Phys.org news

Phys.org / From mother to offspring: Young birds show how 'forever chemicals' accumulate

New research has found young birds living near contaminated industrial and military sites in suburban Melbourne carry especially high concentrations of PFAS, so-called "forever chemicals."

Jul 7, 2026
Phys.org / Wolves around the world have evolved different skull shapes—humans are also shaping their evolution

A new international study led by researchers at the University of Oulu, Finland, shows that wolves living in different parts of the world are not anatomically identical. Their skulls differ in shape and size according to ...

Jul 7, 2026
Phys.org / Study unveils new genetic screen for understanding human development

A new genetic screening method allows researchers to efficiently modulate individual genes across entire tissues and provides new insights into human development. The research, published in eLife, is described as a landmark ...

Jul 7, 2026
Phys.org / Bulk ferromagnetic quasicrystals emerge without rapid quenching, unlocking stable magnetic studies

Ferromagnetism has long been studied in a wide range of periodic crystals and amorphous materials. In quasicrystals (QCs), which possess long-range quasiperiodic order and unconventional rotational symmetries, such as 10-fold ...

Jul 7, 2026
Phys.org / Inferring multicellular interactions in tumors from standard pathology slides

Understanding how cells within and around a tumor interact provides key information about a cancer's architecture, a patient's immune response to the disease and even how susceptible the cancer may be to various types of ...

Jul 7, 2026
Phys.org / How proximity steals energy from nanoresonators

Nanomechanical resonators are miniature vibrating structures on chips that oscillate at frequencies ranging from a few kilohertz to gigahertz. They are used as ultrasensitive detectors of mass and force, temperature and pressure, ...

Jul 7, 2026
Phys.org / Simple cell migration mechanism may explain how hair follicles organize before birth

In mammals, hair follicles emerge during embryonic development, forming geometric patterns that vary from one species to another. But how is the position of each hair determined? A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) ...

Jul 7, 2026
Phys.org / Watching how molecules change shape in slow motion could inform future molecular machines

Researchers at the Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI) at Kanazawa University, the Institute for Molecular Science and SOKENDAI have uncovered the hidden mechanism behind a molecular switch—a molecule that can change ...

Jul 7, 2026
Phys.org / EV-SELEX speeds GPCR drug discovery by capturing receptor-bound DNA aptamers

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are the most abundantly expressed proteins in the human body, regulating diverse physiological processes ranging from pain perception to hormone signaling. Owing to their central roles ...

Jul 7, 2026
Phys.org / Paleontologists make 'one in a million' discovery of soft tissue preserved in 450-million-year-old fossil

Before the oldest dinosaur, before animals or even plants had expanded onto dry land, ancient relatives of starfish called crinoids, resembling stalked sea flowers, were among the first creatures to flourish in Earth's earliest ...

Jul 6, 2026
Phys.org / Larger brain, smaller face: Human evolution took a different course than previously thought

A new study, published July 6, 2026, in the journal Nature Communications, suggests that two of the best-known trends in human evolution—brain growth and the reduction in the size of the face and jaw—may be far less attributable ...

Jul 6, 2026
Phys.org / Cave finds reveal modern humans and Neanderthals may have shared long-term cultural continuity

Tens of thousands of years ago, Homo sapiens coexisted with Neanderthals, Homo neanderthalensis. Many of us living today carry a small amount of Neanderthal DNA, indicating that the two species may have shared much more than ...

Jul 6, 2026