Phys.org news
Phys.org / Cellular switch casts light on why humans are active in the day
Early mammalian ancestors were nocturnal, sleeping during the day while the dinosaurs dominated the land. However, some mammalian lineages, including human ancestors, independently transitioned to diurnality (active during ...
Phys.org / Most lab testing quietly inflates 2D transistor performance, research reveals
For nearly two decades, two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors have been studied as a complement or possible successor to silicon transistors, promising smaller, faster and more energy-efficient processors. To ease their production ...
Phys.org / From trash to climate tech: Rubber gloves find new life as carbon capturers
Every year, over 100 billion nitrile rubber gloves are produced. They are made from synthetic polymers—a material chemically related to plastic and derived from crude oil. The vast majority is used in the health care sector, ...
Phys.org / Female Daubenton's bats share scarce feeding grounds at the edge of their range, study finds
At newly colonized high-elevation sites in the central Italian Apennines, female Daubenton's bats take turns using the same hunting spots instead of feeding side by side. A study published by a research team from the University ...
Phys.org / Cooling without gases: Molecular design brings solid-state cooling closer to reality
Some solid materials can cool down or heat up when pressure is applied or released. This behavior enables cooling and heating technologies that do not rely on climate-damaging refrigerant gases. In practice, however, a major ...
Phys.org / Why tropical cyclones' rainfall surges before landfall
A research team at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has analyzed 40 years of data covering about 1,500 tropical cyclones and discovered that average rain rates surge by more than 20% in the 60 hours ...
Phys.org / Promoters and enhancers: Tool catches gene-controlling DNA sequences doing each other's jobs
Researchers at the Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology have uncovered new evidence that two major types of gene-controlling DNA sequences, promoters and enhancers, operate with a shared logic and often perform ...
Phys.org / Satellite data enable first global estimate of aerosol cloud cooling
Particles in the atmosphere, known as aerosols, cool the climate by acting as cloud condensation nuclei. The more cloud droplets form around these particles, the less sunlight penetrates a cloud. This cools the climate, although ...
Phys.org / Stress-testing the Cascadia Subduction Zone reveals variability that could impact how earthquakes spread
The Cascadia Subduction Zone is unusually quiet for a megathrust fault. Spanning more than 600 miles from Canada to California, the fault marks the convergence of the Juan de Fuca and North American plates. While other subduction ...
Phys.org / AI toolkit turns microscopy images into multi-feature microstructure datasets
A research team from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has developed GrainBot, an AI-enabled toolkit that automatically extracts and quantifies multiple microstructural features from microscopy images. ...
Phys.org / Filamentous cyanobacteria exhibit a unique navigation strategy due to their chiral gliding
Cyanobacteria are among the most significant life forms in the history of our planet. As one of the first organisms to produce oxygen through photosynthesis, they shaped early Earth and created the atmosphere in which complex ...
Phys.org / Are climate models detecting monsoon changes a decade too early? 'Super-simulations' say yes
Changes in rainfall within global monsoon regions affect the livelihoods of billions. For years, climate models have suggested that the fingerprint of human-caused climate change on monsoons would become visible by a certain ...
