Phys.org news

A new LMU study shows how proteins function reliably even without a stable 3D structure—and the crucial importance not only of short sequence motifs, but also of chemical characteristics.

If you were a bee, how would you choose a flower to land on? You might go to the most beautiful one, as pollination biologists have long suggested that flowers with striking colors attract pollinators more easily. Or perhaps, ...

In reptiles, a simple temperature change can determine whether an egg develops into a male or female. This process is formally known as temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD), in which the sex of an embryo is determined ...

Every animal carries a microscopic community of bacteria, fungi, and other microbes that play a critical role in health. These gut microbes help regulate the immune system, support digestion, and even influence how animals ...

A new Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA) study has found that while regenerative agriculture practices can improve soil health and reduce emissions on sheep farms, farmers often face trade-offs between environmental ...

Urban parks are a vital component of urban ecosystems and provide distinctive habitats for soil microorganisms. Yet scientists have questioned whether—and how—the functional diversity and evolutionary potential of microbial ...

Ice cores taken from glaciers reveal the air pollution of the past, using atmospheric particles incorporated in snow that fell on the glacier and became ice. Now, scientists have extracted a record of thousands of years' ...

One of the most widely accepted models for how cells remember their identity may be incorrect. This is shown in a new study by two research groups at Umeå University. In Science Advances, they present results that overturn ...

There is a near-infinite number of material candidates out there—and simply not enough time to hunker down in the lab and test them all. Thankfully, researchers have a variety of tools (such as AI) at their disposal to ...

To survive in areas where it is difficult to photosynthesize, some organisms adopt unique strategies. Osaka Metropolitan University researchers have found that a freshwater alga captures far-red light as an additional energy ...

Researchers at the Center for Computational Sciences, University of Tsukuba, have developed an accessible platform to overcome the limitations of conventional static docking simulations, offering new avenues for education, ...

When we think of powerful magnets used in particle accelerators or for NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance), we often envision bulky machines, sometimes the size of buildings. But in an extraordinary breakthrough for physics, ...