Phys.org news
Phys.org / Soil bacteria share amino acids, helping nearly half survive nutrient gaps
Bacteria, too, depend on good neighborly relations: A new study by the Osnabrück University, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Cambridge in England, shows that soil bacteria live in beneficial communities ...
Phys.org / Antarctic bacteria share 'life‑support' genes to survive extreme conditions
Antarctica is one of the driest, coldest places on Earth. Very little life survives its extremes. In the soils scattered around the frozen ice sheets, however, communities of microbes do survive. And one of the keys to their ...
Phys.org / Assembly of giant wild sunflower family genomes unlocks potential for new perennial crops
The Land Institute and HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, in collaboration with key partners, have assembled the first chromosome-scale, haplotype-phased genomes for Silphium integrifolium (rosinweed, silflower) and ...
Phys.org / Scientists identify design rules for the best thermoelectric materials
Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have used a theoretical framework to derive design rules for creating new thermoelectric materials. The efficiency of converting thermal energy to electricity is often determined ...
Phys.org / How atmospheric dryness limits increases in typhoon rainfall
Under global warming, scientists have widely expected tropical cyclones (including typhoons and hurricanes) to bring more intense and frequent rainfall. The underlying physics seems intuitive: Rising temperatures allow the ...
Phys.org / Tiny ocean plankton hold clues to the future of Maine lobster
The future of Maine's lobster industry may depend on a creature the size of a sesame seed. Researchers at the University of Maine have discovered that planktonic baby lobsters, or larvae, preferentially feed on Calanus finmarchicus, ...
Phys.org / What happens inside a wildfire? A Ph.D. student is finding out
What happens during a wildfire? The short answer is: much more than we know. As wildfires burn through trees, grasses and other vegetation, heat from the flames sets off thousands of chemical reactions at once. Molecules ...
Phys.org / Glacier retreat could promote the spread of diseases among bees
A study conducted in the Swiss Alps by the University of Lausanne and the University of Milan shows that glacier retreat and changing vegetation could influence the spread of certain pathogens between honeybees and wild bees.
Phys.org / Tiny root hairs, big impact: How bacteria help plants survive drought
What helps plants cope better with drought? With heat waves and periods of extreme drought becoming increasingly common worldwide, the need for drought-tolerant plants is increasingly urgent. With the help of bacteria, plants ...
Phys.org / Mechanical memory helps explain how cells adapt their movement to changing environments
Cells in our bodies squeeze through dense tissue channels, thread past neighboring cells and navigate every nook and cranny within the extracellular matrix—the mesh-like network that surrounds and supports cells. How well ...
Phys.org / Ball milling enhances the antiviral activity of inexpensive inorganic materials
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, developing surfaces that can inactivate viruses upon contact has become an important goal in public health care. Ideally, such surfaces would work on their own without requiring chemical disinfectants, ...
Phys.org / Dry landscapes and newly fallowed fields may raise California Valley fever risk
Researchers at UC San Diego and UC Berkeley have found that certain landscapes surrounding California communities are associated with differing rates of Valley fever, a fungal respiratory infection caused by inhaling spores ...