Phys.org news
Phys.org / A better way to search for extraterrestrial intelligence
When you're looking for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence, it helps to know what you're looking for and to go about it in the most efficient way. But work so far has generally not done so, writes Benjamin Zuckerman, ...
Phys.org / Bigger, faster, but still outfoxed: How prey escape predators
Predators are typically larger, faster, and more powerful than the animals they hunt. Yet in nature, most attacks fail. A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, by researchers from the ...
Phys.org / Slower access, faster chemistry: Nanoreactor design improves catalysis by balancing molecular flow
A new study by a team at Tohoku University, published in Chemical Engineering Journal, has shown that more isn't always better when it comes to nanoscale chemical reactions. One might think that giving reactants completely ...
Phys.org / AI tackles one of math's most brutal problems: Inverse PDEs
Penn Engineers have developed a new way to use AI to solve inverse partial differential equations (PDEs), a particularly challenging class of mathematical problems with broad implications for understanding the natural world.
Phys.org / Living near a gas station raises childhood cancer risk, study shows
Childhood cancers are devastating. Even when the disease is not fatal, its long-term effects can be severe. Not enough is known about the risk factors. "Research suggests that only 5% to 10% of childhood cancers are attributable ...
Phys.org / Physicists have measured 'negative time' in the lab
As Homer tells us, Odysseus made an epic journey, against the odds, from Troy to his home in Ithaca. He visited many lands, but mostly dwelt with the nymph Calypso on her island. We can imagine that his wife, Penelope, would ...
Phys.org / How genetic information helps cells resist chaos and stay alive
A Moffitt Cancer Center researcher has introduced a new model that addresses one of biology's most fundamental questions: How does genetic information keep living systems organized and therefore alive?
Phys.org / Long-term study of COVID lockdown and family life shows unexpected, lasting effects on fatherhood
In the years following the COVID-19 pandemic, much has been said about how the lockdowns created conditions for dual-parent families to spend more time at home with their children. In an ideal vision of family life, this ...
Phys.org / When the Schuylkill swallowed the city: Lessons from Hurricane Ida's historic flood
New Penn research shows that Hurricane Ida wasn't a once-in-a-century anomaly but a preview of how climate change, urbanization, and aging infrastructure are rewriting flood risk.
Phys.org / Under crushing hypergravity, fruit flies adapt—and recover
Expose an animal to extreme physical stress, and the expectation is simple: It will break down. But when UC Riverside scientists subjected fruit flies to forces many times stronger than Earth's gravity—a condition called ...
Phys.org / After flames strip hillsides bare, the next storm can unleash something far more destructive downstream
Wildfires can increase flooding risks in and downstream of burned areas by removing vegetation and disturbing hydrologic processes. As the climate changes, the severity of both wildfires and heavy rainfall events is increasing, ...
Phys.org / How oak trees outwit their predators
Spring in the forest: Many insects, particularly caterpillars, hatch just when the trees' nutrient-rich leaves are still young and soft. This means they find a table laden with food and can start eating straight away. If ...
