Phys.org news
Phys.org / Global database reveals hidden diversity and potential of deep-sea microbes
The ocean's aphotic zone—the dark, high-pressure region below the surface, where sunlight cannot reach—is home to a vast wealth of microbial life. Yet scientists know relatively little about the genetic makeup, growth and ...
Phys.org / New method reveals how virus particles can build themselves, molecule by molecule
Oxford University researchers have captured the step-by-step assembly of individual virus-like particles, revealing how simple molecular interactions can reliably build these complex biological structures. The results were ...
Phys.org / Mobile trap transports 92 antiprotons by road and stores them for over a month in world first
In March 2026, scientists succeeded in transporting antiprotons by road for the first time in a purpose-built trap loaded on a truck. The BASE collaboration, which realized this experiment at the European Organization for ...
Phys.org / Circular Rydberg atoms set three records, staying stable for 11 milliseconds
Rydberg atoms are considered promising building blocks for quantum computers and their precursors, quantum simulators. Researchers at the 5th Institute of Physics of the University of Stuttgart have achieved record values ...
Phys.org / We may soon be able to read long-lost ancient scrolls damaged by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius
X-ray technology and artificial intelligence—along with the discovery of lead in the ink of fragments from a collection of ancient Roman scrolls—could soon help scientists read long-lost texts buried by the eruption of Mount ...
Phys.org / Weeping whales: Stillborn humpback whale grieving documented
Humpback whale mothers may experience grief when their calves die, a rare research observation led by Griffith University and Sea World Foundation has found.
Phys.org / A sharper picture of a pandemic: Uncovering the complex history of the plague after the Black Death
The Black Death is often remembered as a single catastrophic event that swept across Europe between 1347 and 1353, killing millions. Yet the disease did not disappear after that first devastating outbreak. For more than four ...
Phys.org / Insect remains reveal Indigenous burial practices in the Canary Islands
Archaeologists have analyzed insect remains preserved in the 7th to 9th centuries AD funerary cave of Cruz de la Esquina, Gran Canaria, and found that it was used by the island's Indigenous people for food storage before ...
Phys.org / Brazilian sedge reproduces sexually but without DNA reshuffling, producing genetic clones
Sexual reproduction usually reshuffles genetic information, creating offspring that differ from their parents. But one small plant takes an unexpected route. In a new study published in Nature, an international team led by ...
Phys.org / Thinking outside the binding site: Drug molecule makes a square peg fit a round hole
A square peg doesn't fit a round hole. But what if the peg could change the shape of the hole? A newly developed drug molecule can do something surprisingly similar when binding to its target protein, according to a University ...
Phys.org / Iron, sulfur and purple light unlock greener carbon-carbon bond formation
Much of organic chemistry, including the type used to create and alter medicinal drugs, relies on modifying carbon bonds. Rice University's Julian West has been developing a less expensive, faster and more environmentally ...
Phys.org / Tiny oyster larvae rely on gravity to feed
Eastern oyster larvae are only 100–300 micrometers long, but their dense calcium carbonate shells make them substantially heavier than the surrounding seawater. A new study led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution ...
