Phys.org news
Phys.org / Africa's wildfire season is actually getting shorter, scientists think they know why
Africa is home to around 70% of the world's burned area—the total area of land scorched by wildfires each year—making it the planet's biggest wildfire hotspot. Yet despite this, satellite observations have revealed an unexpected ...
Phys.org / Giving bees a probiotic diet could help protect them from extreme temperatures
Honeybees do not like cold weather. When temperatures dip, they can become sluggish and unable to fly. But no matter the conditions in the outside world, they try to keep their hives close to a comfortable 34°C–36°C (93°F–97°F). ...
Phys.org / Light-driven chemistry steers electron transfers beyond redox limits
Chemists use single-electron transfers to synthesize complex, ring-shaped molecular structures found in many drug candidates and advanced materials, but current techniques still have limitations. A new study, accepted for ...
Phys.org / AI may not make us stupid, but relying on it could weaken the skills built through practice
The worry of becoming stupid isn't new; it dates back to the time of the Greek philosopher Socrates, who insisted that writing would destroy memory and weaken the mind. Then came calculators, GPS and computers, all of which ...
Phys.org / Bee brains reveal how colonies divide work without central planning
What determines which tasks bees perform in their colony? Biologists from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) and the universities in Cologne and Frankfurt/Main have investigated the role neural activity plays in this ...
Phys.org / Children and monkeys share common understanding of geometry
With their ability to use tools, remember faces and even learn how to communicate with humans through sign language, nonhuman primates are considered to be among the smartest creatures on Earth. However, some concepts—geometry, ...
Phys.org / Floating igloo leaves France for polar exploration mission
A floating research station resembling a giant aluminum igloo on Sunday set out from France to begin a long-term mission in the Arctic that will see it drift with the polar ice in one of the most hostile environments.
Phys.org / New web tool maps fossil locations across ancient continents in seconds
Calculating a fossil's position throughout geological history is a complex process. In paleontology and other disciplines, determining a location in the past is a challenge that requires refined computational tools to process ...
Phys.org / Archaeological dig reveals full extent of Roman villa with intricate mosaic and bath house
Archaeologists have uncovered a rare and intricate polychrome mosaic within the remains of a Roman villa beneath Devon farmland. Made up of thousands of red, white and dark blue-gray cubes, the 12 m2 (129 square feet) mosaic ...
Phys.org / Underwater drones discover coral reefs off Benin, long presumed dead, teeming with life
A coral reef, missing and presumed dead, has been found alive and well off the coast of Benin. Surveys in the 1960s, focused on identifying promising fishing areas, flagged a possible deep-water coral reef but assumed it ...
Phys.org / One idea, two cosmic mysteries—linking Little Red Dots and globular clusters
A new study led by astronomers at The University of Texas at Austin proposes a theory that could solve two astronomical riddles at once: the nature of Little Red Dots and the origin of globular clusters. Rather than representing ...
Phys.org / Scientists map how the flu virus rewires the human cell from the inside
Researchers at EMBL Hamburg and collaborators at the Leibniz Research Institute for Molecular Pharmacology (FMP) have mapped how the influenza A virus rewires infected human cells in unprecedented detail. To do this, the ...
