Phys.org news
Phys.org / Since the 1980s, climate change has increasingly altered European bumblebee habitats
Global biodiversity loss is occurring at a rapid pace, driven by multiple human-caused factors, including overexploitation, pollution, invasive species and climate change. Despite increasing research on the impact of climate ...
Phys.org / Brainless sea sponges use sunset to prepare for metamorphosis—and attach in 30 minutes
Well before I start collecting coats, keys or shoes, my dog always knows when we're about to leave. By picking up on subtle cues, he anticipates our next movements, reminding me he's smarter than he often shows. But anticipation ...
Phys.org / Davyne changes color beyond human sight, opening path to invisible security tags
While studying the properties of hackmanite, researchers created a new material called davyne that changes color in the near-infrared region. The color change cannot be detected with the human eye, but only with a spectrometer ...
Phys.org / Patent-reading AI could strengthen early warning systems for hazardous chemicals
Patents are far more than legal documents protecting intellectual property. They are a vast source of scientific information about chemicals under development, often years before they appear in products or in the environment. ...
Phys.org / Can a full moon really bring bad luck? What about Friday the 13th?
Jeffrey Rosenthal was a young professor at the University of Toronto when he discovered he was born on a Friday—though not just any Friday.
Phys.org / AI-driven polymer discovery could replace years of trial and error with closed-loop testing
In the realm of materials science, there is a plethora of datasets and tools at our disposal—the issue is how to effectively use these resources in harmony. Researchers at the Advanced Institute for Materials Research (WPI-AIMR), ...
Phys.org / Wrinkled carbon nitride challenges flat-sheet model for photocatalyst design
Graphene is flat. But that doesn't mean other 2D materials—particularly those containing more than one element—necessarily share the same structure. In the past, researchers have often simplified these materials by modeling ...
Phys.org / How hibernating squirrels retain sense of touch in the cold
For most mammals, cold suppresses neural activity and diminishes the sense of touch. But the thirteen-lined ground squirrel can detect touch in conditions as low as 4°C (39°F), about as cold as the inside of a refrigerator, ...
Phys.org / Molecular snapshots reveal how bacteria assemble outer membrane proteins
Gram-negative bacteria are responsible for several infections that are hard to treat because of their high resistance to antibiotics. These bacteria possess an outermost layer called the outer membrane that acts as a protective ...
Phys.org / Why doesn't Venus have a moon? A new study may have the answer
Venus is one of the solar system's most unusual planets. It may sometimes be called "Earth's twin" because of its similar size and density, but it rotates on its axis in the opposite direction of most planets, has surface ...
Phys.org / Salt may have helped turn Earth into a frozen world 700 million years ago
Earth may have been pushed deeper into a global deep freeze by something surprisingly ordinary: salt. Around 700 million years ago, Earth entered periods of extreme glaciation known as Snowball Earth, when ice is thought ...
Phys.org / Away from grand temples, a recycled Bronze Age burial mound became the focus of a Roman religious complex
The Romans were master engineers, building sprawling road networks, towering aqueducts and arenas across their empire. They were also good at recycling. New research has revealed that they turned the remains of a 4,000-year-old ...
