Phys.org news
Phys.org / New experiments suggest Earth's core contains up to 45 oceans' worth of hydrogen
Scientists have long known that Earth's core is mostly made of iron, but the density is not high enough for it to be pure iron, meaning lighter elements exist in the core, as well. In particular, it's suspected to be a major ...
Phys.org / The origin of magic numbers: Why some atomic nuclei are unusually stable
For the first time, physicists have developed a model that explains the origins of unusually stable magic nuclei based directly on the interactions between their protons and neutrons. Published in Physical Review Letters, ...
Phys.org / Strike against mask wearing in 1930s echoed COVID-19 protests, study finds
New research from The University of Manchester has shown that debates and resistance about wearing face masks go back a lot further than the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Meng Zhang, a Wellcome Trust Research Fellow at the University's ...
Phys.org / NOvA maps neutrino oscillations over 500 miles with 10 years of data
Neutrinos are very small, neutral subatomic particles that rarely interact with ordinary matter and are thus sometimes referred to as ghost particles. There are three known types (i.e., flavors) of neutrinos, dubbed muon, ...
Phys.org / Subaru observations suggest an intrinsic gap in NGC 5466's tidal stream
Astronomers from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) and elsewhere have used the Subaru Telescope to perform deep imaging observations of a distant globular cluster known as NGC 5466. The observational campaign ...
Phys.org / Tiny marine animal reveals bacterial origin of animal defense mechanisms
Marine animals, such as the extremely simple flatworm Trichoplax, are ideal model organisms for studying the early evolutionary origins of animal life processes. Despite measuring only a few millimeters and lacking true organs ...
Phys.org / 7,000-year-old deer antler headdress from Eilsleben illustrates contact between hunter–gatherers and early farmers
Central Germany is among the regions where, as early as the mid-6th millennium BC, farmers displaced the Mesolithic hunter–gatherers from the fertile loess soils. Soon after this migration, however, exchange began between ...
Phys.org / Captured on camera for the first time: How tiny marsupials crawl to their mother's pouch
For the first time, scientists have recorded how baby dunnarts, tiny carnivorous marsupials from Australia, reach their mother's pouch not long after being born. While much is known about how many other marsupial babies go ...
Phys.org / Keeping an eagle eye on carbon stored in the ocean
Geologic reservoirs that trapped petroleum for millions of years are now being repurposed to store the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. New research is improving how we monitor this storage and verify how much CO2 these reservoirs ...
Phys.org / Electronic friction can be tuned and switched off
Researchers in China have isolated the effects of electronic friction, showing for the first time how the subtle drag force it imparts at sliding interfaces can be controlled. They demonstrate that it can be tuned by applying ...
Phys.org / Elevated lead levels could flow from some US drinking water kiosks
After high-profile water crises like the one in Flint, Michigan, some Americans distrust the safety of tap water, choosing to purchase drinking water from freestanding water vending machines or kiosks. Yet this more expensive ...
Phys.org / Majorana qubits become readable as quantum capacitance detects even-odd states
The race to build reliable quantum computers is fraught with obstacles, and one of the most difficult to overcome is related to the promising but elusive Majorana qubits. Now, an international team has read the information ...
