Phys.org news

Phys.org / Training microbes to prepare soils for the impacts of climate change

Scientists at the University of Lincoln have discovered a promising new way to help protect crops from one of climate change's growing threats to global food production—increasing soil salinity.

10 hours ago
Phys.org / Lipid nanoparticles deliver one-two punch to shrink resistant oral tumors in preclinical models

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common form of head and neck cancer, and the number of new cases is predicted to rise by 30% in the next decade. Despite decades of cancer research, treating OSCC remains a ...

10 hours ago
Phys.org / Most powerful Northern Lights in a generation expose weaknesses in UK infrastructure

Millions of people across the UK marveled at the spectacular northern lights that lit up the night sky in May 2024. But while the display captivated skywatchers, the geomagnetic storm behind it also served as the biggest ...

11 hours ago
Phys.org / Global map reveals mining's uneven toll on forests and biodiversity

A new study led by Japanese researchers from Tohoku University and the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) reveals that some of the minerals most essential for green technologies may have a significant negative ...

5 hours ago
Phys.org / Ceramic vessels reveal how social inequalities were also cooked into 19th-century Brazil

Fish, shellfish, maize, manioc, rice and even chicken eggs. Molecular residues preserved in more than 180 ceramic vessels from southern Brazil have made it possible to reconstruct what different communities were cooking more ...

10 hours ago
Phys.org / Engineers observe quantum heat waves at room temperature

Efficient heat management in solids is key to advancing the next generation of electronics. However, wave-like heat movement—known as phonon focusing—had been observed only at extremely low, or cryogenic, temperatures, limiting ...

5 hours ago
Phys.org / Shaking atoms to bring black-hole quantum chaos into the lab

Physicists have discovered a surprisingly simple way to reproduce one of the most fascinating models in modern physics—linked to black holes, quantum chaos and exotic electronic materials—using ultracold atoms trapped in ...

12 hours ago
Phys.org / Peptide isolated from a Cerrado frog increases strawberry shelf life

Five minutes. That was the amount of time that Oso Grande strawberries remained in contact with the Ctx(Ile21)-Ha peptide—a molecule isolated from a frog native to the Brazilian Cerrado—in experiments conducted in Brazil ...

11 hours ago
Phys.org / Exploring the lost golden age of language diversity before expanding empires drove a global decline

Today, people speak or sign around 7,500 languages. Yet this figure provides only a snapshot of a constantly changing history. How many languages existed before written records? Did agriculture reduce linguistic diversity ...

5 hours ago
Phys.org / Simple circuit brings topological insulators closer to practical electrical measurement standards

Researchers at the University of Würzburg have succeeded in detecting exceptionally robust electrical transport in a topological insulator. This could lead to new metrological applications. The work is published in the journal ...

5 hours ago
Phys.org / Striped or checkered? Magnetic field influences competing electronic patterns in a graphene-like quantum material

In most everyday materials, such as copper, silver and silicon, the behavior of electrons is relatively predictable. In quantum materials, however, electrons can interact in complex ways, giving rise to collective electronic ...

17 hours ago
Phys.org / National food waste recycling promises major climate gains but comes with microplastic risks

Keeping food waste out of landfills provides climate and other environmental benefits, and Vermont requires residents to divert these materials to better management pathways. With other states considering similar policies, ...

17 hours ago