Phys.org news

Phys.org / The surprising place where giant dinosaurs incubated their eggs

Finding a fossilized dinosaur egg is exceptionally rare, but finding a stash of more than 250 shell fragments in the chilly southern reaches of the planet is even more surprising. The discoveries come from southernmost Patagonia ...

5 hours ago
Phys.org / 3D magnetic-field control reveals new way to tune spin textures

(Fe0.63Ni0.3Pd0.07)3P, or FNPP, is a magnetic material that exhibits complex magnetic structures even at room temperature. This makes the material of interest for spintronics, a field that could enable data processing with ...

3 hours ago
Phys.org / Terbium's elusive plus-4 form emerges under ordinary lab conditions, opening possibilities for rare-earth metals

Chemists in a new study led by the University of Iowa report they have isolated and described in detail an atypical state of the rare-earth metal terbium, an advance that could expand its use in quantum technologies, including ...

1 hour ago
Phys.org / Estuary water quality trends have $100M implications, researchers find

Estuaries across the United States are facing the same trends of warming waters, algal growth and declining oxygen concentrations that threaten water quality and fish populations, regardless of geographic location, according ...

3 hours ago
Phys.org / The 'costly son' hypothesis: Why bigger sons may make births riskier across species

A new comparative review, published in The Anatomical Record, examines factors that may lead to birth complications among humans and other mammals. The study suggests that fetal sex may play an important role in risky births ...

6 hours ago
Phys.org / Discontinuity and disorder: Explaining the luminosity bump in evolved stars

Toward the end of their lives, low-mass stars undergo an abrupt dip in brightness, also known as the luminosity bump. While the endpoint of this bump is well understood, its onset has remained elusive. Now, in a paper published ...

3 hours ago
Phys.org / Helium measurements clarify conditions seconds after the Big Bang

New observations of the composition of distant galaxies offer insights into the earliest phases of the universe and confirm decades of scientific understanding of the elements and particles produced by the Big Bang, according ...

4 hours ago
Phys.org / Ice Age origins of one of humanity's oldest drug habits discovered

A team of Griffith University archaeologists has uncovered evidence that humans were using mind-altering substances much earlier than previously supposed.

4 hours ago
Phys.org / JWST discovers that Chariklo's invisible rings are changing

Until just over a decade ago, ring systems were thought to be exclusive to the giant planets of the solar system, such as Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. However, in 2013, a small body barely 250 kilometers (155 miles) ...

4 hours ago
Phys.org / AI reveals new class of cellular 'off switch' linked to cancer pathways

Cornell researchers have used artificial intelligence to uncover a previously unknown way cells control how proteins move inside them, a process essential for growth, communication and movement that is often disrupted in ...

4 hours ago
Phys.org / Ancient bones reveal that cannibalism took different forms in Neolithic Spain

Cannibalism was sometimes on the Neolithic menu, as numerous archaeological discoveries have revealed. But while ancient human bones show the practice took place, far less evidence exists about the forms it may have taken ...

8 hours ago
Phys.org / Asian elephants can resist impulsive behavior, researchers find

Researchers at the CUNY Graduate Center and Hunter College have found that Asian elephants can suppress impulsive behaviors and adjust their actions when circumstances change—a cognitive ability that may help explain the ...

4 hours ago