Phys.org news
Phys.org / From the lab to headlines: Why do some studies make the news while others don't?
When we read a news story about a new cancer treatment, an Alzheimer's breakthrough or an innovative technology, we rarely think about everything that happens behind the scenes before that information reaches newspapers, ...
Phys.org / Extreme rain shifts toward larger, less frequent storms across eastern US
Extreme precipitation events are among the most damaging natural disasters and a major concern in our changing climate. In the U.S., since 1980, the most destructive events alone have caused more than 2,800 deaths and $700 ...
Phys.org / 100-million-year-old molecular 'bypasses' may have helped grasses dominate landscapes and agriculture
100 million years ago, long before human intervention, ancestors of grasses, including wheat, rice and maize, developed "bypasses" in chemical pathways used to create two critical compounds: lignin and starch. These more ...
Phys.org / How well do past extinctions predict extinction risk today?
In the last few centuries, mammals and other animals have been going extinct at least 100 times faster than they did before humans arrived on the scene. So who will be next? Which species are most likely to survive, and which ...
Phys.org / A new kind of polymer with two faces and a twist control electron spin
Researchers from the University of Osaka have developed a new class of chiral semiconducting polymers that can generate highly spin-polarized electrical currents. The team's unique molecular design allows the polymers to ...
Phys.org / Oxygen vacancies unlock fast lithium-ion transport in battery material
Lithium titanate (LTO, Li4Ti5O12) is a well-established battery material that in its pristine state is a poor conductor of lithium ions. It develops high ionic conductivity only during charging, when additional lithium ions ...
Phys.org / Blocc chemistry could automate molecular discovery and democratize access to new materials
A paper published in the journal Science lays out a roadmap for broadening access to the process of discovering molecular tools that can benefit society, including medicines, materials and a wide range of everyday consumer ...
Phys.org / Dark energy and quantum gravity may be deeply intertwined
For close to a century, physicists have pursued a way to unite gravity with quantum mechanics. Known as quantum gravity, this goal has remained frustratingly out of reach so far. Similarly elusive is the force of dark energy, ...
Phys.org / A little Big Bang: Bowling-pin-shaped nuclei shed new light on the universe's first moments
What happened in the first moments of the universe—before the building blocks of life and the world we know today came into existence? Physicists at the CERN research facility in Switzerland are trying to answer this question ...
Phys.org / Neanderthal hips challenge long-standing hypothesis of a trade-off between childbirth and bipedal walking
The most prominent difference between human male and female skeletons is the pelvis, which anthropologists often use to determine the sex of ancient remains. Scientists have long believed the human pelvis evolved mainly as ...
Phys.org / RNA droplets may have helped start life on Earth
It's one of the origins-of-life chicken-or-egg problems: How could RNA have helped give rise to the first cells before there were cells to contain it?
Phys.org / ALMA uncovers sulfur for the first time around a rare class of supergiant star
Astronomers have discovered a chemically rich collection of sulfur-bearing molecules surrounding the rare massive star HD 87643. The observations include the first detection of sulfur monoxide and sulfur dioxide around a ...
