Phys.org news

Phys.org / Sculpting complex 3D nanostructures with a focused ion beam

Scientists from the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science and colleagues have developed a new way to fabricate three-dimensional nanoscale devices from single-crystal materials using a focused ion beam instrument. The ...

Jan 21, 2026 in Nanotechnology
Phys.org / Data-driven analysis reveals three archetypes of armed conflicts

The language used to describe conflicts naturally reflects assumptions about how different forms of violence emerge and develop.

Jan 21, 2026 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / Positive interactions dominate among marine microbes, six-year study reveals

A six-year analysis of marine microbes in coastal California waters has overturned long-held assumptions about how the ocean's smallest organisms interact.

Jan 21, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Strategic sex: Alaska's beluga whales swap mates for long-term survival

In the icy waters of Alaska's Bristol Bay, a new study reveals how a small population of beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) survive the long haul through a surprising strategy: they mate with multiple partners over several ...

Jan 21, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / World's first high-resolution global leaf chlorophyll map can closely track plant health

A research team led by Profs. Li Jing and Liu Qinhuo from the Aerospace Information Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (AIRCAS) has developed the world's first global, high-resolution map of leaf chlorophyll ...

Jan 21, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / Critical Atlantic Ocean currents kept going during last ice age, microfossils suggest

During the last ice age, the Atlantic Ocean's powerful current system remained active and continued to transport warm, salty water from the tropics to the North Atlantic despite extensive ice cover across much of the Northern ...

Jan 21, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / Natural peptides from cyanobacteria offer eco-friendly solution to marine biofouling

A new CIIMAR study demonstrates that natural peptides produced by cyanobacteria are capable of replacing toxic biocides that dominate the market for anti-fouling paints used in the maritime industry. The use of these peptides ...

Jan 21, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Looking deep into the eyes of insects

Researchers from the University of Konstanz have studied how insect brains take in complex light stimuli and process them in parallel. They are the first to have found evidence that information is processed in different layers ...

Jan 21, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / New cryogenic vacuum chamber cuts noise for quantum ion trapping

Even very slight environmental noise, such as microscopic vibrations or magnetic field fluctuations a hundred times smaller than Earth's magnetic field, can be catastrophic for quantum computing experiments with trapped ions.

Jan 21, 2026 in Physics
Phys.org / Engineered nanobodies improve respiratory defenses in preclinical study

In a multi-institutional study published today in Nature Nanotechnology, researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reported that engineered bispecific nanobodies successfully strengthened mucosal ...

Jan 21, 2026 in Nanotechnology
Phys.org / Complex building blocks of life form spontaneously in space, research reveals

Challenging long-held assumptions, Aarhus University researchers have demonstrated that the protein building blocks essential for life as we know it can form readily in space. This discovery, appearing in Nature Astronomy, ...

Jan 20, 2026 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / An electrically powered source of entangled light on a chip

Quantum technologies are cutting-edge systems that can process, transfer, or store information leveraging quantum mechanical effects, particularly a phenomenon known as quantum entanglement. Entanglement entails a correlation ...

Jan 20, 2026 in Physics