Phys.org news
Phys.org / Quantum semiconductor design could expand search for dark matter
Dark matter accounts for 85% of the matter in the universe, but scientists still do not know what it is made of. A study, published in Physical Review Letters, by Rice University researchers proposes a detector design that ...
Phys.org / Hunting behavior drives the evolution of spider eye arrangements, study finds
Vision shapes how many animals find food, avoid danger and navigate their world. In animals with two eyes, eye placement is often linked to lifestyle: predators such as lions tend to have forward-facing eyes that help them ...
Phys.org / Quantum gravity tests may mistake ordinary spacetime for superposition
Everything around us, from atoms and molecules to planets and galaxies, is governed by two extraordinarily successful theories of physics: quantum mechanics and gravity. Quantum mechanics explains the behavior of the microscopic ...
Phys.org / Light flips bacterial signaling enzyme between two shapes, unlocking how signals travel
Researchers at the University of Bayreuth and Forschungszentrum Jülich have demonstrated that specific light-sensitive enzymes—so-called sensor histidine kinases (SHKs)—transmit their signal through a light-controlled change ...
Phys.org / How giant tropical trees transport water 70 meters to stay as drought-resilient as smaller trees
The giant trees of tropical forests are important allies in the fight against climate change because of their ability to store carbon, yet they are still poorly understood by science. However, a study published in the journal ...
Phys.org / A WRAP for biology's greasiest problem
Embedded in the boundary between the inside and outside of each cell are membrane proteins. They act as first responders by sensing signals, regulating which molecules enter and leave the cell, and enabling cells to quickly ...
Phys.org / What makes a star a star? A strange 'in‑between' celestial object is testing astronomers' boundaries
A star called TOI-2155 lies around 1,350 light-years (839 trillion miles) from Earth. It is a little bigger, heavier and hotter than the sun, and it is not particularly interesting or unusual in itself.
Phys.org / Microtubules in ovarian cell bridges may be key to fertility
Female fertility depends on the successful growth and maturation of eggs (oocytes) within ovarian follicles. Within these follicles, the oocyte is surrounded by granulosa cells that supply nutrients, signaling molecules and ...
Phys.org / Nanozymes map nanoparticle routes inside live cells without genetic engineering
Nanoparticles are widely used in medicine to deliver drugs, genes or imaging agents to specific parts of the body. Once a nanoparticle reaches a cell, however, many things can happen—it can reach its target, be degraded, ...
Phys.org / Hidden role of garnet reveals how Earth's 660-km seismic boundary forms
Nearly 660 kilometers (410 miles) beneath Earth's surface lies one of the planet's most important internal boundaries. Known as the 660-km seismic discontinuity, it separates the mantle transition zone from the lower mantle ...
Phys.org / MOF thin films reveal hidden dense packing, challenging decades of porous assumptions
Due to their high porosity, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are regarded as promising materials for innovative applications, which is why the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded in 2025 for their discovery. They are used, ...
Phys.org / Quantum properties of multimode light observed despite extreme losses
Quantum properties of light are extremely delicate. When researchers attempt to measure them, even small losses on the way to a detector can make them invisible, limiting their use outside carefully controlled environments. ...
