Phys.org news
Phys.org / New chemical method makes it easier to select desirable traits in crops
Crops increasingly need to thrive in a broader range of conditions, including drought, salinity, and heat. Traditional plant breeding can select for desirable traits, but is limited by the genetic variation that already exists ...
Phys.org / Identifying where lithium ions reside in a new solid-state electrolyte that could lead to improved batteries
Recent research published in Science introduces a promising solid electrolyte material that could improve the performance of next-generation lithium batteries, particularly at lower temperatures. Illinois Institute of Technology ...
Phys.org / A tug-of-war explains a decades-old question about how bacteria swim
Scientists have uncovered a new explanation for how swimming bacteria change direction, providing fresh insight into one of biology's most intensively studied molecular machines.
Phys.org / How does glass 'shake' and why does it start flowing when pushed hard enough?
Glassy materials are everywhere, with applications far exceeding windowpanes and drinking glasses. They range from bioactive glasses for bone repair and amorphous pharmaceuticals that boost drug solubility to ultra-pure silica ...
Phys.org / New method reveals how mutations drive transthyretin amyloidosis and guides precision drug design
An international research team reveals new molecular mechanisms associated with pathogenic mutations in the protein transthyretin that cause transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR), a group of fatal progressive diseases. The results, ...
Phys.org / How quiet galaxies stay quiet: Cool gas feeds black holes in 'red geysers'
Astronomers have long puzzled over how some massive galaxies stop forming stars and remain dormant for billions of years—even when they still contain gas that could, in principle, fuel new stars.
Phys.org / Uncovering a secret room that a giant virus creates inside its host amoeba
A virus relies on the host's translation machinery to replicate itself and become infectious. Translation efficiency partially depends on the usage of a codon, or sequence of three nucleotides, that matches the cellular pool ...
Phys.org / Catching a radical in motion with µSR spectroscopy
Using muon spin rotation spectroscopy, researchers from Japan and Canada have successfully captured the rapid conversion of an imidoyl radical into a quinoxalinyl radical occurring within nanoseconds. The technique enabled ...
Phys.org / How Mycobacterium tuberculosis safeguards itself from foreign DNA
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), with collaborators from the Institute of Mathematical Sciences (IMSc), have discovered how a key protein in the tuberculosis bacterium helps protect it from the influence ...
Phys.org / Lysosomes in focus: New study reveals how cells keep them intact
When the cell's recycling stations, the lysosomes, start leaking, it can become dangerous. Toxic waste risks spreading and damaging the cell. Now, researchers at Umeå University have revealed the molecular sensors that detect ...
Phys.org / Deciphering symbiotic code: Research unlocks 'secret handshake' between legumes and rhizobia
In a study published in Science, researchers have resolved, for the first time, the high-resolution crystal structure of the complex formed between the NodD protein of pea rhizobia and a flavonoid compound (hesperetin). They ...
Phys.org / Scientists solve the mystery of Europe's missing dinosaurs. Spoiler alert! They were never actually missing
Ceratopsians were horned, beaked dinosaurs that once stomped their way all over North America and Asia during the Late Cretaceous period, about 80 million years ago. Their abundance in the fossil records of these continents, ...
