Phys.org news
Phys.org / Earth's rapid warming 56 million years ago left plants struggling to keep up
Around 56 million years ago, Earth suddenly got much hotter. Over about 5,000 years, the amount of carbon in the atmosphere drastically increased and global temperatures shot up by some 6°C.
Phys.org / Humpback whales are making a comeback—here's one reason why
When University of Southern Denmark whale researcher Olga Filatova set off on her first field trip in 2000, she spent five years looking for whales before she saw a humpback.
Phys.org / 'Walking' water discovery on 2D material could lead to better anti-icing coatings and energy materials
A surprising discovery about how water behaves on one of the world's thinnest 2D materials could lead to major technological improvements, from better anti-icing coatings for aircraft and self-cleaning solar panels to next-generation ...
Phys.org / Calibrating qubit charge to make quantum computers even more reliable
Quantum computers will be able to assume highly complex tasks in the future. With superconducting quantum processors, however, it has thus far been difficult to read out experimental results because measurements can cause ...
Phys.org / The mystery of the missing deep ocean carbon fixers
In a step toward better understanding how the ocean sequesters carbon, new findings from UC Santa Barbara researchers and collaborators challenge the current view of how carbon dioxide is "fixed" in the sunless ocean depths. ...
Phys.org / Argon ion treatment increases carbon nanowall electrode capacitance fivefold
Researchers from Skoltech, MIPT, and the RAS Institute of Nanotechnology of Microelectronics have achieved a five-fold increase in the capacitance of carbon nanowalls, a material used in the electrodes of supercapacitors. ...
Phys.org / Helium leak discovered on the exoplanet WASP-107b
An international team including astronomers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the National Center of Competence in Research PlanetS has observed giant clouds of helium escaping from the exoplanet WASP-107b. Obtained ...
Phys.org / Bear teeth break free—the origin of unusual bear dentition
The dental development of modern bears does not follow the typical pattern seen in most mammals. The reason lies millions of years ago in the history of bear evolution. SNSB zoologists have identified two phases in bear evolution ...
Phys.org / Controlling quantum states in germanene using only an electric field
Researchers at the University of Twente and Utrecht University demonstrated for the first time that quantum states in the ultra-narrow material germanene can be switched on and off using only an electric field. The researchers ...
Phys.org / Sexual selection in beetles leads to more rapid evolution of new species, long-term experiments show
When males are forced to compete for females, new species form more rapidly. This has been shown in a new study where the researchers compared beetles allowed to mate freely with groups of the same species where competition ...
Phys.org / Wetlands trap toxic metals after battery plant fire scatters debris
When fire broke out at the world's largest battery energy storage facility in January 2025, its thick smoke blanketed surrounding wetlands, farms and nearby communities on the central California coast.
Phys.org / Nature's greatest method actors: The insects that cosplay bumblebees
Deception is everywhere in nature. Animals and plants routinely cheat, lie and manipulate for their own benefit. One example is mimicry, where one species (the mimic) has evolved to resemble another (the model).
