Phys.org news

Phys.org / Watering smarter, not more: A modern-day robotic divining rod

Advanced technology can help farmers get to the root of a growing problem—overwatering in an era of increasing drought and water scarcity. A new UC Riverside system can map soil moisture tree by tree, so growers water only ...

2 hours ago
Phys.org / Microscopic coils and coffee trees lead to new fungal discovery

Yunnan Province in southwestern China is a global biodiversity hotspot, accommodating an incredible variety of plants and animals. It is also the heart of China's coffee industry, with Yunnan accounting for almost all of ...

3 hours ago
Phys.org / How noise limits today's quantum circuits

Imagine you're trying to build a very long, complicated chain of dominoes. The aim is that each domino hits the next one perfectly, all the way down the line, producing an amazing result at the end. A quantum circuit is like ...

8 hours ago
Phys.org / Novel approach to quantum error correction portends a scalable future for quantum computing

A University of Sydney quantum physicist has developed a new approach to quantum error correction that could significantly reduce the number of physical qubits required to build large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers. ...

8 hours ago
Phys.org / New miniature marsupial frog found in Peru carries eggs in a back pouch

Scientists have discovered a new species of miniature marsupial frog in the Peruvian Amazon that carries its young in a natural pouch on its back, a research institute reported Wednesday.

11 hours ago
Phys.org / Protostars 'sneeze' and produce rings of gas and magnetic flux as they grow

Researchers have uncovered new insights into the early development of baby stars. As published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, a research team from Kyushu University and Kagawa University reports that during the early ...

8 hours ago
Phys.org / Tiny frogs prefer concrete apartments over wooden shelters

James Cook University researchers have tested frog housing and nursery preferences in the Wet Tropics rainforest of North Queensland, with frogs finding the thermal regulation of concrete shelters to be the perfect tropical ...

3 hours ago
Phys.org / Native Americans were making dice, gambling, exploring probability millennia before their Old World counterparts

A new study in American Antiquity presents evidence that the earliest known dice in human history were made and used by Native American hunter-gatherers on the western Great Plains more than 12,000 years ago at the end of ...

12 hours ago
Phys.org / Gravitational waves suggest a 'forbidden zone' for stellar-origin black holes

An international team led by Monash University has uncovered evidence of a rare form of exploding star, helping to shed light on one of the most cataclysmic events in the universe. At the end of their lives, most massive ...

19 hours ago
Phys.org / High nickel concentrations in Martian bedrock point to potential biosignatures

In 2024, NASA's Perseverance rover found surprising levels of Nickel in the Martian bedrock of an ancient river channel, called Neretva Vallis, which flowed into the Jezero crater. A new study, published in Nature Communications, ...

21 hours ago
Phys.org / Thirty previously unpublished verses by Empedocles discovered on a papyrus from Cairo

A 2,000-year-old papyrus fragment, discovered in the archives of the French Institute of Oriental Archaeology in Cairo, reveals 30 previously unpublished verses by Empedocles, a pre-Socratic philosopher of the fifth century ...

17 hours ago
Phys.org / Lakes forming next to Greenland's melting ice sheet are speeding up glacier flow

A growing network of meltwater lakes at the edge of the Greenland ice sheet is accelerating the flow of major glaciers, potentially increasing the pace of global sea-level rise. Warmer air and sea temperatures have led to ...

18 hours ago