Phys.org news
Phys.org / How face-building genes get ready early: Genome folding may prime crucial DNA switches
Early in development, a group of migrating cells called cranial neural crest cells go on to form many different parts of the face, including the nose, jaw, ears, and throat. To build these structures correctly, genes must ...
Phys.org / Lab fish cycles are hours out of sync with natural ones, researchers discover
When researchers moved medaka—a fish commonly used in experiments—out of the lab and into more natural conditions, their reproductive clock shifted by hours, suggesting that laboratory findings may not fully capture their ...
Phys.org / Portugal burial reveals first known bone dental bridge in national archaeological record
The first documented case of a fixed bone bridge unearthed in Portugal was presented in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology by researchers Ms. Steffi Vassallo and her colleagues. The item is estimated to date to ...
Phys.org / Chiral carbon nanotube films deliver giant light-conversion effect
A sheet of twisted carbon nanotubes has revealed a hidden talent scientists suspected for decades but had never managed to measure. Researchers at Rice University have created large, highly ordered films of chiral carbon ...
Phys.org / Could future Mars settlers print their own tools?
If humans one day settle Mars, they will need tools and parts to build structures on the planet. Carrying heavy, bulky supplies 34 million miles from Earth would be impractical. A better plan, says Zane Mebruer, a recent ...
Phys.org / Space storms light up Japan's sky with red auroras climbing far higher than expected
On a special night, if you are lucky, you might catch a faint red glow quietly lighting up Japan's sky, stretching low along the horizon and easy to miss if you are not looking carefully. Subtle and diffuse, it probably appears ...
Phys.org / Sri Lanka teeth reveal rising plant diets thousands of years before agriculture
A new study published in Nature Ecology and Evolution examining human populations in Sri Lankan tropical rainforests shows that people's consumption of plants began increasing thousands of years before the introduction of ...
Phys.org / When Mendel's rules don't apply: Mouse study reveals hidden epigenetic inheritance
Scientists have long known that the DNA code in genes is not the only way to pass genetic traits from parents to offspring. "Epigenetic" marks—chemical modifications to DNA that don't change the DNA code itself—can also be ...
Phys.org / Carbon markets underestimate the risks U.S. forests face from climate change, researchers warn
The world's forests form a vast network of carbon reservoirs, keeping carbon sequestered from the atmosphere where its presence is disrupting Earth's climate systems. Many corporate, national and state climate policies rely ...
Phys.org / Early complex life clung to oxygenated seafloors for hundreds of millions of years, scientists discover
From the highest mountains to the deepest ocean, the driest desert to the lushest jungle, Earth displays a dazzling array of life-forms. And eukaryotes account for many of these life-forms, including nearly all of the multicellular ...
Phys.org / Food and drink plastics dominate marine litter across 112 nations, research reveals
Plastic food packaging, caps and lids, and plastic bottles are the planet's predominant items of marine litter, according to the world's first overview of marine litter by usage type.
Phys.org / Genes without borders: Coral babies can travel vast distances across the Pacific Ocean
The offspring of a common coral branching species set up a new home up to 100 kilometers or more from their parents in one of the longest dispersal distances ever measured, according to new international research.