Phys.org news
Phys.org / Riding the quantum wave: Quasiparticles reveal a magneto-optical transport phenomenon
Excitons are being explored in materials science and information technology as a means of storing light. These luminous quasiparticles move through individual layers of quantum materials and can absorb and emit light with ...
Phys.org / What wild honey from the Philippine jungle reveals about biodiversity
In the Philippines, Indigenous communities have been harvesting wild honey for centuries. A new chemical analysis of this honey now provides insights into the biodiversity of the region. "And an additional reason to protect ...
Phys.org / Life's earliest proteins may have folded into complex shapes with far fewer amino acids
How did the earliest life on Earth build complex biological machinery with so few tools? A new study explores how the simplest building blocks of proteins—once limited to just half of today's amino acids—could still form ...
Phys.org / Moon dust could stop being a nuisance and start reshaping how humans may build beyond Earth
As space agencies and private companies look toward a sustained human presence on the moon, a fundamental challenge centers on how to build strong, durable infrastructure without hauling every material from Earth. New research ...
Phys.org / How a sinking lithospheric root raised Mongolia's Hangay Mountains
Central Mongolia's Hangay Mountains rise more than four kilometers above sea level, forming a dramatic dome that shapes the region's climate. But for decades, geologists have been puzzled: What caused this massive mountain ...
Phys.org / AI model designs new antibiotic for staph infections after exploring 46 billion compounds
Researchers at McMaster University have developed a new generative artificial intelligence (AI) model capable of drastically speeding up drug discovery—and, in early tests, it has already designed a brand-new antibiotic. ...
Phys.org / In Eastern Africa, the cradle of humankind is tearing apart
Eastern Africa's Turkana Rift is both a hotbed for fossil discoveries of our earliest ancestors and a literal hotbed of volcanic activity caused by shifting tectonic plates. Now researchers have found that Earth's underlying ...
Phys.org / Brazil unearths a bizarre beaked reptile with a trans-Atlantic prehistoric link
Paleontologists from the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM) have published a new study in the scientific journal Royal Society Open Science, in which they describe a new species based on a fossil skull approximately ...
Phys.org / A huge tectonic boundary shook the ground where dinosaurs once stood
Scientists have discovered a Jurassic tectonic plate boundary that could help to predict what the planet might look like millions of years into the future. Dr. Jordan Phethean, Senior Lecturer in Earth Sciences at the University ...
Phys.org / Tiny songbird crosses Sahara by flying night after night
Every year a small songbird, no heavier than a letter, crosses the Sahara Desert, the Mediterranean and the Arabian Desert on its migration. New research from Lund University in Sweden now reveals how the tiny bird manages ...
Phys.org / AI automates quantum dot voltage tuning for scaling up quantum computing
Semiconductor spin qubits are a promising candidate for the building blocks of next-generation quantum computers due to their high potential for integration and compatibility with existing semiconductor technologies. Qubits—like ...
Phys.org / How an Atlantic island narrowly escaped 'stealthy' eruption
Thousands of earthquakes affecting Portugal's São Jorge Island in the Azores in March 2022 were triggered by a vast sheet of magma (molten rock) rising from more than 20km below Earth's surface and stalling just 1.6km beneath ...