Phys.org news

Phys.org / Time-delay cosmography may enable a speed camera for the universe

There is an important and unresolved tension in cosmology regarding the rate at which the universe is expanding, and resolving this could reveal new physics. Astronomers constantly seek new ways to measure this expansion ...

Dec 5, 2025 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / Earlier ultra-relativistic freeze-out could revive a decades-old theory for dark matter

A new theory for the origins of dark matter suggests that fast-moving, neutrino-like dark particles could have decoupled from Standard Model particles far earlier than previous theories had suggested.

Dec 4, 2025 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / CERN's ATLAS detects evidence for decay of Higgs boson into muon–antimuon pair

Although its existence had been theorized for decades, the Higgs boson was finally observed to exist in 2012 at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. Since then, it has continued to be heavily studied at the LHC. Now, ...

Dec 4, 2025 in Physics
Phys.org / Quantum technology moves from lab to life, but widespread use remains years away

Quantum technology is accelerating out of the lab and into the real world, and a new article argues that the field now stands at a turning point—one that is similar to the early computing age that preceded the rise of the ...

Dec 4, 2025 in Physics
Phys.org / Silver nanoparticles built on viral biotemplate kill more bacteria and slow resistance rise

Antibiotics are no longer able to treat infections as effectively as they once did because many pathogens have developed resistance to these drugs. This phenomenon, known as antimicrobial resistance (AMR), claims over a million ...

Dec 4, 2025 in Nanotechnology
Phys.org / A solid-state quantum processor based on nuclear spins

Quantum computers, systems that process information leveraging quantum mechanical effects, have the potential of outperforming classical systems on some tasks. Instead of storing information as bits, like classical computers, ...

Dec 4, 2025 in Physics
Phys.org / Glaciers speed up and slow down at predictable times according to the first global map of ice movement

The speed at which glaciers move changes predictably each year, according to the first-ever global map of how glacier and ice sheet speeds vary with the seasons. Knowing this yearly rhythm could help us better predict sea-level ...

Dec 4, 2025 in Earth
Phys.org / Archaic humans were strategic and picky hunters, new study suggests

Extinct relatives of modern humans, like Neanderthals and Homo erectus, that lived in the Levant around 120,000 years ago, did not engage in mass hunting but preferred selective and strategic hunting of wild cattle. Scientists ...

Dec 4, 2025 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / Penguins likely starved to death en masse: Populations off South Africa may have fallen 95% in just 8 years

Penguins living off the coast of South Africa have likely starved to death en masse during their molting season as a result of collapsing food supplies.

Dec 4, 2025 in Biology
Phys.org / A new look at TRAPPIST-1e, an Earth-sized, habitable-zone exoplanet

Of the seven Earth-sized worlds orbiting the red dwarf star TRAPPIST-1, one planet in particular has attracted the attention of scientists. This planet orbits the star within the "Goldilocks zone"—a distance where water ...

Dec 4, 2025 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / NASA completes Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope construction

NASA's next big eye on the cosmos is now fully assembled. On Nov. 25, technicians joined the inner and outer portions of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope in the largest clean room at the agency's Goddard Space Flight ...

Dec 4, 2025 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / Astrophysicists test a new piece of the sky to probe dark matter and dark energy

In the leading model of cosmology, most of the universe is invisible: a combined 95% is made of dark matter and dark energy. Exactly what these dark components are remains a mystery, but they have a tremendous impact on our ...

Dec 4, 2025 in Astronomy & Space