Phys.org news

Phys.org / New analysis reconstructs the dawn of dinosaurs and other reptiles

About 252 million years ago, at the end of the Permian Period, a large proportion of species on Earth rapidly became extinct. After this mass extinction, many groups of organisms began to recover, while reptiles known as ...

Sep 11, 2026
Phys.org / Blue light breaks long-standing chemistry rule, unlocking 3D drug building blocks

For more than a century, pharmaceutical companies have relied on flat structures called aromatic rings, which can help drugs bind to target sites in the body. They include benzene rings and other flat, nitrogen-containing ...

Sep 11, 2026
Phys.org / Low-cost phone lessons keep children learning during emergency school closures across five countries

The COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns forced people to find ways to get things done remotely. Companies developed systems that made working from home run smoothly. Educators also had to shift to mobile phones and group video calls ...

Sep 11, 2026
Phys.org / Dogs and cats carry antibiotic-resistant bacteria also found in people, study finds

Dogs and cats may carry strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae, a potentially serious bacterium that can cause infections and is also found in humans, according to new research from Bournemouth University published in the journal ...

Sep 11, 2026
Phys.org / Faster wood formation matters more than longer growing seasons in a warming climate

In non-tropical forests, cold winters hinder tree growth. There, climate warming prolongs the period during which trees absorb carbon through photosynthesis and store it in wood, known as the growing season. This could potentially ...

Sep 11, 2026
Phys.org / AI-generated images may support conservation, but real-world data remain essential

New research finds there is no substitute for real-world observations, but that—under the right circumstances—AI-generated images can be used to improve the performance of computer models used for species identification and ...

Sep 11, 2026
Phys.org / Seasonal forecasts could give northern India months of warning before severe winter air pollution

Northern India experiences some of the world's worst winter air pollution, with dangerous episodes often prompting emergency control efforts. In major cities like Delhi, the Air Quality Index has reached levels above 999—over ...

Sep 11, 2026
Phys.org / Turkey-monitoring AI forecasts body weight three weeks ahead with 93% accuracy

Body weight monitoring is one of the most important tools for poultry farmers. It provides valuable information about growth, uniformity, feed conversion efficiency—how well birds turn feed into meat—and the occurrence of ...

Sep 11, 2026
Phys.org / Tasmanian devils lived with people in outback Western Australia 45,000 years ago, new fossils show

Tasmanian devils are among Australia's most distinctive mammals. Stocky, powerful and famously noisy, wild populations are now restricted to Tasmania. But this was not always the case. In fact, thousands of years ago, devils ...

Sep 11, 2026
Phys.org / Scientists discover a new way a disease-linked protein comes apart

Transthyretin amyloid disease (ATTR) is a progressive, life-threatening condition caused when the protein transthyretin (TTR) breaks apart and aggregates in the heart and other organs. One of the most common treatments, a ...

Sep 11, 2026
Phys.org / Breaking down shoe foam by genetically tweaking a microbe found in compost

Your favorite pair of tennies, kicks or trainers may soon become a little more sustainable. In a study published Sept. 11 in the journal Chem Catalysis, researchers developed a new kind of enzyme based on a bacterium found ...

Sep 11, 2026
Phys.org / Uniting sequence and structure to map the protein universe across billions of years of evolution

An international team of researchers, including those at the Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) at the Institute of Science Tokyo, has developed a protein language model that brings together two fundamental sources of information ...

Sep 11, 2026