Phys.org news
Phys.org / Methane's missing emissions: The underestimated impact of small sources
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, with an impact estimated at 80 times that of CO₂. Although efforts are being made to reduce the contribution of big polluters to methane in Japan, new research from Osaka Metropolitan ...
Phys.org / With the flip of a switch, scientists harness light to program how particles interact and assemble
NYU scientists are using light to precisely control how tiny particles organize themselves into crystals. Their research, published in Chem, provides a simple and reversible method for forming crystals that can be used to ...
Phys.org / Finding the honey bee dance floor: New method shows how it moves within the hive
When honey bees find a good source of food, they return to their hive and perform a waggle dance. It consists of a series of movements that communicate the direction and distance to nectar, pollen or water relative to the ...
Phys.org / 40,000-year-old Stone Age symbols may have paved the way for writing, long before Mesopotamia
Over 40,000 years ago, our early ancestors were already carving signs into tools and sculptures. According to a new analysis by linguist Christian Bentz at Saarland University and archaeologist Ewa Dutkiewicz at the Museum ...
Phys.org / Ant queen frozen in time: New ant species found in Dominican amber
A study by Dr. Gianpiero Fiorentino and his colleagues, published in the Journal of Paleontology, describes the identification of a new species of ant, Hypoponera electrocacica, belonging to the genus Hypoponera and representing ...
Phys.org / Quantum algorithm beats classical tools on complement sampling tasks
Quantum computers—devices that process information using quantum mechanical effects—have long been expected to outperform classical systems on certain tasks. Over the past few decades, researchers have worked to rigorously ...
Phys.org / Earth's mantle may have been cooler than thought before Pangea's breakup
When the supercontinent Pangea began to fragment around 200 million years ago during the Early Jurassic, it reshaped the face of the planet. Vast new oceans opened, continents drifted apart and the familiar geography of today ...
Phys.org / Astronomers discover rare super-Jupiter orbiting distant star
Using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), an international team of astronomers has discovered a new exoplanet orbiting a distant star known as TIC-65910228. The newfound alien world is slightly larger and ...
Phys.org / Mysterious Greek inscription reignites debate on whether a Syrian mosque stands atop Roman Emperor Elagabalus' Temple
A recently discovered Greek inscription at the base of a column inside the Great Mosque of Homs in Syria has rekindled a longstanding scholarly debate about the exact location of the Temple of the sun, whose high priest ascended ...
Phys.org / CT scans of Inca child sacrifices reveal new details about capacocha rituals
The Incas were known to engage in a sacrificial ritual involving children to appease their gods. Archaeologists have found and analyzed the remains of these human sacrifices, although not all of them have undergone CT scanning, ...
Phys.org / Curiosity rover captures Martian spiderwebs up close
For about six months, NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has been exploring a region full of geologic formations called boxwork, low ridges standing roughly 3 to 6 feet (1 to 2 meters) tall with sandy hollows in between. Crisscrossing ...
Phys.org / How horses whinny: Helium tests reveal whistling while singing mechanism
A horse's whinny is an unusually distinctive mix of sounds including both high and low frequencies. Reporting in Current Biology, researchers demonstrate how horses produce high-frequency sounds that defy their large size ...