Phys.org news

Phys.org / Forty forest drought experiments reveal trees show little physiological acclimation

Forests support much of the world's biodiversity and play a vital role in regulating Earth's climate, but they are increasingly exposed to drought. To understand the potential consequences of drought, a key question is whether ...

21 hours ago
Phys.org / Could 12 inches of rain hit New York City? AI maps plausible rare storms

Can a city's seawall stand up to a blockbuster storm? Will a region's power grid hold against record-breaking heat? And can a town's firefighting resources contain a major wildfire?

21 hours ago
Phys.org / Scientists resurrect ancient proteins, offering new antibiotic leads

University of Oregon biologists have resurrected prehistoric proteins up to 160 million years old that carry natural antimicrobial properties. The revived molecules could inspire the design of new treatments for antibiotic-resistant ...

22 hours ago
Phys.org / Lunar soil reads as a cosmic time capsule for exploding stars

When a star reaches its final stages of life, it ends in a bright, powerful explosion called a supernova and scatters material across the universe. A new study led by a University of Hawai'i at Mānoa researcher has discovered ...

22 hours ago
Phys.org / Moving turtle nests to save the eggs can have hidden consequences

Moving threatened sea turtle nests to cooler, safer parts of the beach can save entire clutches from rising tides and extreme heat, but new research suggests it may have hidden consequences for the hatchlings that emerge.

22 hours ago
Phys.org / New workflow helps ecologists measure how individual animals use their habitat

A researcher has developed a new, reproducible workflow that lets ecologists measure, in a standardized way, how individual animals within a species differ in their habitat use, based on GPS tracking data. The tool was developed ...

21 hours ago
Phys.org / Archaeologists investigate a feared young woman's 17th century vampiric grave in Poland

In 2022, excavations at a cemetery in Pień, Poland, led by researchers from the Institute of Archaeology at Nicolaus Copernicus University, led to a mysterious discovery. In what they call Grave 75, they uncovered the 400-year-old ...

Aug 25, 2026
Phys.org / Setting limits on phase transitions in the dark energy era

The universe is known to be expanding at an accelerating rate. Physicists typically attribute this acceleration to dark energy, a mysterious component of the universe that exerts negative pressure, causing space to expand ...

Aug 25, 2026
Phys.org / Egypt's deserts were once home to a diverse shark community

During the Late Cretaceous period, parts of Egypt were covered in water. A new study, published in the journal Cretaceous Research, describes new evidence that this tropical sea was home to a diverse community of sharks. ...

Aug 25, 2026
Phys.org / The hidden physics behind the shape of rose thorns

Roses are known for their thorns, the sharp structures that can sting and prickle the skin. Thorns, botanically known as prickles, are thought to discourage animals from feeding on plants and may also help climbing roses ...

Aug 25, 2026
Phys.org / The little red dots of our cosmos might hide something big

Little red dots may reside in small, dense galaxies with total masses equivalent to around 1 billion times that of the sun, according to research published in Nature Astronomy.

Aug 25, 2026
Phys.org / Expert pieces together puzzle from fragments of 1,600-year-old Roman text

A Roman law expert at the University of Cincinnati edited and translated a Latin legal text he pieced together from fragments that surprisingly survived in the Egyptian sands for more than 1,600 years. What's less surprising? ...

Aug 25, 2026