Phys.org news
Phys.org / Animal muscles inspire biomaterial design for agriculture, fabrics and medicine
Natural muscle fibers are made up of spring-like proteins that can contract and stretch without losing their original form, dissipate mechanical energy as heat and maintain incredible tensile strength for all sorts of physical ...
Phys.org / Prussian blue goes from pigment to purification
The deep, murky pigment known as Prussian blue put the "blue" in traditional blueprints, colored Hokusai's "Great Wave off Kanagawa" and today is used for industrial purposes, from laundry to battery components to poison ...
Phys.org / Missing geomagnetic reversals: Earth's past may be incomplete
Several studies have predicted that not all geomagnetic reversals have been discovered, but it was unknown in which periods they might be hidden. Researchers led by the National Institute of Polar Research used a statistical ...
Phys.org / Tuning in to fluorescence to farm smarter: Monitoring plant light use saves indoor farm energy costs
Plant owners with a so-called green thumb often seem to have a more finely tuned sense of what their plants need than the rest of us. A new "smart lighting" system for indoor vertical farms grants this ability on a facility-wide ...
Phys.org / Diamond owl swoops in with new method to keep electronics cool
At Rice University, a research lab's signature keepsake has helped perfect a method for growing patterned diamond surfaces that could help decrease operating temperatures in electronics by 23 degrees Celsius. The paper is ...
Phys.org / Plant hormone therapy could improve global food security by balancing growth with immunity
Plants have an immune system, like people, and when it is triggered by threats like disease or pests, a plant's defenses are activated. But there's a downside to this protective mechanism: the plant's growth is suppressed ...
Phys.org / Reading the enemy: How genome science is reshaping the fight against wheat stem rust
In 2013, farmers in the highlands of Ethiopia began to notice something unsettling: a familiar variety of wheat was failing in an unfamiliar way. Stems weakened, plants collapsed, and fields that had once held firm against ...
Phys.org / How the echolocation of bats has shaped their skulls
Bats are some of the most highly specialized mammals to have ever evolved. This includes not only the evolution of active flight, but also their echolocation. This ability requires the bats to produce high frequency noises ...
Phys.org / A new method reveals hidden rules of gene control
Inside every cell, thousands of molecular signals collide, overlap, and compensate, obscuring the true drivers of gene expression. Scientists have now developed a way to silence that cellular noise, revealing transcription ...
Phys.org / Researchers copy viral strategies to get mRNA medicines into cells in one piece
Drugs made of mRNA have the potential to transform medicine—if only they could get into cells in one piece. Now, University of Connecticut researchers have shown that packaging mRNA like a virus could smuggle it into cells ...
Phys.org / Early-life challenges and experiences shape how boldly bats behave as adults
What makes one bat take risks and venture far from its roost in search of food, while another stays close to familiar, safer areas? A new study from Tel Aviv University's School of Zoology reveals that the environment in ...
Phys.org / How cells manage nitric oxide: Research uncovers dynamic 'gate' that tames powerful signaling molecule
Cornell researchers have uncovered a built-in molecular "gate" that controls the production of the molecule nitric oxide, a crucial signaling molecule throughout biology that in humans helps regulate blood pressure, brain ...
