Phys.org news
Phys.org / California has lost more than half of its coastal sand dunes, first-ever assessment reveals
A study conducted by UC Santa Barbara researchers and collaborators has found that California has lost more than half of its coastal dune systems. The researchers' assessment—the first of its kind for the California coast—estimates ...
Phys.org / Webb spots the birth of a giant galaxy and a supermassive black hole
Astronomers have used the James Webb Space Telescope to catch an extraordinary glimpse of a massive galaxy taking shape in the early universe. They identified a compact group of at least six galaxies that are likely to merge ...
Phys.org / 125-million-year-old fossil reveals 'pregnant' shellfish
An international team of scientists led by Dr. Graciela Delvene of the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain (CSIC) has uncovered the oldest known evidence of maternal care in shellfish, revealing that some freshwater ...
Phys.org / Room-temperature device synchronizes distant laser spots into single coherent 'supermode'
Researchers have demonstrated a new way to make spatially separated lasers synchronize and act as a single coherent light source—without extreme conditions or complex materials.
Phys.org / Arctic shipping alters cloud formation, study finds
A study led by the EPFL suggests that shipping emissions influence climate-relevant cloud formation and may affect regional climate processes far beyond the polar region.
Phys.org / Nanotube-based thermoelectrics open a new pathway to waste-heat energy conversion
Whenever someone asks ChatGPT a question, heat is generated somewhere in the server room—a data center. When an electric vehicle battery generates heat during operation, the heat must be managed continuously. Manufacturing ...
Phys.org / Astronomers map a magnetic 'skeleton' funneling gas into a stellar nursery
Stars form when vast clouds of cold gas in space collapse under their own gravity. But not all gas collapses, and not all clouds form stars equally efficiently. A longstanding puzzle in astrophysics is what controls this ...
Phys.org / Crashing insect populations lead to smaller tree swallows that reproduce less
Since the 1970s, the number of insects at Canada's Long Point Bird Observatory has dropped by more than 60%, according to a new study led by the University of Michigan. Because of this, today's birds are smaller and facing ...
Phys.org / Artificial light is keeping reef fish awake, and the effects may ripple across coral reefs
Artificial light spilling into coastal waters from cities, ports, roads and hotels is disrupting sleep in coral reef fish and is associated with changes in markers linked to brain health, according to a new study from Bar-Ilan ...
Phys.org / The Caspian Sea has lost an area nearly the size of Sicily: Human activities are a major reason why
The Caspian Sea, the largest inland body of water on Earth, is shrinking. Not fluctuating, not entering another natural cycle, but shrinking.
Phys.org / How thousands of nature's longest sperm squeeze into a tiny fruit fly
When Jasmin Imran Alsous peered down her microscope lens, she expected to see chaos—a mishmash of tangled cells. She was viewing the inside of a male fruit fly's sperm storage organ, using a powerful microscope at the CCBScope ...
Phys.org / Primordial halo simulations reveal how cosmic storms shaped the universe's first stars
Just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang, the universe was a dark and simple place. There were no galaxies like the Milky Way, no planets, and no heavy elements such as carbon or oxygen. Instead, vast clouds of ...
