Phys.org news

Phys.org / Diamond quantum sensors can detect heart magnetism at room temperature without skin contact

Physicists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have developed a technology that uses quantum sensors to measure biomagnetic signals, such as heart activity. Researchers from the DIAQNOS (DIAmond-based Quantum Sensing ...

23 hours ago
Phys.org / Chemists overturn 40-year assumption about a key class of superconductors

Scientists at Warwick have shown that a material treated for 40 years as a uniform, textbook superconductor is in fact a patchwork of different crystal structures throughout its bulk, using an advanced 3D imaging technique ...

15 hours ago
Phys.org / Fossil plankton shells reveal reduced nitrogen fixation in warmer oceans 3 million years ago

Nitrogen is a key nutrient because it fuels the growth of plankton, which forms the basis of the marine food web. Two opposing processes determine the global nitrogen cycle: nitrogen fixation and denitrification.

14 hours ago
Phys.org / Deep-sea crustaceans caught hitching rides on giant sea spiders

Some types of marine life appear to have it easy. While exploring thousands of meters below the waves in the Chilean Margin in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, scientists observed tiny shrimp-like crustaceans known as amphipods ...

Sep 17, 2026
Phys.org / New krypton-88 data narrow a key gap in stellar strontium models

An international research team has reported the first experimental investigation of a nuclear physics reaction essential for understanding how the element strontium is produced in stars—specifically in stellar environments ...

16 hours ago
Phys.org / Ubiquitin marks abnormal glycogen for destruction to protect the brain, study finds

Researchers at the University of Cambridge and the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology have discovered a previously unknown cellular defense system that protects the brain from abnormal glycogen accumulation, which is linked ...

15 hours ago
Phys.org / A finely tuned mess—how disorder can make networks more stable

Perfection is overrated—at least when it comes to complex systems like the power grid, food webs and advanced materials. For decades, scientists generally assumed that networks function most reliably when their individual ...

15 hours ago
Phys.org / A new bridge for quantum networks: Physicists convert microwaves to light using 2D magnets

Physicists at The City College of New York have demonstrated a new way to transfer microwave signals onto light using magnetic waves inside a layered semiconductor. The work establishes a materials platform for building interfaces ...

18 hours ago
Phys.org / Virtual biotech company puts thousands of AI scientist agents to work on drug discovery

The latest company to spin out of a Stanford Medicine lab is a biotech undertaking with 37,000 employees—and none of them are human. There's no lab space, no lunch breaks and no payroll. It's an artificial intelligence-powered ...

20 hours ago
Phys.org / Close-up images show defects locking electrons into stable Wigner solids

A team of researchers led by the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) developed an approach that enabled them to directly observe how electrons interact with defects in advanced ...

17 hours ago
Phys.org / Newfound fungal nutrient-sensing mechanism could advance biofuels and disease control

Scientists have taken a step toward a better understanding of how fungi sense and respond to nutrients in the environment, which is critical for engineering fungi for green technologies and combating fungal pathogens and ...

16 hours ago
Phys.org / How accurately can we measure the ocean's deepest point?

How deep is the deepest ocean—and how precisely can we actually measure it? A Japanese research team led by the National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR), SOKENDAI, the University of Tokyo and other Japanese institutions ...

18 hours ago