regulation, by altering internal metabolic processes, ...

Aug 10, 2026
Phys.org / Cosmic filaments help set first limits on dark matter's decay into gravitons

Composing some 85% of the universe's total mass, dark matter betrays its presence only through gravity, unlike ordinary matter. Yet through new research published in Physical Review D, a team led by David Dunsky of New York ...

Aug 9, 2026
Phys.org / Controlled cracking technique prints quantum dots into tiny pixels for sharper displays

Recent technological advances have enabled the development of increasingly sophisticated, sharper displays for electronic devices. Many modern displays use light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, tiny semiconductor-based components ...

Aug 9, 2026
Phys.org / Oldest known giant rock scallop bead suggests California coastal trade began millennia earlier

Archaeologists have discovered two giant rock scallop beads that push back the clock on the first appearance of these high-status ornaments. The discovery shows that these prized marine beads were traded hundreds of miles ...

Aug 9, 2026
Phys.org / New catalyst with 75% less platinum promises to reduce the cost of hydrogen fuel cells

The high cost of platinum is one of the main barriers to the wider adoption of hydrogen fuel cells. Now, researchers at IMDEA Materials Institute have developed a catalyst that delivers the same performance while using 75% ...

Aug 9, 2026
Phys.org / Tiny particles defy action-reaction symmetry to stay in motion

From schools of fish and flocks of birds to microscopic synthetic particles, many systems in nature and the laboratory consist of individual units or agents that move by consuming energy. These systems are known as active ...

Aug 9, 2026
Phys.org / Rare Mars meteorite preserves 1.27-billion-year-old clues to planet's deep interior

Boston College scientists have determined that a newly discovered meteorite from Mars is 1.27 billion years old and derived from a previously unsampled, pristine source on the Red Planet. The study is published in the journal ...

Aug 9, 2026
Phys.org / Charge-based strategy improves controlled delivery of therapeutic peptides from gelatin-based materials

Rice University engineers have developed a new strategy for controlling how therapeutic peptides are released from gelatin-based materials, a step that could make the small but powerful molecules more useful in tissue engineering ...

Aug 9, 2026
Phys.org / 'Flying focus' laser overcomes key limitation in plasma-based particle accelerators

In a new Nature Physics study, researchers accelerated electrons to more than twice the energy predicted by the traditional dephasing limit for laser-plasma accelerators operating over the same distance. This was made possible ...

Aug 8, 2026