Phys.org news

Phys.org / A giant star may have destroyed itself in one of the universe's rarest explosions

Astronomers may have discovered one of the clearest examples yet of a rare "pair-instability" supernova. It is a catastrophic explosion thought to completely destroy some of the most massive stars in the universe, leaving ...

10 hours ago
Phys.org / Nanoengineered materials can store and release hydrogen at room temperature

Energy engineers worldwide are working on various new technologies that could help to limit greenhouse gas emissions on Earth and address climate change. One proposed alternative to polluting fossil fuels, such as petrol, ...

9 hours ago
Phys.org / Thirty years at El Mirón cave uncover 40,000 years of Iberian prehistory

For the past three decades, a team of archaeologists have been uncovering some of the field's most recent monumental discoveries, relying on gut instinct, persistent hard work, and cutting-edge methods and technologies.

2 hours ago
Phys.org / Young and unemployed? Remote work, not AI, may be the problem, study finds

The rise of remote work since the pandemic has made businesses more reluctant to hire young, inexperienced workers and is the key driver of higher unemployment rates for recent college graduates, a study released Monday has ...

3 hours ago
Phys.org / Space station dust maps slash climate uncertainty over iron-rich particles

New research from a team of scientists led by Cornell is transforming how researchers understand one of the atmosphere's most abundant and least understood constituents: mineral dust.

3 hours ago
Phys.org / Researchers discover how to turn one germ's drug resistance into an Achilles' heel

Decades of reliance on the antibiotic rifampicin have fueled the rise of drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). But as the bacterium mutates to protect itself from the drug, it also creates new weak points that ...

3 hours ago
Phys.org / First direct view tracks planet-forming disk spinning around AB Aurigae

The rotation of a protoplanetary disk (a disk where planets are being formed) has been observed directly for the very first time by mapping the emissions from the dust grains within it. The disk in question surrounds the ...

3 hours ago
Phys.org / Student astronomer discovers 'Rosetta Stone' for mysterious cosmic signals

An international team led by astronomers at the University of Sydney has uncovered the clearest evidence yet for the origin of an unusual class of cosmic signals. In doing so, they have identified a rare stellar system that ...

12 hours ago
Phys.org / One of our planets may be missing, and it could explain why the solar system looks the way it does

Our solar system has two ice giants, Uranus and Neptune, but there may have been a third. According to a new study published in the journal Icarus, this extra world might have triggered a violent planetary shuffling billions ...

7 hours ago
Phys.org / Box jellyfish reveal secret life cycle with implications for coastal safety

Box jellyfish are often feared as dangerous animals, with some species capable of causing severe or even fatal stings. However, box jellyfish nematocysts—organelles responsible for this toxic sting—are theorized to also play ...

4 hours ago
Phys.org / How drought rewires roots, cutting iron uptake across major food crops

New research by scientists at the University of Calgary has found that plants, ranging from canola to rice to tomatoes, actively shut down their own ability to take up iron when they experience drought. It's a finding that ...

4 hours ago
Phys.org / Precise polymer 'knots' uncover hidden slack for designing ultra-tough and responsive smart materials

From household plastic packaging to the flexible frameworks that support wearable electronics, polymer materials form the invisible backbone of modern life. At a microscopic level, polymers consist of long, ribbon-like molecular ...

4 hours ago