Phys.org news
Phys.org / Can we grow life on Mars? Experiments show potential in simulated extraterrestrial soil
Life's capacity to survive in simulated lunar and Martian soils has been explored in two papers published in Scientific Reports. Treating simulated lunar soil with both symbiotic fungi and worm-produced compost can significantly ...
Phys.org / DART images reveal asteroids can toss slow 'cosmic snowballs' between moons
About 15% of asteroids near Earth have small moons orbiting them, making binary asteroid systems common in our cosmic neighborhood.
Phys.org / Analysis of 1,000 Tinder profiles reveals nine standard pose types
Choosing a Tinder profile picture may feel like a free, personal and creative act. But how true is that? A new study from the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) shows that, far from being unique, most users follow one ...
Phys.org / NASA's DART test for planetary defense proved it can shift an asteroid's solar orbit
Four years ago, NASA purposely smashed a spacecraft into a small asteroid to see if they could deflect it—a test to prove humanity could protect Earth from threatening space rocks.
Phys.org / Saturday Citations: More bad news for US footballers; ancient Mayan water management; investigative LLMs
What we learned this week: Left-handed people may have a psychological edge in competition. Humanoid robots can now do creepy parkour through the uncanny valley. And if you've ever cared for an elderly cat, a new study highlights ...
Phys.org / Salt may have pushed us further into Snowball Earth 700 million years ago
Our planet plunged into one of the most dramatic climate states in its long history, approximately 720–635 million years ago. During a period geologists call Snowball Earth, ice sheets crept from the poles all the way to ...
Phys.org / Gravitational waves reveal hidden structure of galactic centers
A new study published in Nature Astronomy indicates that the dense, star- and dark-matter–rich environments around supermassive black hole binaries pack on the order of a million solar masses into each cubic parsec. The ...
Phys.org / Largest known Mesozoic crocodyliform egg clutch discovered in Brazil
In a study published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, researchers Dr. Giovanna M. X. Paixão and her colleagues analyzed the fossilized remains of three Upper Cretaceous egg clutches. One of these clutches, totaling ...
Phys.org / Satellite images uncover new threat to emperor penguins during their annual molt
The tall black-and-white residents of Antarctica, who waddle around its icy landscape, are in peril thanks to the rapidly warming global climate. Emperor penguins go through an annual transformation called catastrophic molting, ...
Phys.org / A superradiant clock phase emerges when Rydberg atoms meet quantum light, simulations suggest
Rydberg atoms are atoms with one or more outer electrons excited to very high energy levels, which interact very strongly with each other. These atoms are widely used to run quantum simulations and develop quantum technologies, ...
Phys.org / Many scientists now use AI but fail to disclose it, study finds
When scientists employ generative AI tools like ChatGPT to help with tasks such as editing and translation for their academic writing, many journals now ask them to disclose this assistance. The rules are intended to maintain ...
Phys.org / Material previously thought to be quantum is actually a new, non-quantum state of matter
Magnetic materials in a quantum spin liquid phase are of great interest in the pursuit of exotic state of matter and quantum computation. But in the quantum realm, things are not always what they seem. A study, published ...
