Phys.org news

Phys.org / How animals communicate to work together across species boundaries

An international team of researchers have published a new review in Animal Behavior revealing how communication enables cooperation between different animal species. The review, titled "The ecology and evolution of cues and ...

5 hours ago
Phys.org / Powerful seismic waves from Japan's 2011 earthquake struck Earth's core and bounced back up, moving the island eastward

In 2011, Japan reeled from the effects of a devastating magnitude 9.0 earthquake. But unnoticed in the chaos resulting from the quake, its major aftershocks and the tsunami it caused, something strange happened. About 16 ...

6 hours ago
Phys.org / Student makes first recorded sighting of a microwhip scorpion in the Daintree Rainforest

A James Cook University Ph.D. student's late-night solo survey has led to the first recorded sighting of a microwhip scorpion in the Daintree Rainforest. JCU entomologist and taxonomist Matthew Connors works at the university's ...

6 hours ago
Phys.org / NASA should build a biocontainment facility on the moon to protect Earth, researchers advise

A biocontainment facility designed to protect Earth from potentially hazardous biotic contaminants from space should be part of a planned NASA base on the moon, a policy paper maintains.

4 hours ago
Phys.org / Palm oil, coconut and soybean drive more species extinction than previously thought

Oils from crops such as coconut, palm oil and soybean are used in a range of applications, from cosmetics and makeup to margarine and spreads, and from medicines to animal feed. These oil crops, as they are known, are increasingly ...

10 hours ago
Phys.org / Shining light into unhatched eggs could allow for chicken 'gender reveals'

Scientists have demonstrated a noninvasive technique that uses light to reveal the hidden contents of chicken eggs, potentially helping to curb the meat industry's practice of killing billions of male chicks at birth. The ...

4 hours ago
Phys.org / Molecular simulations uncover why water nanodrops spread thin on hydrophilic surfaces

Why does water roll off a duck's back but spread on clean glass? For macroscopic (millimeter-scale) drops, this behavior can be explained using continuum theory. However, when nanoscale (10–9 mm) droplets spread on surfaces, ...

10 hours ago
Phys.org / Bullet Cluster observations reopen dark matter debate with MOND-compatible explanation

The Bullet Cluster has so far been considered evidence of the existence of dark matter. An international team of researchers has now analyzed new data and current images from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). According ...

5 hours ago
Phys.org / Arabian Sea humpback whale's long-distance trip further highlights species' unique ecology

Off Oman's coast lives a small population of just over 80 Arabian Sea humpback whales (ASHWs). They are classified as endangered and are thought to be the only humpback whale population that doesn't undertake seasonal migrations ...

15 hours ago
Phys.org / Unearthed bathhouse reveals a thriving Roman Nijmegen: 'The Romans did not regard this city as a backwater'

Excavations in Nijmegen-West have uncovered large sections of a Roman bathhouse. It is the largest bathhouse complex from the Roman period in the Netherlands. Radboud researcher Stephan Mols can often be found at the excavation ...

6 hours ago
Phys.org / Brain enzyme caught doing something unexpected—it builds polysialic acid on itself

A chance discovery at Nagoya University in Japan has shown that a well-known brain enzyme has a hidden ability: It builds a sugar chain on itself, becomes secreted from the cell and deactivates, then switches on outside the ...

18 hours ago
Phys.org / Analysis of 352 probiotic supplements finds mismatched microbes across marketed health benefits

Probiotic supplements found in drugstores nationwide contain an assortment of microbes sold for specific health purposes despite limited understanding of the microbes' connections to their marketed use, new University of ...

20 hours ago