Phys.org news
Phys.org / Changing leafcutter ants' food reshapes their microbial gardens, scientists find
A colony of leafcutter ants is home to more than just one species. Each year, studies reveal new layers of complexity in these ecosystems, where various fungi and bacteria thrive alongside the ants, resulting in countless ...
Phys.org / No exotic physics needed: A new formation mechanism of skyrmions inside magnets
Skyrmions, in which electron spins inside a magnet are arranged like vortices, are a key structure in next-generation spintronics technology. KAIST researchers have shown that skyrmions can form using only the fundamental ...
Phys.org / Gravitational waves leave imprints on light emitted by atoms, theoretical study predicts
Gravitational waves are ripples in spacetime produced by violent cosmic events, such as the merging of black holes. So far, direct detections have relied on measuring tiny distance changes over kilometer-scale instruments. ...
Phys.org / 'Mini earthquakes' turn tiny chips into radio signal powerhouses
From GPS satellites to mobile networks, modern technology relies on ultra-precise radio signals. Engineers have long tried to generate them on chips using interactions between light and sound, but the effect was too weak. ...
Phys.org / Ancient brines helped build Idaho's Silver Valley and Cobalt belt
Idaho's Silver Valley has produced about 1.2 billion ounces of silver since the late 1800s, enough to cast a solid cube roughly as tall as a five-story building, along with huge amounts of lead and zinc. Now a new study led ...
Phys.org / A multi-lane highway for light: Topology helps build more robust photonic networks
Penn-led researchers have shown for the first time that multiple, information-carrying light signals can be safely guided through chip-based, reconfigurable networks using topology, the esoteric branch of mathematics that ...
Phys.org / Carefully controlled atoms make renewables more viable for plastics and fuels production
A catalyst developed by a Washington State University research team efficiently converts abundant, renewable ethanol into valuable molecules needed for production of plastics, fuels, and everyday products. The advance could ...
Phys.org / Mosquitoes may hold the key to saving endangered Australian wildlife
Scientists have discovered mosquitoes can act like tiny "flying wildlife surveyors," helping researchers detect elusive and endangered animals in Australia's national parks. A team from Macquarie University and the Department ...
Phys.org / The best places to look for alien life: Scientists identify 45 Earth-like worlds to explore for a 'Project Hail Mary'
If we're to find extraterrestrial life in the universe, astronomers have pinpointed the best places to look for it. They have identified just under 50 rocky worlds most likely to be habitable out of the more than 6,000 exoplanets ...
Phys.org / Nanodiamonds and beyond: Designing carbon materials with AI at exascale
Carbon forms the graphite in pencils, the diamonds in jewelry and the molecules that make up every living thing. But under extreme conditions—like the heat and pressure of intense explosions—carbon can transform into ...
Phys.org / Fossil X-ray reveals new species of baby dino named for iconic Korean cartoon
Cute, green, and sporting two sprigs of hair on his head, a mischievous baby dinosaur named Dooly is one of the most beloved cartoon characters in South Korea. So, when researchers from The University of Texas at Austin and ...
Phys.org / Building a better, more precise droplet
A humble droplet can be an immensely useful tool for a number of fields, from medicine to manufacturing. Controlling the size of the droplet, though, is an important—and very tricky—task. With unprecedented precision, ...
