Phys.org news

Phys.org / Recent discovery reveals Africa's oldest cremation pyre and complex ritual practices

About 9,500 years ago, a community of hunter-gatherers in central Africa cremated a small woman on an open pyre at the base of Mount Hora, a prominent natural landmark in northern Malawi, according to a new study coauthored ...

Jan 1, 2026 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / Genomic study reveals how people moved pigs across the Pacific

A new study, published in the journal Science, reveals how millennia of human migration across Pacific islands led to the introduction of invasive pig species all over the Asia-Pacific region.

Jan 1, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / A coral reef's daily pulse reshapes microbes in surrounding waters

Coral reefs are often described as biodiversity hotspots, but new research shows they also act as powerful regulators of the microscopic life in the surrounding ocean.

Jan 1, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Real-life experiment shows Niels Bohr was right in a theoretical debate with Einstein

Scientists in China have performed an experiment first proposed by Albert Einstein almost a century ago when he sought to disprove the quantum mechanical principle of complementarity put forth by Niels Bohr and his school ...

Dec 31, 2025 in Physics
Phys.org / Einstein Probe detects an X-ray flare from nearby star

Using the Einstein Probe (EP), astronomers have detected a new X-ray transient event, which turned out to be an X-ray flare from the star PM J23221-0301 located about 150 light years away. The finding was reported in a research ...

Dec 31, 2025 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / Physicists repair flaw of established quantum resource theorem

Quantum information theory is a field of study that examines how quantum technologies store and process information. Over the past decades, researchers have introduced several new quantum information frameworks and theories ...

Dec 31, 2025 in Physics
Phys.org / Sunlight-driven nanoparticles enable cleaner ammonia synthesis at room temperature

Ammonia (NH3) is a colorless chemical compound comprised of nitrogen and hydrogen that is widely used in agriculture and in industrial settings. Among other things, it is used to produce fertilizers, as well as cleaning products ...

Dec 31, 2025 in Chemistry
Phys.org / Scientists have uncovered evidence of Ireland's largest prehistoric hillfort settlement

In a recent study published in Antiquity, Dr. Dirk Brandherm and his colleagues identified more than 600 suspected house platforms in the Brusselstown Ring hillfort, making it the largest nucleated settlement ever discovered ...

Dec 30, 2025 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / Most sensitive radio observations to date find no evidence of technosignature from 3I/ATLAS

Since the interstellar object (ISO) 3I/ATLAS was first discovered on July 1, 2025, it has garnered much attention, including speculation, hopes and fears that it may somehow contain evidence of technologically advanced civilizations ...

Dec 30, 2025 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / Hunting for dark matter axions with a quantum-powered haloscope

Axions are hypothetical light particles that could solve two different physics problems, as they could explain why some nuclear interactions don't violate time symmetry and are also promising dark matter candidates. Dark ...

Dec 30, 2025 in Physics
Phys.org / ASKAP discovers a spectacular outflow in a nearby galaxy

Using the Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), an international team of astronomers has discovered a spectacular bipolar outflow from the disk of a nearby galaxy known as ESO 130-G012. The finding was reported ...

Dec 30, 2025 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / Mathematicians crack cellular noise puzzle, paving path for better cancer treatment

Why does cancer sometimes recur even after successful treatment, or why do some bacteria survive despite the use of powerful antibiotics? One of the key culprits identified is "biological noise"—random fluctuations occurring ...

Dec 30, 2025 in Biology