Phys.org news
Phys.org / Paternal mitochondria in plants can rescue defective maternal DNA, study reveals
In most plants and animals, including humans, mitochondria are inherited exclusively, or nearly exclusively, from the mother. By contrast, paternal transmission is observed only occasionally, and the mechanisms behind this ...
Phys.org / Liquid crystal phase in antiferromagnets can be detected electrically
The best candidate for next-generation magnetic devices—technology that can power, store, sense or transport information—may be, counterintuitively, antiferromagnets. Today, the most widely used magnetic materials are ...
Phys.org / Did plants nearly wipe out all marine life on Earth—twice?
UC College of Arts and Sciences Professor Thomas Algeo has been studying the planet's five major mass extinctions since the Ordovician Period, when global sea levels were much higher than today. In a paper published in Nature ...
Phys.org / A new 'uncertainty relation' for quantum measurement errors
One of the most striking features of quantum physics is that certain properties cannot both be known or measured with arbitrary precision at the same time. Every measurement may inevitably affect the object's physical state ...
Phys.org / Hard-to-make diastereomers: How a cage-like allyl reagent changes the outcome
Diastereomers are structurally identical molecules that are not mirror images of each other. Diastereomers can have different biological activities, potencies or toxicities, which means they can influence biological systems, ...
Phys.org / The 'Bloom cycle' is a newly described biochemical pathway that explains key plant processes
For decades, the basics of plant growth have been taught in grade school: Plants make their food out of water from the soil, light from the sun and carbon dioxide from the air in a process called photosynthesis. What gets ...
Dialog / The wetland puzzle that stumped hydrology for decades—how physics and AI joined forces to predict unmeasured regions
For years, the Prairie Pothole Region has bothered me in a very specific way. On a map, it looks like a normal landscape: fields, gentle slopes, small streams. But hydrologically, it behaves like something else entirely. ...
Phys.org / Chemically 'stapled' peptides used to target difficult-to-treat cancers
Researchers at the University of Bath have developed a new technology that uses bacteria to build, chemically stabilize, and test millions of potential drug molecules inside living cells, making it much quicker and easier ...
Phys.org / Jackdaw chicks listen to adults to learn about predators
Jackdaw chicks learn about predators by listening to adults, new research shows. Scientists played recordings of predator calls to chicks in their nests—and paired the sounds with either adult jackdaw "alarm" calls or "contact" ...
Phys.org / Asteroid Ryugu samples offer new insights into early solar system magnetism
To uncover the history of our solar system, it is necessary to study the dynamic evolution of the ancient solar nebula materials. These materials interacted and coevolved with the weak but widespread magnetic field of the ...
Phys.org / Maize may have more importance in pre-European Michigan than previously thought
Indigenous people who were the first to inhabit the area now known as Michigan—before the Europeans arrived—may have cultivated maize (corn) more prominently than previously assumed for such a northern population. Researchers ...
Phys.org / Permafrost is key to carbon storage. That makes northern wildfires even more dangerous
The devastating wildfires in northern Canada in recent years have climate consequences that go far beyond smoke and carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, according to a new study co-authored by two NAU researchers. ...