Phys.org news

Phys.org / To read 2,000-year-old burned scrolls, scientists burn their own

Douglas Seiler painstakingly sourced papyrus and reed pens from Egypt and traditional lampblack ink from Japan, then paid some high school students to inscribe the papyrus with lines from Star Wars and the Bible and a quote ...

Sep 18, 2026
Phys.org / Coffee on the nanoscale: Graphene oxide membrane removes half the caffeine while retaining key compounds

The humble coffee filter has the relatively simple job of letting the coffee through and leaving the grounds behind. But researchers from the ARC Center of Excellence for Carbon Science and Innovation (COE-CSI) are exploring ...

Sep 18, 2026
Phys.org / 'Plasticorals,' coral rubble fused with plastic, represent a new form of plastic pollution

During routine beach litter surveys on the subtropical island of Okinawa, Japan, researchers came across small, brightly colored specks in the pale coral rubble. Back at the lab, spectroscopic and microscopic analyses revealed ...

Sep 18, 2026
Phys.org / Amino acids and a bone mineral may help control magnesium implant breakdown, three student papers suggest

Seeing a bachelor's thesis published in a scientific journal is relatively uncommon. For three theses linked to the same research group to result in scientific publications within just three months is downright rare. Yet ...

Sep 18, 2026
Phys.org / Bolivia's tilcayo tiger cat becomes first new wildcat species in 100 years

Scientists have discovered a new species of wild cat for the first time in more than a century, a Bolivian researcher told AFP on Thursday.

Sep 18, 2026
Phys.org / Laser experiments recreate solar flare physics and reveal consistent magnetic reconnection rates

Magnetic reconnection is a process that occurs when the magnetic fields of a conductive plasma quickly rearrange and release massive amounts of stored magnetic energy. It is widely thought to be the underlying mechanism behind ...

Sep 18, 2026
Phys.org / Time is running out to catch a giant planet's strange orbit

A team of researchers, including those from the University of Tokyo, spotted a rare kind of planet that's unusually hot and eccentric. TOI-1355 b orbits its star, TOI-1355, which is also much hotter than our sun, in a strange ...

Sep 18, 2026
Phys.org / How 30,000 archaeological treasures were saved from imminent destruction during Syria's civil war

A new study sheds light on how Syrian archaeologists risked their lives to rescue approximately 30,000 priceless artifacts from the Deir ez-Zor Museum during the summers of 2014 and 2015 as the city faced the imminent threat ...

Sep 18, 2026
Phys.org / 'Lost' medieval castle found hiding inside university building in Dublin

One of Dublin's "lost" medieval castles has been found hiding in plain sight inside University College Dublin's Roebuck Castle. New research reveals that substantial remains of the Norman castle of Roebuck, an important fortress ...

Sep 18, 2026
Phys.org / Why high levels of the amino acid cysteine are toxic to cells

Cysteine is one of the main building blocks that cells use to make proteins. But this amino acid is a double-edged sword—too much cysteine is toxic to the cell. Cells therefore keep free cysteine levels to a minimum, converting ...

Sep 18, 2026
Phys.org / Hemp waste cellulose unlocks tougher biodegradable plastics

Korean researchers have developed a method to strengthen biodegradable plastics using hemp hurd, an agricultural byproduct. The approach is expected to be applicable to other large-volume agricultural residues, including ...

Sep 18, 2026
Phys.org / Closing the space gap: A more precise way to measure distance between quasar pairs

A new way to accurately measure the distance between quasar pairs—the blazing, black-hole-powered centers of distant galaxies that appear side by side in space—is showing promise through University of Alberta research.

Sep 18, 2026