Phys.org news
Phys.org / Did wildfires help spark the invention of pottery?
A new study suggests that a period of intense fires and landscape upheaval in the ancient southern Levant may have helped create the conditions that led Neolithic communities to discover how fire could transform clay.
Phys.org / Curved nanographene with five-, six- and seven-membered rings synthesized in two steps
Nanographenes can be considered molecular fragments of graphene, a 2D conductive material in which carbon atoms are connected in a honeycomb pattern. Because their electronic and photophysical properties vary depending on ...
Phys.org / Physics-based AI unlocks first global predictions of carbon cycling in ocean sediments
Researchers at The University of Manchester have developed a new physics-based artificial intelligence approach that, for the first time, enables accurate global-scale predictions of how dissolved organic carbon moves between ...
Phys.org / JWST finds extreme star-forming galaxies masquerading as faint quasars
A new study finds that two early-universe objects thought to be faint quasars are actually extraordinarily luminous galaxies powered by bursts of star formation. James Webb Space Telescope observations of the galaxies, seen ...
Phys.org / Martian air could yield methane rocket fuel with fewer unwanted byproducts
As NASA prepares to send humans to Mars as early as the 2030s, University of Mississippi researchers are working on one of the key questions: How will they get back?
Phys.org / Hubble and Webb find that far-out solar system objects 'remember' the past
For the first time, scientists used the combined power of NASA's Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes to study some of the most far-flung bodies in our solar system, trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs). Some are the smallest ...
Phys.org / New molecular magnet design boosts performance for ultrahigh-density data storage
Researchers at The University of Manchester and the Australian National University have developed a new class of molecular magnets that combines the most successful features of previous designs, resulting in some of the strongest ...
Phys.org / Sparse-data method estimates sea surface temperatures 40% more accurately than conventional approach
Researchers have developed a method for extrapolating sea surface temperatures from sparse data that is significantly more accurate than other commonly used computational methods and slightly more accurate than the best-performing ...
Phys.org / Star-fingered toads use fingertip lobules to detect prey in murky water
Surinam toads (Pipa pipa) are strange, flat frogs with minuscule eyes that live in the murky waters of the Amazon basin and carry their eggs on their backs. The way they catch prey is even weirder. They lie in wait with outstretched ...
Phys.org / New iron-bearing compounds could store water near Earth's core
Geochemical studies of volcanic rocks from Baffin Island, Canada, and Iceland suggest that some of the water dating back to Earth's formation may still be preserved deep within the planet. However, it has remained unclear ...
Phys.org / New screening system flags food-packaging chemicals linked to serious health risks
Packaged food usually sits in plastic-lined bags designed to keep air, moisture and contaminants out. That same protection can also increase the chances of chemicals from the packaging seeping into the food. When a chemical ...
Phys.org / Study predicts large disparities in access to food, water and energy in 2050
How will global access to food, water and energy evolve in coming decades? A new study coauthored by MIT researchers suggests the answers could be very different depending on region, resource and income.
