Phys.org news

Phys.org / Aqueduct deposits suggest Plague of Cyprian may have emptied Nîmes around 270 A.D.

Researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have gleaned new insights into ancient water management in the French region around Nîmes by analyzing carbonate deposits within the Roman aqueduct that features the ...

16 hours ago
Phys.org / Light lets microswimmers switch between bacteria-like and algae-like propulsion

Physicists at Leipzig University and Charles University in Prague have developed a method for changing the swimming style of tiny artificial microswimmers in real time. They can make a single microscopic particle switch at ...

14 hours ago
Phys.org / Nearly 50 'ghost galaxies' emerge around three hosts, challenging dwarf galaxy counts

Dwarf galaxies—with a mass equal to about a billion suns, but often considerably less—are the most abundant in the universe. However, because of their low luminosity, they are very difficult to detect. They have mostly been ...

22 hours ago
Phys.org / Muon rings enable precise calibration of telescopes at the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory

Research initiated as part of a bachelor's thesis in physics at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) has culminated in a new analytical description of the muon-based calibration of dual-mirror Cherenkov telescopes. ...

15 hours ago
Phys.org / Dogs show human-like brain activity when they restrain themselves

When we tell a dog "no" and it resists temptation, what happens in its brain? New research from the Department of Ethology at ELTE and the HUN-REN Research Centre of Natural Sciences suggests that dogs may do more than respond ...

16 hours ago
Phys.org / Engineers solve puzzle of Arctic sea ice movement

Arctic sea ice moves and spreads in ways that wind alone cannot explain. A new UC Riverside-led study finds that collisions between individual pieces of ice provide a surprisingly simple explanation for these movements, potentially ...

15 hours ago
Phys.org / Half-billion-year-old fossils rewrite the origin story of starfish

Scientists have discovered several 518-million-year-old fossils that reshape understanding of the origins of the animal group containing starfish. The fossils show that these animals ate using tentacles rather than passively ...

20 hours ago
Phys.org / Sliding droplets point to charging mechanism beyond mobile ions

Whether on a windowpane at home or during the industrial cleaning of computer chips: droplets sliding over solid surfaces become electrically charged. Yet the physical mechanism behind this charging remains a subject of debate. ...

16 hours ago
Phys.org / Ice Age carvers used mammoth tusk patterns to create unique art, study finds

Intricate designs engraved across the surface of 18,000-year-old female figurines carved from mammoth ivory were inspired by the distinctive growth patterns visible in the tusks, a new study published in the journal npj Heritage ...

18 hours ago
Phys.org / Hedgehog coronaviruses may threaten cats more than humans, new study finds

Washington State University researchers have discovered how a group of coronaviruses circulating in hedgehogs invades host cells, a key to understanding their potential to jump between species and their risk of causing a ...

17 hours ago
Phys.org / Deep ocean, familiar trash: Plastic waste found alongside possible new species

It's no secret that plastic and other human trash are a problem for marine life, but our understanding has long focused on the ocean's surface. As described in a study published in PLOS One, a more complete picture is coming ...

17 hours ago
Phys.org / Predominantly online friendships linked to greater support for white nationalism

From social media to the streets of Washington, D.C., the organized white nationalist movement has become more visible in the United States over the past few decades. But the extent of this extremist movement's appeal to ...

18 hours ago