Phys.org news
Phys.org / The compleximer: New type of plastic mixes glass-like shaping with impact resistance
Researchers at Wageningen University & Research have developed a new type of plastic that, according to materials theory, should not be able to exist. Its properties sit somewhere between those of glass and plastic: it is ...
Phys.org / Scientists explain why methane spiked in the early 2020s
A combination of weakened atmospheric removal and increased emissions from warming wetlands, rivers, lakes, and agricultural land increased atmospheric methane at an unprecedented rate in the early 2020s, an international ...
Phys.org / Increasing pesticide toxicity threatens global biodiversity protection goal: Only one country is currently on target
At the 15th UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in Montreal, Canada, in 2022, nations committed to reducing the risks associated with pesticide use in agriculture by 50% by 2030. A new study by a research team from RPTUKaiserslautern-Landau, ...
Phys.org / The Amaterasu particle: Cosmic investigation traces its origin
Cosmic rays are extremely fast, charged particles that travel through space at nearly the speed of light. The Amaterasu particle was detected in 2021 by the Telescope Array experiment in the U.S. It is the second-highest-energy ...
Phys.org / Unlocking the 'black box' of Grand Canyon's water supply
Every year at Grand Canyon National Park, millions of visitors from all over the world stop at one of a dozen water spigots. Most people are on a rim, seeing the canyon's majesty for the first time, when they step off the ...
Phys.org / Two-day-old babies show brain signs of rhythm prediction, study finds
Babies are born with the ability to predict rhythm, according to a study published February 5 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Roberta Bianco from the Italian Institute of Technology, and colleagues.
Phys.org / Finger length could provide vital clue to understanding human brain evolution
The evolution of the human species is marked by an increase in brain size. Now new research suggests that could be partly dependent on increases in prenatal estrogen—revealed by looking at the length of a person's fingers. ...
Phys.org / Philadelphia communities help AI machine learning get better at spotting gentrification
Over the last several decades, urban planners and municipalities have sought to identify and better manage the socioeconomic dynamics associated with rapid development in established neighborhoods. The term "gentrification" ...
Phys.org / Teaching machines to design molecular switches
In biology, many RNA molecules act as sophisticated microscopic machines. Among them, riboswitches function as tiny biological sensors, changing their 3D shape upon binding to a specific metabolite. This shape-change acts ...
Phys.org / Study finds numbing the mouth may speed up silent reading
Parents often tell their children to sound out the words as they are learning to read. It makes sense: Since they already know how to speak, the sound of a word might serve as a clue to its meaning.
Phys.org / Snowball Earth: Ancient Scottish rocks reveal annual climate cycles
Scientists at the University of Southampton have uncovered evidence from ancient rocks that Earth's climate continued to fluctuate during its most extreme ice age—known as Snowball Earth. During the Cryogenian Period, between ...
Phys.org / Skua deaths mark first wildlife die-off due to avian flu on Antarctica
More than 50 skuas in Antarctica died from the high pathogenicity avian influenza virus H5N1 in the summers of 2023 and 2024, marking the first documented die-off of wildlife from the virus on the continent. That is confirmed ...
