Phys.org news
Phys.org / Satellite data suggest Sundarbans mangroves are losing resilience
Mangrove forests protect tropical coasts from storms, store large amounts of carbon and provide vital habitats for plants and animals, serving, for example, as nurseries for fish and crabs. They also supply local communities ...
Phys.org / Allowing atoms to come and go can open the door to better materials modeling
Most materials, especially metals and ceramics, are crystals. Their atoms are arranged in three-dimensional lattices that repeat the same exact pattern, over and over again. But there's a well-known saying in materials science: ...
Phys.org / Wolves kill—and ravens remember where
When a wolf pack runs down its prey, the first on the scene is often the raven. Even before the predators have had time to dig in, the ravens are already in line, waiting to take advantage of the odd scrap of meat that becomes ...
Phys.org / A common hydrogel may be built differently than assumed, with big implications for mechanics
A study led by Northwestern University researchers has reported a way to observe hydrogel nano and microstructure while the hydrogel remains fully solvated. The approach reveals that methylcellulose, one of the most widely ...
Phys.org / Musicologists map medieval chant tropes to 9th-century political borders
The spread of a particular genre of music reflects the borders between medieval empires in Europe. This is shown by a study conducted by a musicologist at the University of Würzburg, appearing in Transactions of the International ...
Phys.org / Capsule technology opens new window into individual cells
Researchers have developed a capsule-based method that makes it possible to analyze the same cell through multiple experimental steps. The technology overcomes a long-standing limitation in cell research and could open new ...
Phys.org / Lost page of legendary Archimedes palimpsest found in France
It all started off as a joke, a French researcher told AFP. But what the team found was a piece of history—a long-lost page from a legendary manuscript by ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes which had been languishing, ...
Phys.org / Can rapid evolution 'rescue' species from climate change?
A potted scarlet monkeyflower would die within a few days without water. But multiple natural populations of the species survived an extreme, four-year drought in California, and researchers now know why: The flowers were ...
Phys.org / Ancient DNA sequences that control gene function across plant evolution uncovered
A study has traced thousands of conserved regulatory elements back 300 million years, revealing deep principles of plant genome evolution—a discovery that could pave the way for more precise engineering of crop traits.
Phys.org / A familiar voice shapes how zebra finches hear and respond
Conversations with friends have an ease that is hard to replicate with someone you have just met—often replies come more naturally and timing just seems to click. A strikingly similar pattern plays out in zebra finches, ...
Phys.org / Selfish sperm hijack Overdrive gene to kill healthy rivals
A new University of Utah-led study has discovered the mechanism behind a decades-old evolutionary mystery—how "selfish chromosomes" cheat the rules of genetic inheritance. The researchers found that rogue chromosomes hijack ...
Phys.org / Embryogenesis in 4D: A developmental atlas for genes and cells
How does a tiny cluster of cells become an embryo with a head, trunk, and tail? And how do thousands of genes coordinate this development? A new imaging method makes it possible to visualize the activity of thousands of genes ...
