Phys.org news

Phys.org / New structural insights reveal how human respiratory chain complexes assemble

A new study shows how one of the cell's most important energy-producing machines is built. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have mapped late steps in the formation of the human respirasome, a large protein assembly that ...

Jan 19, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Reprogramming the cancer messenger: A new era of tumor extracellular vesicle engineering

Researchers at National Taiwan University have developed a modular platform to reprogram tumor-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs), transforming them from oncogenic messengers into safe, customizable drug delivery vehicles ...

Jan 19, 2026 in Nanotechnology
Phys.org / Humans returned to British Isles earlier than previously thought at the end of the last Ice Age

The return of humans to the British Isles after the end of the last ice sheet, which covered much of the northern hemisphere, happened around 15,200 years ago—nearly 500 years earlier than previous estimates.

Jan 19, 2026 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / COVID-era trick could transform drug and chemical discovery

Laboratories turned to a smart workaround when COVID‑19 testing kits became scarce in 2020. They mixed samples from several patients and ran a single test. If the test came back negative, everyone in it was cleared at once. ...

Jan 19, 2026 in Chemistry
Phys.org / Lifting magnetic fingerprints using scanning probe microscopy

A Czech and Spanish-led research team has demonstrated the ability to distinguish subtle differences between magnetic ground states using a new form of scanning probe microscopy.

Jan 19, 2026 in Nanotechnology
Phys.org / 'Supercooling' keeps salamanders from freezing in Canadian winters

On a frigid April day, Brock University Professor of Biological Sciences Glenn Tattersall, then-Ph.D. student Danilo Giacometti and wildlife researcher Patrick Moldowan ventured out into Ontario's Algonquin Provincial Park ...

Jan 19, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Mercury's BepiColombo Mio and Earth's GEOTAIL show shared wave frequency properties across planetary magnetospheres

An international team from Kanazawa University (Japan), Tohoku University (Japan), LPP (France), and partners has demonstrated that chorus emissions, natural electromagnetic waves long studied in Earth's magnetosphere, also ...

Jan 19, 2026 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / Meta-study reveals mechanisms of animals' adaptations to cope with climate change

Climate change has a wide range of effects on wildlife. It affects seasonal migration, reproduction times, body size and mass, and disrupts ecological processes, thereby posing challenges for the populations of some species. ...

Jan 19, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Scientists uncover hidden 'winter memory' inside plants

Scientists have developed a powerful new microscope that reveals, for the first time, how plants store a 'memory' of winter deep inside their cells.

Jan 19, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Japan Trench geology confirmed as key driver of 2011 megaquake

Geologists from Heriot-Watt are part of an international research team that has confirmed why the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake off northeast Japan behaved in such an extreme and destructive way.

Jan 19, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / Protein Rac1 plays dual roles in repairing damaged kidney, study finds

The kidney's proximal tubule reabsorbs water, glucose, ions and other small molecules from the urine and thus maintains the body's supply of these essential constituents. The tubule can be easily damaged by ischemia, or poor ...

Jan 19, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Polar weather on Jupiter and Saturn hints at the planets' interior details

Over the years, passing spacecraft have observed mystifying weather patterns at the poles of Jupiter and Saturn. The two planets host very different types of polar vortices, which are huge atmospheric whirlpools that rotate ...

Jan 19, 2026 in Astronomy & Space