Phys.org news
Phys.org / Two brain circuits coordinate fruit flies' wing and leg movements to threaten rivals
Limbs evolved as a means of locomotion. From the primitive rotating flagella of bacteria to the wings of flies and even our own legs, animals use these appendages to travel to find food or mates or escape predators. But in ...
Phys.org / New DNA sequencing methods detect rare mutations acquired as bodies grow and age
Somatic mutations, the DNA changes that occur as our bodies grow and age, not only hold an important key to cancer but are emerging as the seeds of a wide range of common, noncancerous diseases. The Somatic Mosaicism across ...
Phys.org / Laser pulses bring order to a quantum material's tiny electrical regions
Physicists at Auburn University have used flashes of laser light to bring order to tiny electrically charged "islands" inside a crystal. The discovery helps answer a decades-old question about how the material organizes itself ...
Phys.org / Plants use a molecular measuring tape to tell fungal friend from foe
Chitin, a chain of repeating sugar molecules, is the main building block of fungal cell walls. When fungi grow or are broken down, fragments of chitin chains of different lengths end up in the soil, and plants detect them ...
Phys.org / In plants, sense of time is connected with sense of danger
Salty soil is a growing threat to crops worldwide. Hotter, drier weather has increased evaporation rates, drawing moisture from the soil and leaving behind concentrated mineral salts. At the same time, water shortages are ...
Phys.org / El Niño a 'terrifying' threat to coral reefs: UN biodiversity expert
A super El Niño fueling record ocean temperatures poses a "terrifying" threat to the world's fragile coral reefs, the chair of the U.N.'s expert nature panel told AFP.
Phys.org / We're surprisingly close to conserving 30% of the world's land
In an effort to conserve the world's plants and animals, governments have pledged to conserve 30% of the planet by 2030. Official figures suggest that attempts to reach this target on land have stalled, but a new study led ...
Phys.org / Palm-leaf manuscripts reveal traces of their preparation through X-rays and machine learning
For centuries, people across South and Southeast Asia recorded religious teachings, literary works, legal regulations and scientific knowledge on palm leaves. Before they could be inscribed or written on, the leaves had to ...
Phys.org / Chandra breaks down 'Treble Clef's' galaxy cluster collision
Astronomers have used NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to break down the cause of a remarkable formation of radio waves they have nicknamed the "Treble Clef" because its distinct shape strongly resembles the musical symbol.
Phys.org / Solving the mystery behind a flightless beetle's transatlantic journey
They can't fly or swim, so why do their closest relatives appear on different continents? Grey Gustafson, an associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, discovered through DNA sequencing that the ancestors ...
Phys.org / Quantum calculations reveal how spin defects lose energy
When light hits a tiny defect embedded in a solid material like diamond or silicon carbide, it can kick the defect's electrons into an excited state. These spin defects have the potential to be used as stable, readable qubits ...
Phys.org / AI helps detect media bias, informing voters and news consumers
In 2024, a collaborative Penn venture introduced a more objective way for people to examine how different outlets cover the same events and ultimately decide how they perceive and use information shared in the media. The ...
