Phys.org news
Phys.org / Australian cave discovery shows grass was burned for magic, cures and curses for 25,000 years
The GunaiKurnai, an Australian Aboriginal nation, are the acknowledged traditional custodians of Gippsland and the southern Victorian Alps. Within their territory are caves known from 19th-century ethnographic reports and ...
Phys.org / Floating colonies: Engineering 3D microbial architectures in liquid cultures
Microbes in the gut, lungs and biofilms do not simply exist as perfectly mixed populations; instead, they grow in layered and clustered three-dimensional (3D) arrangements. This spatial organization shapes how nutrients and ...
Phys.org / 2,000 volunteers join a painstaking effort to restore massive skeleton of prehistoric predator
Volunteers armed with chisels, brushes and protective goggles chip away at rock encasing the bones of a massive prehistoric amphibian in a glass-walled laboratory on the ground floor of Warsaw's Copernicus Science Centre.
Phys.org / Early respiratory infections may lower higher education completion and adult income
Infants exposed to respiratory illnesses through older siblings typically fare worse in education, income and health in adulthood, according to new research from the University of Copenhagen.
Phys.org / Private mission launches to extend life of out-of-gas communication satellites
A two-armed space robot blasted off on a private salvage operation Tuesday to slap life-extending jetpacks on old satellites running low on fuel thousands of miles up.
Phys.org / Reversing soil degradation by 10% could feed 70 million more, global analysis finds
Factors such as erosion, dehydration and soil compaction are jeopardizing food supplies for broad swaths of the world's population, according to a study by the University of Bonn, the University of Minnesota, the University ...
Phys.org / New technique enables LIGO to peer farther into the distant universe
Scientists at the University of California, Riverside, have developed a new way to help gravitational-wave observatories see farther into the universe by solving one of their biggest challenges: tiny heat-induced distortions ...
Phys.org / Birds flying in 'V' formation save energy with flatter flaps, new research shows
Scientists have known for years that birds like geese and ibises gain an aerodynamic advantage from flying in a "V" formation. Now, researchers from Brown University have provided new insights into the nature of that advantage.
Phys.org / Mysterious gas 'bullets' race from Milky Way's only known helium nova at up to 20 million mph
Mysterious high-speed "bullets"—clumps of possibly oxygen-rich gas traveling at up to 20 million miles per hour—have been discovered shooting out of the rarest stellar explosion in our galaxy.
Phys.org / New study into humans' closest ape relatives suggests physical touch can promote social harmony
Physical touch may be an important evolutionary tool to help manage social tension and keep the peace. That is according to a new study led by Durham University in the UK, analyzing behaviors of our closest ape relatives, ...
Phys.org / Gig platforms can simply 'wait out' workers to slash wages, research reveals
Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS), the Tübingen AI Center and Ellis Institute Tübingen have conducted a study that uncovers a mathematical strategy explaining how digital labor platforms ...
Phys.org / Ruthenium nanoparticles convert captured perchlorate into harmless chloride in water treatment waste
For decades, water utilities have relied on giant tanks filled with ion-exchange resin beads to remove perchlorate, a harmful industrial pollutant, from drinking water. The system works by attracting negatively charged perchlorate ...
