Phys.org news
Phys.org / The fog is alive: Droplets host bacteria that clear toxins from our air
What if fog isn't just misty air, but a living ecosystem? This question hung over cloud researcher Thi Thuong Thuong Cao. As a Ph.D. student at Arizona State University, her curiosity led her from knocking on the doors of ...
Phys.org / How winds above Tibet quietly replenish water for nearly 2 billion people
The "Asian Water Towers" (AWTs), a high-altitude region with a mean elevation exceeding 4,000 meters, serve as the primary freshwater source for nearly 2 billion people. While the Indian summer monsoon is well known for shaping ...
Phys.org / Scientists dispute hypothesis that climate change will unleash massive agricultural pest populations
The widespread hypothesis that climate warming will result in unprecedented agricultural pest populations and cause food insecurity worldwide is oversimplified, according to a new study by a team led by Mia Lippey, an entomologist ...
Phys.org / 'Nature's algorithm' found in Chinese money plants
Look up at the clouds. What do you see? A sailboat? A seahorse? Your great-aunt Rosemary? As humans, we're prone to seeing patterns where they don't actually exist. This behavior is so common there's a name for it: apophenia. ...
Phys.org / Giving X-ray vision a sense of direction
Whether in tooth enamel or in nanomaterials made of silicon, the orientation of tiny internal structures often determines the properties of a material. A new X-ray method can even make this nano-order visible when the structures ...
Phys.org / Scientists use AI to interpret the sun's acoustic heartbeat
A new AI-based approach that can "hear" inside the sun could give vital signs of the solar disturbances that have significant effects in near-Earth space and on human activities. The solar cycle is an approximate 11-year ...
Phys.org / Old newspapers track porpoise populations across the Baltic Sea
Harbor porpoises were once found across a much wider area of the Baltic Sea than they are today, including regions where they are now rare or absent. This is shown in a new study that uses centuries-old Swedish newspapers ...
Phys.org / Support local people to protect world's nature, new report urges, as deadline for global conservation target looms
For better or worse, a huge number of people will be affected by efforts to achieve "30x30"—the internationally-agreed conservation goal to protect and conserve at least 30% of the world's land and seas by 2030. How many ...
Phys.org / Swapping molecular building blocks one by one reveals how receptors tell adrenaline from dopamine
Different receptors respond to different neurotransmitters or hormones, such as adrenaline involved in the fight-or-flight response, or dopamine linked to reward and motivation. Both the receptors themselves and the substances ...
Phys.org / The shoal remembers: How signs of a collective memory shape a predator-prey arms race
Beneath the tropical trees of southern Mexico, enormous shoals of sulfur mollies blanket the water surface of toxic sulfur springs, where survival depends on collective defense against relentless attacks from predatory birds. ...
Phys.org / How we feel political emotions in our bodies—and why this matters for democracy
Researchers have found our emotions toward politics not only play on our minds, but shape how our bodies respond to political experiences, even driving political participation higher. The new study, published in the Proceedings ...
Phys.org / Water-based nanocrystal provides a sticky solution to a pesky agricultural problem
A water-based formulation developed at the University of Waterloo using nanotechnology is both greener and more effective than conventional methods for delivering agricultural pesticides.
