Phys.org news
Phys.org / Human penis size influences female attraction and male assessment of rivals, study suggests
Men assess potential rivals that have a larger penis as more of a threat, both physically and sexually, according to a study by Upama Aich at the University of Western Australia and colleagues, published in PLOS Biology.
Phys.org / Meadows reveal unexpected monotony in insect biodiversity study
According to a new study by the University of Würzburg, Bavarian meadows are the most monotonous insect habitats. Surprisingly, fields and settlements often offer more diversity than grassland.
Phys.org / Biofilm streamers harden under flow, making bacterial infections harder to treat
Whether in the human body or on surfaces, bacteria protect themselves from outside attackers using biofilms. Physicist Eleonora Secchi is researching how these slime-like protective films are formed, with the aim of making ...
Phys.org / 5,500-year-old skeleton yields oldest evidence yet of syphilis-related bacteria
Scientists have recovered a genome of Treponema pallidum—the bacterium whose subspecies today are responsible for four treponemal diseases, including syphilis—from 5,500-year-old human remains in Sabana de Bogotá, Colombia. ...
Phys.org / Scientists solve 66 million-year-old mystery of how Earth's greenhouse age ended
A 66 million-year-old mystery behind how our planet transformed from a tropical greenhouse to the ice-capped world of today has been unraveled by scientists. Their new study has revealed that Earth's massive drop in temperature ...
Phys.org / Rewilding corn reveals what its roots forgot
Corn is a colossal grain in the global food and feed chain, with the U.S. producing roughly 30% of the world's supply, or nearly 278 million metric tons in the 2024–25 growing season alone. But its journey from wild grass ...
Phys.org / Entangled atomic clouds enable more precise quantum measurements
Researchers at the University of Basel and the Laboratoire Kastler Brossel have demonstrated how quantum mechanical entanglement can be used to measure several physical parameters simultaneously with greater precision.
Phys.org / Seismometer networks could track space junk as it falls to Earth
Space debris—the thousands of pieces of human-made objects abandoned in Earth's orbit—pose a risk to humans when they fall to the ground. To locate possible crash sites, a Johns Hopkins University scientist has helped ...
Phys.org / Resurrected ancient enzyme offers new window into early Earth and the search for life beyond it
By resurrecting a 3.2-billion-year-old enzyme and studying it inside living microbes, researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have created a new way to improve our understanding of the origins of life on Earth ...
Phys.org / Dark energy survey scientists release analysis of all six years of survey data
The Dark Energy Survey Collaboration collected information on hundreds of millions of galaxies across the universe using the U.S. Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera, mounted on the U.S. National Science Foundation ...
Phys.org / Astronomers discover dense super-Neptune exoplanet orbiting a sun-like star
Using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), an international team of astronomers has discovered a new extrasolar planet orbiting a sun-like star. The newfound alien world, designated TOI-3862 b, turns out to ...
Phys.org / Sourdough starters reveal a recipe for predicting microbial species survival
People have long said that "bread is life." Now, researchers at Tufts University are using the bubbling mixtures of flour and water known as sourdough starters to explore what shapes life at the microscopic level. Their findings, ...
