Phys.org news

Phys.org / Future catastrophic weather could be 'far worse' than history suggests

Historical records of the deadliest storms and heat waves may be a poor indicator of the scale and impact future weather disasters could have, scientists at King's College London warn.

15 hours ago
Phys.org / Global study reveals hidden nutritional value of shellfish and other aquatic invertebrates

The nutritional value of aquatic invertebrates such as oysters, mussels and crabs has been significantly overlooked, according to a new study led by researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). ...

17 hours ago
Phys.org / Rare bird fossils from Bavaria reveal new species, including an eagle

The Hammerschmiede clay pit near Pforzen in the eastern Allgäu is famous for its wealth of finds: Besides fossils of two early anthropoid apes, the remains of numerous vertebrate species have been uncovered in 11.6-million-year-old ...

14 hours ago
Phys.org / Global database reveals why no two cities' food emissions look the same

Switching to a more sustainable diet could halve food-related emissions in cities such as Amsterdam, while in cities such as Dhaka and Delhi, the focus should be more on making food production more sustainable as they widen ...

14 hours ago
Phys.org / Ultra-cold quantum sensors cut X-ray uncertainty, improving nuclear material assessments

To monitor the amount and type of nuclear material at power plants and weapons facilities, scientists look for a special signal—the unique pattern of gamma rays emitted by specific radioactive elements. However, some of these ...

15 hours ago
Phys.org / Psychologist wins Ig Nobel for proving rich drivers are the worst

Paul K. Piff, UC Irvine associate professor of psychology, has officially been recognized for what millions of frustrated commuters have long suspected: The fancier the car, the worse the driver.

16 hours ago
Phys.org / Cell wall transport disruption exposes weakness in antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Even highly antibiotic-resistant bacteria become more vulnerable when their cell wall transport system is disrupted, according to a new study from Umeå University. The discovery reveals a previously overlooked weakness that ...

16 hours ago
Phys.org / Himalayan glacial lakes are growing—and so is the downstream flood risk

Dozens of glacial lakes have formed across northern India in the last three decades, while existing lakes have expanded rapidly, highlighting the need to monitor a landscape reshaped by climate change.

16 hours ago
Phys.org / Under pressure: How a deep-sea protein adapts to an extreme environment

Life in the deep sea is under immense pressure—literally. Such extreme conditions can disrupt the delicate structures of proteins essential to life. Yet somehow, the proteins in deep-sea creatures remain functional. This ...

15 hours ago
Phys.org / A fossil feather preserved inside dinosaur poop could help explain why birds survived the mass extinction

About 66 million years ago, a dinosaur—maybe a T. rex or a Nanotyrannus—ate a bird. The record of that meal, in the form of fossilized poop, has survived to today, preserving the best example of a feather ever found from ...

23 hours ago
Phys.org / Gondwana really was a supercontinent—and it may have helped kickstart life on Earth

Some 550 million years ago, Earth looked very different than it does today. The Southern Hemisphere was dominated by an enormous single continent known as Gondwana.

19 hours ago
Phys.org / Unveiling how nanoparticles create iridescence in ancient ceramics

Scientists led by the Universitat Politècnica de Barcelona and the ESRF, the European Synchrotron, have revealed the chemical reactions in nanoparticles that created a unique, shimmering effect in the painting on ninth-century ...

17 hours ago