Phys.org news
Phys.org / Major polluters are worsening the Western US water crisis: A new way to measure who's responsible
Climate change was once something scientists warned us about, and now it's a reality we are living in. In California's Central Valley, about one-third of climate-related groundwater loss between 2003 and 2024 can be attributed ...
Phys.org / Deep underground, SuperCDMS begins hunting light dark matter with 24 cryogenic crystals
In the hunt for one of nature's most elusive substances—dark matter, which makes up 85% of all matter in the universe—scientists are going to extremes. Deep underground and chilled to near absolute zero, the Super Cryogenic ...
Phys.org / Milky Way's own gravity can mimic dark matter clues, stellar stream simulations suggest
Most of the stars in our Milky Way galaxy sit neatly on a flat plane. But the space around our galaxy is much more chaotic. Rogue bands of stars called "stellar streams" orbit the Milky Way much like planets in our solar ...
Phys.org / Ancient DNA reveals cacao was consumed in present-day Georgia 1,000 years ago
One of the world's favorite sweet treats, chocolate, may have been enjoyed in eastern North America much earlier than previously thought, about 1,000 years ago. New research published in the journal PLOS One suggests that ...
Phys.org / Going beyond simple models of neural networks: Extended mean-field theory offers a better approach
Physics is most readily applied to relatively simple systems: a pendulum, two electrons colliding or the structure of the solar system. But when systems become complicated—when many particles interact with one another, in ...
Phys.org / El Niños have been more intense over the last 40 years than in the previous 1,000 years, coral records reveal
As an El Niño of historic proportions is taking shape in the tropical Pacific, a University of Michigan study has found that El Niño events have become nearly 40% stronger in the last 40 years than they were in the preindustrial ...
Phys.org / Surprising ingredients suggest ancient Egyptian paint was far more complex than previously assumed
Ancient Egypt has left us a wealth of artistic treasures, including wall paintings, wooden coffins and limestone reliefs. Many retain their vibrant colors despite the passage of time, a testament to the ingredients used to ...
Phys.org / Scented cleaners can create nanoparticles that reach deep into the lungs within minutes, tiny-home experiment finds
What does a clean room smell like? Many people say citrus, pine, or flowers because these fragrances are common in cleaning products. A research team led by Brandon Boor found that scent compounds in cleaning products—conventional ...
Phys.org / The physics of kiiking, Estonia's extreme sport of swinging
When an athlete swings upside down atop a 7-meter (23-foot) pendulum, it may seem like a feat of strength, courage or technique. A new study suggests it is something more fundamental: a striking demonstration of how intelligence ...
Phys.org / Fast but error-prone AI assists in solving a decades-old fluid mechanics problem in five weeks
An AI assistant helped University of Colorado Boulder researchers solve a mathematical problem that had challenged their lab for a year and a half, though it made subtle errors along the way. The breakthrough could improve ...
Phys.org / Texas fossil reveals early insects kept aquatic limbs during move onto land
The formation of complex terrestrial ecosystems was a significant innovation in the evolutionary history of life on Earth. This event signified the expansion of life beyond marine environments and marked the beginning of ...
Phys.org / Hitting bacteria hard and early with diverse phage cocktails may curb resistance
As multidrug antibiotic resistance emerges as a potent public health challenge, medical science has renewed attention on the potential for bacteriophage therapy. Bacteriophages, or phages, are viruses that target, infect ...
