Phys.org news

Phys.org / Why Arctic sea ice loss could reshape the Gulf Stream's future

The warm Gulf Stream is maintained by coldness. The Barents Sea is a cooling machine. To predict how ocean currents in the Atlantic Ocean may develop, one needs to know what drives them. The hunt for driving forces has led ...

15 hours ago
Phys.org / Lithium spike reveals sun-like star likely swallowed its planet

A team of astronomers, led by Brooke Kotten of the University of Michigan, has shown that TOI-5882—a sunlike star located some 1,300 light-years away—has likely eaten one of its planets.

16 hours ago
Phys.org / A waltz over evolutionary timescales: Why it's so hard for animals to invent a new mating dance

"Love makes fools of all of us," wrote 19th-century novelist William Makepeace Thackeray. A moment spent watching the pigeons at your local park suggests he was right: males with puffed-up, shimmering necks hop, pirouette, ...

16 hours ago
Phys.org / Ultrafast laser pulses reveal a material's hidden state of matter

What would it take to instantly transform a material from an electrical insulator into a conductive state without ever touching it? Using ultrafast laser pulses and powerful X-rays, scientists at the National Synchrotron ...

17 hours ago
Phys.org / Predators on the move may link the evolution of species thousands of kilometers apart

Can a snake in Thailand influence the evolution of a snake in the Philippines even if the two species never cross paths? According to a new study, the answer may be yes. The research suggests that migratory predators can ...

16 hours ago
Phys.org / Redefined conformity model beats averaging in five real-world tests of opinion dynamics

Imagine you poll your friends on how many minutes per pound to roast a turkey. Five respond with 15 minutes; one answers 33 minutes. The most popular model of conformity, the French-Harary-DeGroot model (or more commonly, ...

16 hours ago
Phys.org / Atomic-level simulations predict transistor scaling limits

As the global semiconductor industry enters the so-called 2-nanometer process era, the actual size of transistors—the core components of semiconductor chips—still remains above 10 nm. How much smaller, then, can transistors ...

21 hours ago
Phys.org / PACE satellite tracks fall colors with near-daily global coverage

Researchers have developed a new approach using data from NASA's Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) satellite to observe the timing and progression of fall colors across landscapes.

17 hours ago
Phys.org / Pixels preserve world's rarest porpoise to 3D digital archive as extinction risk grows

The vaquita (Phocoena sinus), an elusive porpoise found only in the shallow waters of Mexico's northern Gulf of California, is one of the rarest and most endangered marine mammals on Earth. Measuring about 5 feet (1.5 meters) ...

19 hours ago
Phys.org / Critical cellular system discovery may lead to treatment of some cancers

A molecular geneticist at Montana State University has discovered a cellular process once believed impossible by scientists—the creation of the amino acid cysteine within a living cell when the cell's primary systems for ...

18 hours ago
Phys.org / A handful of teeth may rewrite the story of marsupial evolution

Researchers have found evidence of a previously unknown branch of the marsupial family tree, a discovery that could reshape our understanding of how Australia's unique mammals evolved. Published in the Journal of Paleontology, ...

21 hours ago
Phys.org / ALMA makes first direct detection of star-forming gas in early galaxies

In the early universe, the first galaxies began to take shape roughly a million years after the Big Bang. Within these young systems, stars formed from vast reservoirs of cold gas, gradually building the structures we see ...

20 hours ago