Phys.org news

Phys.org / Ancestral motif enables broad DNA binding by NIN, a master regulator of rhizobial symbiosis

Researchers at University of Tsukuba have uncovered a master transcriptional regulator that controls rhizobial symbiosis between plants and nitrogen-fixing bacteria. By identifying an amino acid motif that emerged before ...

Feb 13, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Fossil evidence reveals how gray wolves adapt diets to climate change

Gray wolves adapt their diets as a result of climate change, eating harder foods such as bones to extract nutrition during warmer climates, new research has found. The study, led by the University of Bristol in collaboration ...

Feb 13, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Scientists decipher how two bacterial species cooperate to avoid being eaten

Back in 2021, Pierre Stallforth and his team at the Leibniz-Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology (Leibniz-HKI) showed that bacteria of the genera Pseudomonas and Paenibacillus join forces to protect ...

Feb 13, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Failed supernova provides clearest view yet of a star collapsing into a black hole

Astronomers have watched a dying star fail to explode as a supernova, instead collapsing into a black hole. The remarkable sighting is the most complete observational record ever made of a star's transformation into a black ...

Feb 12, 2026 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / Elephant trunk whiskers exhibit material intelligence, revealing the secret behind an amazing sense of touch

A new study from an interdisciplinary German research collaboration, led by the Haptic Intelligence Department at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS), reveals the secret to the gentle dexterity of the ...

Feb 12, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Scientists uncover Iron Age origins of Vietnamese tooth blackening practices

Not everyone wants their teeth to be white and gleaming. Tooth blackening is a recognized part of modern Vietnamese culture, and a recent discovery hints that the roots of this practice may stretch all the way back to the ...

Feb 12, 2026 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / Unique 'inside out' planetary system reveals rocky outer world

A global team of astronomers, led by the University of Warwick, have used a European Space Agency (ESA) telescope to discover a planetary system that turns our understanding of planet formation upside down, with a distant ...

Feb 12, 2026 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / Jupiter-family comet 41P/TGK slows down and reverses spin after perihelion

New analysis on 2017 Hubble images of the Jupiter-family comet, 41P/Tuttle–Giacobini–Kresak (41P/TGK), indicates that the comet underwent a spin reversal between April and December 2017. While this behavior is not unheard ...

Feb 12, 2026 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / Major earthquakes are just as random as smaller ones

For obvious reasons, it would be useful to predict when an earthquake is going to occur. It has long been suspected that large quakes in the Himalayas follow a fairly predictable cycle, but nature, as it turns out, is not ...

Feb 12, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / New study maps where wheat, barley and rye grew before the first farmers found them

Using advanced machine learning and climate models, researchers have shown that the ancestors of crops like wheat, barley, and rye probably were much less widespread in the Middle East 12,000 years ago than previously believed. ...

Feb 12, 2026 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / What dating apps are really optimizing. Hint: It isn't love

In the weeks leading up to Valentine's Day, dating apps typically see a spike in new users and activity. More profiles are created, more messages sent, more swipes logged.

Feb 12, 2026 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / 'Virgin' frescoes emerge from Pompeii suburb

Amid the remains of a sumptuous villa near Pompeii, the hard-hatted conservationist scraped away centuries-old ash to reveal a vibrant red fresco.

Feb 12, 2026 in Other Sciences