Phys.org news
Phys.org / Researchers tune into Arctic under-ice sounds and test through-ice communication
Beneath the Arctic Ocean is an orchestra featuring natural and human composers, from cracking sea ice and whistling beluga whales to humming shipping-vessel engines. Researchers from MIT Lincoln Laboratory heard some of this ...
Phys.org / How Mercury formed its graphite crust and core
As the BepiColombo mission prepares to enter the final phase of its journey to Mercury, a series of studies conducted by researchers at the University of Liège and KU Leuven sheds new light on the early stages of the evolution ...
Phys.org / In ant nervous systems, gene expression may drive rescue behavior
Why do some ants help nestmates in distress while others don't? A research team from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and Tel Aviv University addressed this question in a new study. The researchers examined worker ...
Phys.org / New AI tool maps the hidden universe of small molecules
The human body and its gut microbiome produce thousands of small molecules that shape how the body functions—influencing immunity, metabolism and more. Identifying what those molecules actually are has been one of the biomedical ...
Phys.org / Sound waves and water droplets transform paper waste into higher-value chemical compound
Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed a fast, simple way to turn lignin, a plentiful plant-based byproduct of the papermaking industry, into potentially more valuable renewable chemicals.
Phys.org / Virus-like particles enable gene activity tracking over time in the same cells
In recent years, scientists have developed methods to measure a cell's transcriptome, or all the RNA produced by a cell, to study the cell's identity and genetic activity. However, these methods rely on killing the cell to ...
Phys.org / Embedded platinum channels bring nanoscale spin-based thermoelectric conversion to bulk materials
A joint research team from NIMS and the University of Tokyo has developed a new composite in which three-dimensional nano-interfaces are distributed throughout the material by coating the surfaces of magnetic-insulator powders ...
Phys.org / Archaea as 'flexitarians': Ammonia-oxidizing microbes also feed on amino acids
Symbiotic ammonia-oxidizing archaea in marine sponges are not strict specialists but true "flexitarians." A team led by microbiologists Bettina Glasl and Katharina Kitzinger from the University of Vienna, in collaboration ...
Phys.org / Betelgeuse's atmosphere is becoming spotty and asymmetric—and a nearby companion could be shaping the pattern
For the first time since its dramatic dimming in 2020, a team of astronomers has observed the inner atmosphere of Betelgeuse using the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA). Led by Bill Dent at the University of Manchester, ...
Phys.org / Critically endangered pygmy raccoons observed making their own paper toys
Some of the most intriguing scientific breakthroughs happen when researchers aren't explicitly looking for them. Take, for example, the pygmy raccoon (Procyon pygmaeus), a critically endangered species that lives only on ...
Phys.org / Not a cheetah: Ancient DNA reveals the surprising Arctic life of extinct North American cat
A new study led by researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, has overturned decades of assumptions about Miracinonyx trumani, the extinct predator popularly known as the American cheetah. By analyzing nuclear ...
Phys.org / Iron Age Botswana site sourced copper across southern Africa—but tin from just one place
Around 700 years ago, people living on hilltop settlements on the edge of the Kalahari wore beads, bangles and clips made from metal traded across the southern half of the African continent.
