Phys.org news

Phys.org / Sticky secrets: What ancient chewing gum is telling us about Neolithic communities

Ancient bones, artifacts and texts offer numerous insights into the past, as does the chewing gum that Neolithic people chewed on and spat out long ago. Analysis of lumps of birch bark tar from ancient settlements has revealed ...

Oct 15, 2025 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / Changing-look active galactic nucleus investigated by researchers

By analyzing the available data from various space observatories and ground-based telescopes, Indian astronomers have conducted a long-term multiwavelength study of a changing-look active galactic nucleus (AGN) known as NGC ...

Oct 15, 2025 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / Ancient lead exposure may have shaped evolution of human brain

An international study changes the view that exposure to the toxic metal lead is largely a post-industrial phenomenon. The research reveals that our human ancestors were periodically exposed to lead for over two million years, ...

Oct 15, 2025 in Biology
Phys.org / A new attempt to explain the accelerated expansion of the universe

Why is the universe expanding at an ever-increasing rate? This is one of the most exciting yet unresolved questions in modern physics. Because it cannot be fully answered using our current physical worldview, researchers ...

Oct 15, 2025 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / Astronomers detect radio signals from a black hole tearing apart a star—outside a galactic center

An international team of astronomers has discovered the first tidal disruption event (TDE) producing bright radio emission outside the center of a galaxy. The findings are published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Oct 15, 2025 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / Analysis of 4.4-million-year-old ankle exposes how earliest ancestors moved and evolved

For more than a century, scientists have been piecing together the puzzle of human evolution, examining fossil evidence to understand the transition from our earliest ancestors to modern humans.

Oct 15, 2025 in Biology
Phys.org / Water reveals superpowers hidden at the nanoscale

Researchers at The University of Manchester have made an unexpected discovery about one of the world's most familiar substances—water. When confined to spaces a few atoms thick, water transforms into something completely ...

Oct 15, 2025 in Nanotechnology
Phys.org / Rain in the Sahara? Researchers predict a wetter future for the desert

The Sahara Desert is one of the driest areas in the world. It gets just 3 inches of precipitation per year—one-tenth of the amount of Chicago's rain, sleet and snow.

Oct 15, 2025 in Earth
Phys.org / Ants alter their nest networks to prevent epidemics, study finds

Ants make a series of clever architectural adjustments to their nests to prevent the spread of disease, University of Bristol research has uncovered.

Oct 15, 2025 in Biology
Phys.org / Generation of harmful slow electrons in water is a race between intermolecular energy decay and proton transfer

When high-energy radiation interacts with water in living organisms, it generates particles and slow-moving electrons that can subsequently damage critical molecules like DNA. Now, Professor Petr Slavíček and his bachelor's ...

Oct 15, 2025 in Chemistry
Phys.org / Innovation in stone tool manufacture occurred independently in Europe and the Near East, says study

An analysis of stone tools found in Italy and Lebanon indicates that around 42,000 years ago, modern humans in Europe and the Near East took different approaches to toolmaking.

Oct 15, 2025 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / World's largest rays may be diving to extreme depths to build mental maps of vast oceans

Many marine species are no strangers to the depths of the oceans. Some animals, like certain sharks, tuna, or turtles, routinely perform extreme dives, whereas for other species, such behavior has been observed less frequently.

Oct 15, 2025 in Biology