Phys.org news
Phys.org / Newly identified protein pathway helps HIV stay hidden despite treatment
Current HIV medicines are effective at suppressing the virus in the blood. However, HIV can remain "asleep" or dormant inside certain immune cells and in the brain. These hidden pockets of virus, called HIV reservoirs, are ...
Phys.org / Single X-ray pulse reveals plasma nanostructures across scales with one camera
Understanding instabilities and turbulence in plasmas is one of the key challenges across a wide range of plasma research fields, including nuclear fusion, astrophysics and laser-plasma physics. In plasmas, slight disturbances ...
Phys.org / Tests reveal why titanium additions do not fully prevent pitting corrosion in stainless steel
Stainless steel is widely used for its corrosion resistance, but it is not invincible. In environments containing chloride ions, such as seawater, pitting corrosion can occur. These pits often start at tiny particles called ...
Phys.org / Swinging virtual lightsabers and punching improve pattern-based learning in VR tests
Punching a virtual response box or swinging a virtual lightsaber can dramatically improve learning on certain tasks, according to new research from Florida Atlantic University's College of Engineering and Computer Science, ...
Phys.org / Rare fossils reveal what ancient Denisovans may have looked like
Whenever anything is written about the Denisovans, the word "mysterious" is almost guaranteed to appear. That is because we just don't know a lot about this extinct human group that may have lived in East Asia from at least ...
Phys.org / DNA programs a cell-free material to build its own motors and move
Researchers have created a material that manufactures the proteins responsible for cell movement, without needing intact living cells. By embedding cell-free gene expression into a thin sheet of protein filaments, they were ...
Phys.org / Experiment shows when quantum 'cat' states stop bouncing back
Quantum systems can occupy superpositions, quantum states that combine different possibilities. For instance, a microwave field can be prepared in a superposition of an empty state and a state that contains microwave light.
Phys.org / ALMA spots 'dragon egg' that may represent the earliest stages of massive star formation
Astronomers identified an exceptionally tiny core that may represent an early stage in the formation of a massive star. Located in an infrared-dark area called Dragon Cloud, the core is nicknamed the "dragon egg." The paper, ...
Phys.org / Sinking Antarctic ice reveals a hidden lake's massive water loss
The Kronshtadskiy subglacial lake near East Antarctica's Amery Ice Shelf was hidden beneath Antarctica's ice, but its drainage left a mark visible from space as a broad depression that deepened by more than 6 meters (20 feet) ...
Phys.org / AI agents can form political camps—and changing their conversation partners does little to soften their views
Give AI agents political positions, ask them to defend their views and persuade one another, and let them decide which contacts to keep. This recent experiment, published in Nature Communications, found that over repeated ...
Phys.org / An ancient virus in chimpanzee DNA switches off a gene that is active in humans
Humans and chimpanzees share almost all their genes. Despite this, our brains have developed in different ways. Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have now shown that a viral pandemic dating back several million years ...
Phys.org / El Niño then and now
El Niño is part of a natural climate pattern that occurs roughly every two to seven years, bringing warmer-than-normal water to parts of the equatorial Pacific. The most recent very strong El Niño events, in 1997–98 and 2015–16, ...
