Phys.org news
Phys.org / The compleximer: New type of plastic mixes glass-like shaping with impact resistance
Researchers at Wageningen University & Research have developed a new type of plastic that, according to materials theory, should not be able to exist. Its properties sit somewhere between those of glass and plastic: it is ...
Phys.org / DNA provides a solution to our enormous data storage problem
Since the dawn of the computer age, researchers have wrestled with two persistent challenges: how to store ever-increasing reams of data and how to protect that information from unintended access. Now, researchers with Arizona ...
Phys.org / Global map catalogs 459 rare continental mantle earthquakes since 1990
Stanford researchers have created the first-ever global map of a rare earthquake type that occurs not in Earth's crust but in our planet's mantle, the layer sandwiched between the thin crust and Earth's molten core. The new ...
Phys.org / MXenes for energy storage: More versatile than expected
MXene materials are promising candidates for a new energy storage technology. However, the processes by which the charge storage takes place were not yet fully understood. A team at HZB has examined, for the first time, individual ...
Phys.org / Surgery for quantum bits: Bit-flip errors corrected during superconducting qubit operations
Quantum computers hold great promise for exciting applications in the future, but for now they keep presenting physicists and engineers with a series of challenges and conundrums. One of them relates to decoherence and the ...
Phys.org / Seeds 'listen' to mom: Study finds mother plants send ABA hormone signals that set seed dormancy
Whatever challenges life throws, mothers often know best as they guide offspring through the risky stages of early development. This scenario, familiar when applied to humans, turns out to be true for plants too, according ...
Phys.org / Faster enzyme screening could cut biocatalysis bottlenecks in drug development
A team of biochemists at the University of California, Santa Cruz, has developed a faster way to identify molecules in the lab that could lead to more effective pharmaceuticals. The discovery advances the rapidly growing ...
Phys.org / Skua deaths mark first wildlife die-off due to avian flu on Antarctica
More than 50 skuas in Antarctica died from the high pathogenicity avian influenza virus H5N1 in the summers of 2023 and 2024, marking the first documented die-off of wildlife from the virus on the continent. That is confirmed ...
Phys.org / Philadelphia communities help AI machine learning get better at spotting gentrification
Over the last several decades, urban planners and municipalities have sought to identify and better manage the socioeconomic dynamics associated with rapid development in established neighborhoods. The term "gentrification" ...
Phys.org / YouTubers love wildlife, but commenters aren't calling for conservation action
YouTube is a great place to find all sorts of wildlife content. It is not, however, a good place to find viewers encouraging each other to preserve that wildlife, according to new research led by the University of Michigan. ...
Phys.org / Listening to polymers collapse: 'Water bridges' pull the strings
It is not easy to follow the interactions of large molecules with water in real time. But this can be easier to hear than to see. This is how an international team deciphered the role of water in the collapse of PNIPAM.
Phys.org / CRISPR screen maps 250 genes essential for human muscle fiber formation
Muscles make up nearly 40% of the human body and power every move we make, from a child's first steps to recovery after injury. For some, however, muscle development goes awry, leading to weakness, delayed motor milestones ...