Phys.org news
Phys.org / Your phone rings, and it's a number from Sweden. Do you answer? A Nobel Prize winner didn't
For some Nobel Prize winners this year, the news came with a knock at the door before dawn. For others, it was a long-awaited phone call honoring a discovery made decades ago.
Phys.org / Deadwood brings wild orchids to life: Study uncovers important carbon flux in the ecosystem
Orchid seeds are as small as dust and do not provide any nutrients for the young plant to grow. The adult plants are known to rely on a certain type of fungi that develop structures within the plant's roots, but whether these ...
Phys.org / AI advance helps astronomers spot cosmic events with just a handful of examples
A new study co-led by the University of Oxford and Google Cloud has shown how general-purpose AI can accurately classify real changes in the night sky—such as an exploding star, a black hole tearing apart a passing star, ...
Phys.org / First system to track near-real time changes to global land cover created
Scientists can now receive near-real-time alerts about the world's lands as their surfaces change, thanks to a new satellite-based monitoring system described today in Nature Communications.
Phys.org / Research shines light on 'double-yielding' behavior in soft materials
For decades, scientists have observed, but been unable to explain, a phenomenon seen in some soft materials: When force is applied, these materials exhibit not one, but two spikes in energy dissipation, known as overshoots. ...
Phys.org / Overconfidence persists even where regular feedback should discourage it, chess study finds
The late psychologist Daniel Kahneman once said if he could wave a magic wand and get rid of any bias, he would choose overconfidence. However, overconfidence is here to stay. In a recent study in Psychological Science, researchers ...
Phys.org / Illegal cannabis cultivation leaves lasting chemical footprint on California's public lands
A study published in Science of the Total Environment sheds light on the persistent chemical contaminants left behind at illegal cannabis cultivation sites, also known as "trespass grows," on California's federally managed ...
Phys.org / Protein sidekick exhibits dual roles in stress granule assembly and disassembly
Stress granules are droplet-like protein hubs that temporarily shield fragile RNA from cellular stresses such as toxins. VCP is a protein essential for breaking up stress granules and has been linked to neurodegenerative ...
Phys.org / Women portrayed as younger than men online, and AI amplifies the bias
U.S. Census data shows no systematic age differences between men and women in the workforce over the past decade. And globally, women on average live about five years longer than men. But that's not what you'll see if you ...
Phys.org / Orthopedic implants aim to last longer with liquid metal-based nanomaterials
A pioneering liquid metal combination is shaping up as a potential secret weapon in the global fight against antimicrobial resistance, and promises to outlast existing implant materials.
Phys.org / Deforestation can cause eight-fold increase in flood event risk
New research, based on forest fires in Australia, proves there is a significantly higher risk of large-scale flooding when major deforestation has occurred in catchment areas. The chance of large-scale flooding in a specific ...
Phys.org / Composing crews for Mars missions: Team diversity may foster resilience
Simulation results highlight how team composition shapes stress, health, performance, and cohesion in long-duration space missions, according to a study published October 8, 2025, in the open-access journal PLOS One by Iser ...
