Phys.org news

Phys.org / Yuletide kissers, smooch without guilt: Research suggests your mistletoe didn't harm its tree host

If mistletoe's status as a nutrient-stealing freeloader has been cooling your holiday ardor, new research led by an Oregon State University scientist may help relight the fire.

Dec 13, 2025 in Biology
Phys.org / Saturday Citations: Nice people are happier; Uranus may not be icy; SIM farm reporting

This week, researchers identified signaling pathways underpinning drug resistance in pancreatic cancer, a normally lethal diagnosis. A physicist proposed that conscious states in the brain may arise from the brain's ability ...

Dec 13, 2025 in Other Sciences
Dialog / Freezing salty water reveals dynamic brine migration and evolving ice patterns

Imagine holding a narrow tube filled with salty water and watching it begin to freeze from one end. You might expect the ice to advance steadily and push the salt aside in a simple and predictable way. Yet the scene that ...

Dec 13, 2025 in Chemistry
Phys.org / Ancient undersea wall dating to 5,800 BC discovered off French coast

Divers have discovered a long-submerged wall some 7,000 years old under the sea off western France, scientists said Thursday.

Dec 12, 2025 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / A healthier sugar substitute: Engineered bacteria yield a sweet solution

From saccharin in the 19th century to stevia and monk fruit in the 21st, researchers and the food industry have long sought a sweetener that delivers the taste of sugar without its drawbacks—excess calories, tooth decay, ...

Dec 12, 2025 in Biology
Phys.org / Sea reptile's tooth shows that mosasaurs could live in freshwater

Mosasaurs, giant marine reptiles that existed more than 66 million years ago, lived not only in the sea but also in rivers. This is shown by new research based on analyses of a mosasaur tooth found in North Dakota and believed ...

Dec 12, 2025 in Biology
Phys.org / Growth strategy enables coherent quantum transport in single-layer MoS₂ semiconductors

Two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors are thin materials (i.e., one-atom thick) with advantageous electronic properties. These materials have proved to be promising for the development of thinner, highly performing electronics, ...

Dec 12, 2025 in Nanotechnology
Phys.org / Earthquake rupture along Main Marmara Fault shows eastward progression towards Istanbul

In April 2025, the Main Marmara Fault below the Sea of Marmara in northwestern Türkiye experienced its largest earthquake in over 60 years. In a study published in Science, a team of researchers led by Prof. Dr. Patricia ...

Dec 12, 2025 in Earth
Phys.org / Plant hormone allows lifelong control of proteins in living animal for first time

Researchers have found a way to control protein levels inside different tissues of a whole, living animal for the first time. The method lets scientists dial protein levels up or down with great precision during the animal's ...

Dec 12, 2025 in Biology
Phys.org / Comet 3I/ATLAS displays greenish hue in new Gemini North telescope images

Gemini North captured new images of Comet 3I/ATLAS after it reemerged from behind the sun on its path out of the solar system. The data were collected during a Shadow the Scientists session—a unique outreach initiative ...

Dec 12, 2025 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / Atomic Josephson contacts: How Bose-Einstein condensates replicate Shapiro steps

The microscopic processes taking place in superconductors are difficult to observe directly. Researchers at the RPTU University of Kaiserslautern-Landau have therefore implemented a quantum simulation of the Josephson effect: ...

Dec 12, 2025 in Physics
Phys.org / Laughing about science more important than ever: Ig Nobel founder

With science increasingly coming under attack, using humor as a way to get people interested in scientific research is more important than ever, the founder of the satirical Ig Nobel prizes said.

Dec 12, 2025 in Other Sciences