Phys.org news
Phys.org / Older male humpbacks sire more calves as populations recover from whaling
New research from the University of St Andrews published in Current Biology has shown that the role of age in male humpback whale reproduction has changed as populations recover from centuries of exploitation. Whaling drove ...
Phys.org / Promoters and enhancers: Tool catches gene-controlling DNA sequences doing each other's jobs
Researchers at the Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology have uncovered new evidence that two major types of gene-controlling DNA sequences, promoters and enhancers, operate with a shared logic and often perform ...
Phys.org / InN thin films show transient Pauli blocking for broadband ultrafast optical switching
Recent decades have witnessed rapid advancements in high-intensity laser technology. The combination of laser irradiation and novel materials is opening exciting avenues for the design of functional materials and devices. ...
Phys.org / Are climate models detecting monsoon changes a decade too early? 'Super-simulations' say yes
Changes in rainfall within global monsoon regions affect the livelihoods of billions. For years, climate models have suggested that the fingerprint of human-caused climate change on monsoons would become visible by a certain ...
Phys.org / Cellular switch casts light on why humans are active in the day
Early mammalian ancestors were nocturnal, sleeping during the day while the dinosaurs dominated the land. However, some mammalian lineages, including human ancestors, independently transitioned to diurnality (active during ...
Phys.org / Using moon dirt with 3D printing to build future lunar colonies
Simulated lunar dirt can be turned into extremely durable structures, potentially paving the way to more sustainable and cost-effective space missions, a new study suggests. Using a special laser 3D printing method, researchers ...
Phys.org / Most lab testing quietly inflates 2D transistor performance, research reveals
For nearly two decades, two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors have been studied as a complement or possible successor to silicon transistors, promising smaller, faster and more energy-efficient processors. To ease their production ...
Phys.org / From trash to climate tech: Rubber gloves find new life as carbon capturers
Every year, over 100 billion nitrile rubber gloves are produced. They are made from synthetic polymers—a material chemically related to plastic and derived from crude oil. The vast majority is used in the health care sector, ...
Phys.org / Satellite data enable first global estimate of aerosol cloud cooling
Particles in the atmosphere, known as aerosols, cool the climate by acting as cloud condensation nuclei. The more cloud droplets form around these particles, the less sunlight penetrates a cloud. This cools the climate, although ...
Phys.org / Fossil amber reveals the secret lives of Cretaceous ants
Tiny insects trapped in amber could tell us a great deal about their roles in past ecosystems: pollinators, parasites, predators, and prey. But how many of the insects preserved alongside each other reflect interactions during ...
Phys.org / Assessment of rare 'teenage' planetary system deepens understanding of cosmic evolution
Planetary systems such as our solar system take hundreds of millions of years to evolve. Since humanity has only existed for a sliver of that time, astronomers have only observed planetary systems at birth or, more often, ...
Phys.org / Why tropical cyclones' rainfall surges before landfall
A research team at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has analyzed 40 years of data covering about 1,500 tropical cyclones and discovered that average rain rates surge by more than 20% in the 60 hours ...
