Phys.org news
Phys.org / Q&A: Rainfall tipping point predicts drought risk for crops
It matters where the rain that irrigates your food comes from.
Phys.org / Birch leaves and peanuts turned into advanced laser technology
Physicists at Umeå University, in collaboration with researchers in China, have developed a laser made entirely from biomaterials—birch leaves and peanut kernels. The environmentally friendly laser could become an inexpensive ...
Phys.org / Tissue 'tipping points': How cells collectively switch from healthy to disease states
Cells convert mechanical forces into signals that influence physiological processes, such as exercise strengthening bones. A research team at Washington University in St. Louis and Tsinghua University in Beijing have discovered ...
Phys.org / Chemists find clues to the origins of buckyballs in space
Far from Earth, in the vast expanses of space between stars, exists a treasure trove of carbon. There, in what scientists call the "interstellar medium," you can find a wide range of organic molecules—from honeycomblike ...
Phys.org / Antarctic glacier retreats faster than any other in modern history, findings show
A glacier on Antarctica's Eastern Peninsula experienced the fastest retreat recorded in modern history—in just two months, nearly 50% of the glacier disintegrated.
Phys.org / To disclose or not to disclose good deeds, that is the do-gooder dilemma
Jerry Richardson, a Cornell university doctoral candidate in psychology, was dashing into a grocery store on his way to a dinner party when a man outside the store asked him for some food. Richardson obliged, and gave him ...
Phys.org / 'Self-tuning' film paves the way for future wireless and radar devices
A research team from Queen Mary University of London has discovered a new way to engineer thin films that can "tune" themselves much more effectively than existing materials, making them highly responsive and efficient.
Phys.org / Single atoms of silver and earth-abundant carbon turn pollutants into fertilizer
A single atom of silver working in synergy with carbon and nitrogen atoms can efficiently convert polluting nitrogenous waste in water from industries such as agriculture and mining into ready-to-use liquid fertilizer.
Phys.org / CERN's electrostatic trap 'recycles' anions to illuminate the heaviest elements
From the burning of wood to the action of medicines, the properties and behavior of matter are governed by the way chemical elements bond with one another. For many of the 118 known elements, the intricate electronic structures ...
Phys.org / Powerful tool can map gene regulation at single-nucleotide resolution
Understanding how cells turn genes on and off is one of biology's most enduring mysteries. Now, a new technology developed by chemist Brian Liau and his collaborators at Harvard offers an unprecedented window into this activity, ...
Phys.org / Room-temperature 3D-printing enables miniaturized infrared sensors
Infrared sensors, which act as the "seeing" component in devices such as LiDAR for autonomous vehicles, 3D face recognition systems in smartphones, and wearable health care devices, are regarded as key components in next-generation ...
Phys.org / Radiocarbon analysis of turfgrasses can help cities measure greenhouse gas emissions
Cities around the world are working to limit emissions of climate-warming greenhouse gases, but there have been few ways of measuring whether those gases are actually decreasing in any given municipality. In new research, ...
