Phys.org news
Phys.org / Scrolling for science: How a Twitter post discovered a new wasp in Fukuoka, Japan
The next time you post a nature photo online, you might be contributing to a major scientific breakthrough—just as several citizen scientists did when they helped discover the wasp Eupelmus curvator in Japan.
Phys.org / Lake Chad supports 2.48 million waterbirds, emerging as one of Africa's top wetland refuges
A study titled "Monitoring major biodiversity stronghold in war zones: model predicts Lake Chad remains Africa's most important wetland for waterbirds" estimates that Lake Chad supports nearly 2.5 million waterbirds, making ...
Phys.org / How a giant planet survived its star's death, then migrated inward
When astronomers discovered a giant planet orbiting a dead star in 2020, they wondered how it survived its star's violent demise. Now, observations from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) may finally explain the planet's ...
Phys.org / Algae may have launched coral reefs by hijacking coral cells, genetic experiments suggest
The reefs scattered throughout the tropics arose only after algae took up full-time residence in coral cells, supplying corals with abundant food and enabling them to build extensive shallow-water communities. But with warming ...
Phys.org / 400-year-old painting reveals a bat's secret diet
Natural historians have many observational techniques in their toolkit for learning about the natural world: tagging animals with tracking devices, recording sounds, analyzing droppings or simply watching and counting. As ...
Phys.org / Beyond 3-D: Data scientists introduce novel AI tool to interpret complex biological data
As humans, our eyes take in two-dimensional images that our brains convert to three-dimensional experiences. This ability enables us to be aware of our position in space, judge distances, possess depth perception, and visually ...
Phys.org / Tree size, not age, may speed habitat recovery for endangered Indiana bats
Bugs run rampant in the summer, and if you have ever suffered a mosquito bite and regretted not putting on bug spray, you should know about nature's insect repellent: the Indiana bat. Federally endangered since 1967, the ...
Phys.org / Researchers discover novel SRV2 envelope protein for efficient CAR immune cell production
A Korean research team has developed a new viral vector technology that significantly improves the production efficiency of next-generation cell and gene therapies known as CAR immune cell therapies, which are designed to ...
Phys.org / One amino acid may signal the 'point of no return' in dying leaves
Before a leaf dies, plants recover nutrients that the rest of the plant can reuse for growth and survival. Researchers at Umeå Plant Science Center have now identified a metabolic "point of no return" linked to the amino ...
Phys.org / Evolutionary origins of 'junk DNA' may provide new clues to cancer
In cancer research, one person's junk is increasingly becoming another person's treasure. Scientists have uncovered new evidence showing how recently evolved "junk DNA" genetic elements can become integrated into ancient ...
Phys.org / Mismatched work–life boundaries while working from home can push couples toward breaking up
The COVID-19 pandemic transformed the way people work, making remote and work-from-home (WFH) jobs far more common than ever before. Even after social distancing ended, many companies and employees chose to stick with this ...
Phys.org / Primate brains might have evolved to 'catch up' with larger bodies, but then kept growing
A new analysis supports the previously overlooked "brain lag" hypothesis—the idea that, in some primate lineages, the evolution of larger body size preceded the evolution of larger brain size—while also building on that hypothesis ...
