Phys.org news

Phys.org / Atoms vibrate on circular paths—with an unexpected twist

An international team of researchers, including scientists from HZDR and Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society, for the first time directly observed how angular momentum is transferred and conserved within a crystal ...

22 hours ago
Phys.org / Bright blazar reveals 433-day optical quasi-periodic oscillation across nine years

By analyzing the data from the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope (WEBT), an international team of astronomers has discovered optical quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) in a bright quasar known as 3C 454.3. It is so far one of the ...

22 hours ago
Phys.org / Meet the whistling mice that use inflatable air sacs to sing

Mice do more than just squeak when they want to make a noise. They can also sing. And the way they do it is different from most mammals that produce sounds by vibrating their vocal cords. When Alston's singing mouse (Scotinomys ...

23 hours ago
Phys.org / Old newspapers track porpoise populations across the Baltic Sea

Harbor porpoises were once found across a much wider area of the Baltic Sea than they are today, including regions where they are now rare or absent. This is shown in a new study that uses centuries-old Swedish newspapers ...

13 hours ago
Phys.org / How temperature changes light: New model could guide smarter LEDs, sensors and photonic devices

Technion researchers have developed, for the first time, a comprehensive physical model explaining how the properties of a radiating material, including absorption, emission, and quantum efficiency, affect the fundamental ...

14 hours ago
Phys.org / How a single radioactive cloud caused Fukushima particle contamination

A new study shows that a single radioactive cloud was responsible for a large share of the nuclear fallout during the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster on 11 March 2011. The work is published in the Journal of Hazardous ...

14 hours ago
Phys.org / TIME instrument unlocks faint signals from early galaxies across vast stretches of sky

Cornell astronomers are deploying a new instrument that grants them, for the first time, a better view of the universe's earliest galaxies, which can't be observed individually with traditional ground- or space-based telescopes.

15 hours ago
Phys.org / Swapping molecular building blocks one by one reveals how receptors tell adrenaline from dopamine

Different receptors respond to different neurotransmitters or hormones, such as adrenaline involved in the fight-or-flight response, or dopamine linked to reward and motivation. Both the receptors themselves and the substances ...

14 hours ago
Phys.org / The shoal remembers: How signs of a collective memory shape a predator-prey arms race

Beneath the tropical trees of southern Mexico, enormous shoals of sulfur mollies blanket the water surface of toxic sulfur springs, where survival depends on collective defense against relentless attacks from predatory birds. ...

13 hours ago
Phys.org / Human childbirth is not uniquely difficult among mammals

Human childbirth is commonly viewed as uniquely difficult and dangerous. The reason: The combination of bipedalism and large brains creates a tight fit between the baby and the birth canal. Research at the University of Vienna ...

15 hours ago
Phys.org / Despotic primate societies rarely play as adults, analysis of 37 species reveals

Although about half of primate species play as adults with other adults, a team of international researchers has just unlocked a key factor in the reason why some don't. The answer lies in the type of society in which the ...

16 hours ago
Phys.org / Wine's leftovers could help wean chicken farms off antibiotics

Every year, millions of gallons of wine are pressed, leaving behind a mountain of pulpy residue—grape skins, seeds, stems and peels—that wineries struggle to dispose of. Now, researchers say this overlooked byproduct could ...

16 hours ago