Phys.org news
Phys.org / Why and how birdsong differs across the world—and the eight motifs that tie them together
Birdsong carries meaning across open space, helping birds attract mates, defend territory and communicate with rivals. While there has been much research into the use of birdsong across species, researchers have lacked a ...
Phys.org / Astronomers catch massive galaxy assembling piece by piece 1.2 billion years after Big Bang
Astronomers have discovered a remarkably tiny group of six young galaxies just 1.2 billion years after the Big Bang. This may be a rare glimpse of how some of the universe's largest galaxies formed. The paper outlining the ...
Phys.org / How fishing may be changing one fish species at the molecular level
The pearly razorfish (Xyrichtys novacula) is a small marine animal that lives in sandy coastal waters and feeds on creatures like shrimp. Known locally in Spain's Balearic Islands as raors, it is a popular dish in many homes ...
Phys.org / Why evolution never produced mammal teeth that slice and crush equally well
Evolution is all about trade-offs. Traits that may be beneficial in one situation may backfire in another. Over millions of years, species can become specialized for one way of living rather than being equally good at everything. ...
Phys.org / Plumage reflectance framework offers new insight into how birds evolved heat-controlling feathers
Birds can inhabit various environments with different climates and temperatures, ranging from cold polar regions to scorching hot deserts. To survive and thrive in these very different environments, they need to effectively ...
Phys.org / Small tropical islands face dangerous humid heat by end of the century
Millions of people living on tropical islands could face a future of increasingly dangerous heat as climate change drives longer and more intense periods of humid conditions. While rising temperatures are often discussed ...
Phys.org / How did inbred brown tree snakes take over the island of Guam?
If you look up invasive species in a textbook, there's a good chance you'll find a picture of a brown tree snake. Native to Australia and the South Pacific, the brown tree snake arrived on Guam sometime after World War II, ...
Phys.org / Oxygen collisions at the LHC show new indications of extreme state of matter
All four main LHC experiments have found new signs that oxygen and neon collisions may create the extreme state of matter that existed during the first microseconds after the Big Bang.
Phys.org / Unraveling the climate behind the collapse of Bronze Age civilizations
The most severe droughts in the ancient Eastern Mediterranean arose when multiple natural climate cycles coincided, according to a new study from Stockholm University published in Science Advances. The findings shed new light ...
Phys.org / Quantum Zeno effect could freeze computations as qubit systems scale up
The promise of quantum computing is to solve complex problems faster and more energy-efficiently than today's supercomputers—from optimizing logistics to simulating molecules. This goal is coming within reach as the number ...
Phys.org / Scientists turn modern biobanks into a new window on human evolution
For more than a century, scientists have sought to reconstruct human evolution using diverse lines of evidence, including fossils, genetic variation across populations and ancient DNA. Building on these approaches, researchers ...
Phys.org / Why Europa's hidden ocean may be more difficult to reach than scientists thought
Europa, one of Jupiter's icy moons, has long fascinated scientists because of what may lie beneath its frozen shell: a global ocean of liquid water. That hidden ocean has made Europa one of the most compelling places in the ...
