Phys.org news

Phys.org / Dynamic surface reconstruction explains how copper sulfide catalysts tune CO₂ reduction

Copper sulfide (CuS) catalysts continuously reconstruct their surface during electrochemical CO2 reduction, reports a study from the Institute of Science Tokyo, Japan. By uncovering the mechanism behind the dynamic surface ...

2 hours ago
Phys.org / Unusual superconductivity could emerge in valley-imbalanced rhombohedral graphene

Superconductors are materials in which electrical current flows with a resistance of zero, typically below specific temperatures. In conventional superconductors, this state of matter emerges when two electrons bind together ...

3 hours ago
Phys.org / Loud snoring—simulation reveals the physical mechanism that keeps so many of us awake at night

Anyone who has had to share a room—or worse, a bed—with a loud snorer knows the effect unchecked snoring can have on sleep, sanity and emotional stability. An entire industry of products, technologies and treatments claims ...

2 hours ago
Phys.org / Why Korean 'aegyo' speech sounds cute: Adults raise vocal resonances to sound younger and smaller

In Korean, the term "aegyo" denotes a playful cuteness put on by adults to win someone's affection, typically in romantic contexts. This is usually accomplished with bashful expressions or a childlike manner of speaking sometimes ...

2 hours ago
Phys.org / Double spiral inside narwhal tusks may explain their resistance to bending

The narwhal's impressive tusk has long been the subject of myths. In the Middle Ages, they were sold as unicorn horns believed to possess magical powers. Now, an international team of researchers led by Aarhus University ...

2 hours ago
Phys.org / Distinct neurons drive mice's social sounds and squeaks

Mice use almost completely distinct sets of neurons for their two different types of vocalizations—the squeaks they produce when in distress or fighting and the whistle-like ultrasonic vocalizations they use when communicating ...

4 hours ago
Phys.org / 'Snooping' on dolphins offers acoustic clues to hotspots for food and friends

For dolphins, the ocean is a world of sound. Their whistles carry social information, helping them communicate and stay connected, while echolocation—rapid-fire clicks—functions like underwater sonar, helping them navigate ...

2 hours ago
Phys.org / Long-range magnetic interactions govern how a ferrimagnet approaches its phase transition

Close to a phase transition, very different materials can follow the same mathematical rules. The concept of universality, which groups seemingly distinct systems based on their common properties, was developed to describe ...

3 hours ago
Phys.org / Tomato roots reveal hidden steps in 400-million-year-old fungal partnership

Scientists at VIB and Ghent University have produced the first high-resolution, cell-by-cell map of how tomato roots respond to colonization by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. These ancient fungal partners help plants absorb ...

3 hours ago
Phys.org / Each degree of warming could add a month of intolerable heat for 1 billion people

The threat that rising temperatures fueled by climate change pose to the health of older people has been dramatically underestimated, according to a U.S. modeling study published Tuesday.

9 hours ago
Phys.org / Drier soils may turn late summer into prolonged extreme heat

The summers of recent years have been hot, but not unusual from a meteorological perspective. According to researchers at Leipzig University, though, the next extreme summer would far exceed anything we have experienced so ...

4 hours ago
Phys.org / Ancient Egyptian tomb shows how burial trends changed over hundreds of years

The Theban Necropolis, opposite Luxor, consists of more than 400 tombs. In a new Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology study, researchers in Spain examined part of one of these tombs—chamber three in tomb TT 209—to reconstruct ...

13 hours ago