Phys.org news

Phys.org / Underestimated wake: Shipping traffic causes more turmoil in the Baltic Sea than expected

Commercial shipping not only affects the Baltic Sea on the surface, but also has a significant impact on the water column and the seabed. A study by the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde (IOW) and Kiel ...

20 hours ago in Earth
Phys.org / Where did that raindrop come from? Climate model ensemble captures worldwide water isotopes over 45 years

Water is made of hydrogen and oxygen, and sometimes these atoms are slightly heavier than usual. These heavier forms are called isotopes. As water evaporates or moves through the atmosphere, the amount of these isotopes changes ...

18 hours ago in Earth
Phys.org / What's in a name? Information structure parallels discovered across cultures—with repercussions for Asian names

First names in Western countries today are more diverse than they were before early modern states evolved. This difference started to emerge in the 17th century in response to a change that took place in the naming system ...

19 hours ago in Other Sciences
Phys.org / New dataset reveals how US law has grown more complex over the past century

A century ago, the section of U.S. federal law governing public health and welfare was relatively small and loosely connected to the rest of the legal system. Today, it is one of the largest and most interconnected parts ...

19 hours ago in Other Sciences
Phys.org / Acoustic communication—an overlooked driver in boxfish evolution

A new international study reveals the unexpected importance of acoustic communication in the evolution of boxfishes. This discovery offers new perspectives on the role of acoustic communication in the evolutionary history ...

19 hours ago in Biology
Phys.org / Software tool can detect hidden errors in complex tissue analyses

A new software tool, ovrlpy, improves quality control in spatial transcriptomics, a key technology in biomedical research. Developed by the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité (BIH) in international collaboration, ovrlpy ...

20 hours ago in Biology
Phys.org / The wild physics that keeps your body's electrical system flowing smoothly

Building on their pioneering 2018 research into how some of the body's cells, such as neurons and cardiac tissue, communicate via ions that flow through cellular channels, chemists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst ...

23 hours ago in Biology
Phys.org / Social media feeds: Algorithm redesign could break echo chambers and reduce online polarization

Scroll through social media long enough and a pattern emerges. Pause on a post questioning climate change or taking a hard line on a political issue, and the platform is quick to respond—serving up more of the same viewpoints, ...

20 hours ago in Other Sciences
Phys.org / Deep learning detects foodborne bacteria within three hours by eliminating debris misclassifications

Researchers have significantly enhanced an artificial intelligence tool used to rapidly detect bacterial contamination in food by eliminating misclassifications of food debris that looks like bacteria. Current methods to ...

19 hours ago in Biology
Phys.org / New nanoparticles remove melanoma tumors in mice with low-power near-infrared laser

Researchers at Oregon State University have developed and tested in a mouse model a new type of nanoparticle that enables the removal of melanoma tumors with a low-power laser. After the systemically administered nanoparticles ...

21 hours ago in Nanotechnology
Phys.org / 'Increase' framing makes research results seem bigger and more important, experiments show

Scientific findings are in the news. They're cited on food packages and beverage labels. They are discussed in podcasts and argued over by politicians and pundits. And each finding sits within a specific frame. If researchers ...

20 hours ago in Other Sciences
Phys.org / Trace gases play previously unseen role in cloud droplet formation, research reveals

Tiny, invisible gases long thought to be irrelevant in cloud formation may actually play a major role in determining whether clouds form—and possibly whether it rains.

22 hours ago in Earth