Phys.org news
Phys.org / Tiny ocean plankton hold clues to the future of Maine lobster
The future of Maine's lobster industry may depend on a creature the size of a sesame seed. Researchers at the University of Maine have discovered that planktonic baby lobsters, or larvae, preferentially feed on Calanus finmarchicus, ...
Phys.org / Tiny root hairs, big impact: How bacteria help plants survive drought
What helps plants cope better with drought? With heat waves and periods of extreme drought becoming increasingly common worldwide, the need for drought-tolerant plants is increasingly urgent. With the help of bacteria, plants ...
Phys.org / Ball milling enhances the antiviral activity of inexpensive inorganic materials
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, developing surfaces that can inactivate viruses upon contact has become an important goal in public health care. Ideally, such surfaces would work on their own without requiring chemical disinfectants, ...
Phys.org / Mechanical memory helps explain how cells adapt their movement to changing environments
Cells in our bodies squeeze through dense tissue channels, thread past neighboring cells and navigate every nook and cranny within the extracellular matrix—the mesh-like network that surrounds and supports cells. How well ...
Phys.org / Dry landscapes and newly fallowed fields may raise California Valley fever risk
Researchers at UC San Diego and UC Berkeley have found that certain landscapes surrounding California communities are associated with differing rates of Valley fever, a fungal respiratory infection caused by inhaling spores ...
Phys.org / Can satellites detect when forests lose resilience?
For years, scientists have been using a method called "temporal autocorrelation (TAC)" to measure forest resilience using satellite data. However, scientists have not used TAC uniformly, and its use as a resilience indicator ...
Phys.org / The superconducting gap of an ultrathin nickelate defies expectations
Superconductors are materials that carry electrical current with zero resistance below a specific critical temperature. In conventional superconductors, the transition to superconductivity generally occurs at very low temperatures.
Phys.org / Oldest human brain cells grown in lab 'recorded passage of time'
Peppercorn-sized clumps of human brain cells grown in a lab for a record seven years aged similarly to those inside our heads, suggesting they "recorded the passage of time," scientists said Wednesday.
Phys.org / Quantum computer microscope is set to significantly improve electron microscopy
Electron microscopes are used wherever particularly small details need to be imaged. But from a strictly physical point of view, every electron in a conventional electron microscope represents a missed opportunity: If all ...
Phys.org / Protein degradation rate helps explain why humans develop more slowly than mice
Humans develop at a slower rate than other mammalian species, like mice, but scientists are still trying to understand the molecular basis of these differences. Now, researchers from the Ebisuya Group at EMBL Barcelona and ...
Phys.org / Collaborative drawing offers new insights into how strangers become friends
The closer two people grow, the more alike their brains work—or so the assumption goes. Two ETH Zurich studies challenge this idea by examining the brain activity of younger and older adults who drew together over several ...
Phys.org / Blowing in the wind, humble balloon gets green makeover
A global symbol of parties and celebrations but an environmental headache, the humble balloon is undergoing a green revolution thanks to U.K. researchers.
