Phys.org news

In the realm of materials science, there is a plethora of datasets and tools at our disposal—the issue is how to effectively use these resources in harmony. Researchers at the Advanced Institute for Materials Research (WPI-AIMR), ...

Global biodiversity loss is occurring at a rapid pace, driven by multiple human-caused factors, including overexploitation, pollution, invasive species and climate change. Despite increasing research on the impact of climate ...

Jeffrey Rosenthal was a young professor at the University of Toronto when he discovered he was born on a Friday—though not just any Friday.

Researchers have been elucidating the structures of complex molecules for more than 100 years using a variety of techniques. Some molecular structures, however, are more difficult to solve than others.

Well before I start collecting coats, keys or shoes, my dog always knows when we're about to leave. By picking up on subtle cues, he anticipates our next movements, reminding me he's smarter than he often shows. But anticipation ...

Gram-negative bacteria are responsible for several infections that are hard to treat because of their high resistance to antibiotics. These bacteria possess an outermost layer called the outer membrane that acts as a protective ...

Graphene is flat. But that doesn't mean other 2D materials—particularly those containing more than one element—necessarily share the same structure. In the past, researchers have often simplified these materials by modeling ...

Patents are far more than legal documents protecting intellectual property. They are a vast source of scientific information about chemicals under development, often years before they appear in products or in the environment. ...

Glassy polymers are those whose chains become immobilized below their glass transition temperature. The immobilized chains make them hard and stiff but also brittle, causing them to fracture when stretched. One promising ...

For most mammals, cold suppresses neural activity and diminishes the sense of touch. But the thirteen-lined ground squirrel can detect touch in conditions as low as 4°C (39°F), about as cold as the inside of a refrigerator, ...

Venus is one of the solar system's most unusual planets. It may sometimes be called "Earth's twin" because of its similar size and density, but it rotates on its axis in the opposite direction of most planets, has surface ...

Earth may have been pushed deeper into a global deep freeze by something surprisingly ordinary: salt. Around 700 million years ago, Earth entered periods of extreme glaciation known as Snowball Earth, when ice is thought ...