Phys.org news

Phys.org / Free-text answers and LLMs reveal hidden reasons behind human choices

Why do people make the choices they do? Researchers from the Center Synergy of Systems (SynoSys) at TUD Dresden University of Technology, the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, and the University of Basel present ...

Jul 3, 2026
Phys.org / Cosmic neutrino 'whispers' may surface in 5,000-day Super-Kamiokande signal

Neutrinos: They have no electric charge, pass through matter like a ghost and are so light they were initially thought to have zero mass. These are just some of the traits that make them so difficult to detect. Research on ...

Jul 3, 2026
Phys.org / Congo River freshwater rides 49-day Atlantic eddy to travel 200 kilometers offshore

The Congo River is the second-largest river in the world, releasing an average of 40,000 cubic meters of water per second into the Atlantic Ocean. This huge discharge rate creates a large plume of fresh water that fans out ...

Jul 3, 2026
Phys.org / Colony connections determine ant wound care: Transitional workers treat injured nestmates

Patients in hospitals generally trust the nursing staff. After all, they have undergone training and, in some cases, have several years of professional experience. In the case of carpenter ants, it is not nursing expertise ...

Jul 3, 2026
Phys.org / Study demonstrates neurotransmitter communication in immune cells directly for the first time

Researchers at the University of Münster and Ruhr University Bochum have demonstrated for the first time in real time that the body's own defense cells use catecholamines—neurotransmitters such as dopamine and adrenaline—to ...

Jul 3, 2026
Phys.org / Paleontological study shows climate change makes marine animals shrink

Whether mussels, crustaceans or fish, marine animals have been responding to environmental crises with a reduction in body size for hundreds of millions of years. A new study by Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg ...

Jul 3, 2026
Phys.org / Visual map of 20,000 words reveals why lip-readers confuse common look-alikes

New research from the University of Kansas uses network science to determine why people make mistakes when lip-reading. Michael Vitevitch, professor of speech-language-hearing at KU, and his co-authors created a visual map ...

Jul 3, 2026
Phys.org / Bottlenose dolphins in the Adriatic Sea seem to be heavily reliant on trawlers for food

Bottlenose dolphins in the Adriatic Sea are spending much of their time following trawlers to scavenge for food, scientists say. The Adriatic seabed has been plowed by bottom trawlers for decades, resulting in ecosystem damage. ...

Jul 3, 2026
Phys.org / Two centuries on, experts unlock secrets of Red Sea and Gulf of Aden sailing chart

Experts have unlocked secrets hidden for two hundred years in a beautiful navigational chart made for 18th century seafarers negotiating the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The paper scroll is evidence seafaring communities in ...

Jul 3, 2026
Phys.org / Quantum gravity tests may mistake ordinary spacetime for superposition

Everything around us, from atoms and molecules to planets and galaxies, is governed by two extraordinarily successful theories of physics: quantum mechanics and gravity. Quantum mechanics explains the behavior of the microscopic ...

Jul 2, 2026
Phys.org / Spontaneous current loops in a kagome metal point to hidden quantum order

Quantum materials, materials exhibiting physical behavior governed by the laws of quantum mechanics, have proved promising for the development of numerous advanced technologies, including quantum technologies, memory devices ...

Jul 2, 2026
Phys.org / Analog gravity advance offers new insights into Hawking radiation from black holes

Hawking radiation is a form of radiation emitted by black holes, as theoretically predicted by Stephen Hawking. It suggests that black holes do not merely swallow matter—as had previously been assumed—but also emit very faint ...

Jul 2, 2026