Phys.org news

Phys.org / What does 'everyday' peace look like? Mapping how people think about peacebuilding

A new study led by Yale anthropologist Catherine Panter-Brick examines how stakeholders in socially diverse, conflict-affected societies conceptualize everyday peace, drawing on a comparative analysis across different groups ...

Jan 8, 2026 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / Deformable adjuvants can enhance immune activation in new vaccine design

Conventional vaccine adjuvants primarily rely on molecular binding and biochemical stimulation to activate immune responses, which often leads to limited efficacy in elderly or low-responsive populations. How to introduce ...

Jan 8, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Long school breaks tied to dip in cognitive test performance

Researchers at UConn and the University of Minnesota have discovered that there may be more to the "summer slide" phenomenon following a break in schooling than just forgetting material. In fact, the researchers found reliable ...

Jan 8, 2026 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / Marine pollutants disrupt cellular energy production in seabirds

Common pollutants are disrupting energy production at the cellular level in wild seabirds, potentially affecting fitness, new research reveals. The study, published in Environment & Health, focused on Scopoli's shearwaters ...

Jan 8, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Lipids have their own VIP drivers for reaching cellular targets

In addition to providing energy, lipids are also essential building blocks of our cell membranes. However, despite their importance, they remain poorly understood.

Jan 8, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Antibodies' decoy tactics for outmaneuvering pathogens could inspire next-generation treatments

Pathogens can create sticky situations. When microbes invade the body to cause an infection, often one of their first lines of attack is to cling tenaciously to the surfaces of targeted human cells.

Jan 8, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Searching for the centromere: Diversity in pathways key for cell division

Despite the immense amount of genetic material present in each cell, around 3 billion base pairs in humans, this material needs to be accurately divided in two and allocated in equal quantities. The centromere, located in ...

Jan 8, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Understanding the link between nucleotide metabolism and chromatin assembly

A Northwestern Medicine study has revealed a previously unknown connection between two fundamental cellular processes, offering fresh insight into how human cells build and maintain chromatin, according to findings published ...

Jan 8, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / How population bottlenecks shape bacterial cooperation and competition

Microbes often display cooperative behavior in which individual cells put in work and sacrifice resources to collectively benefit the group. But sometimes, "cheater" cells in the group may reap the benefits of this cooperation ...

Jan 8, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Smartphone use cuts into school hours, with social media leading the way

University of California, San Francisco investigators measured smartphone app activity during school hours among US adolescents and reported an average of 1.16 hours of use, with social media apps taking up the most time.

Jan 7, 2026 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / Ammonites survived asteroid impact that killed off dinosaurs, new evidence suggests

In the aftermath of the giant asteroid that crashed into the Yucatan Peninsula about 66 million years ago, approximately 75% of all species on Earth were wiped out, including the dinosaurs. Among those thought to have perished ...

Jan 7, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Scientists use string theory to crack the code of natural networks

For more than a century, scientists have wondered why physical structures like blood vessels, neurons, tree branches, and other biological networks look the way they do. The prevailing theory held that nature simply builds ...

Jan 7, 2026 in Physics