Phys.org news

Phys.org / Scientists discover recent tectonic activity on the moon

Scientists have produced the first global map and analysis of small mare ridges (SMRs) on the moon, a characteristic geological feature of tectonic activity. Published in The Planetary Science Journal Dec. 24, 2025, the analysis ...

19 hours ago in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / World's smallest QR code, read via electron microscope, earns Guinness recognition

Just how small can a QR code be? Small enough that it can only be recognized with an electron microscope. A research team at TU Wien, working together with the data storage technology company Cerabyte, has now demonstrated ...

17 hours ago in Nanotechnology
Phys.org / The ice on Greenland is acting strangely: Scientists believe they finally know why

Deep inside the Greenland ice sheet are giant swirling plume-like structures. These have puzzled scientists for over a decade, but UiB researchers now believe they have cracked the mystery by applying the same mathematics ...

19 hours ago in Earth
Phys.org / Why Triceratops has such a big nose: The first comprehensive hypothesis on soft tissue in the dinosaur

Triceratops and similar horned dinosaurs had unusually large nasal cavities compared to most animals. Researchers, including those from the University of Tokyo, used CT scans of fossilized Triceratops skulls and compared ...

19 hours ago in Biology
Phys.org / JWST spots most distant jellyfish galaxy to date

Astrophysicists from the University of Waterloo have observed a new jellyfish galaxy, the most distant one of its kind ever captured. Jellyfish galaxies are named for the long, tentacle-like streams that trail behind them. ...

18 hours ago in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / Otters as ocean doctors: How a 40-year watch on Brazil's coasts reveals hidden threats to estuaries

For 40 years, scientists have been monitoring the Neotropical otter (Lontra longicaudis) along the southern coast of Brazil. A study published in Estuarine Management and Technologies reveals that these charismatic mammals ...

17 hours ago in Biology
Phys.org / Science on the double: How an AI-powered 'digital twin' accelerates chemistry and materials discoveries

Understanding what complex chemical measurements reveal about materials and reactions can take weeks or months of analysis. But now, an AI-powered platform developed by researchers at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley ...

17 hours ago in Chemistry
Phys.org / Specially engineered crystal reveals magnetism with quantum potential

Researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, working with international partners, have uncovered surprising behavior in a specially engineered crystal. Composed of tantalum, tungsten and selenium—elements ...

18 hours ago in Physics
Phys.org / A smart fluid that can be reconfigured with temperature

Imagine a "smart fluid" whose internal structure can be rearranged just by changing temperature. In a new study published in Matter, researchers report a way to overcome a long-standing limitation in a class of "smart fluids" ...

17 hours ago in Physics
Phys.org / Beyond 'survival' of fittest: Evolution works in teams

Survival of the fittest. Nature red in tooth and claw. The common view of natural selection is based solely on the individual: A trait allows an organism to out-compete its rivals and is thus passed down to its offspring. ...

18 hours ago in Biology
Phys.org / From cells to companies: Study shows how diversity scales within complex systems

A mystery novel, a history book, and a fantasy epic may have little in common in plot or style. But count the words inside them and a strange regularity appears: many new words show up early, then fewer and fewer as the author ...

18 hours ago in Other Sciences
Phys.org / Plasma rotation simulations could help fusion reactors survive decades of use

Scientists have long seen a puzzling pattern in tokamaks, the doughnut-shaped machines that could one day reliably generate electricity from fusing atoms. When plasma particles escape the core of the magnetic fields that ...

19 hours ago in Physics