Phys.org news

Phys.org / AI faces trusted more than faces of real people, warn researchers

Images of faces created by artificial intelligence (AI) are seen as more trustworthy than images of genuine faces, researchers say, warning of the risks of online fraud and other harms. This is the first study to examine ...

11 hours ago
Phys.org / Scientists enable DNA synthesis using only temperature instead of chemical reagents

"Complex chemical processes are essential for making DNA." This long-held assumption in the field of biotechnology has been overturned by a Korean research team. A KAIST research team has developed the world's first foundational ...

12 hours ago
Phys.org / Watching how molecules change shape in slow motion could inform future molecular machines

Researchers at the Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI) at Kanazawa University, the Institute for Molecular Science and SOKENDAI have uncovered the hidden mechanism behind a molecular switch—a molecule that can change ...

12 hours ago
Phys.org / Massive calving episode in Greenland may foreshadow more rapid ice sheet loss

In November 2025, a study led by Adrien Wehrlé, a researcher in the Department of Geography at the University of Zürich, Switzerland, looked at the massive calving response of one of West Greenland's active glaciers, Sermeq ...

14 hours ago
Phys.org / Birds' efficient red blood cells convert metabolic 'waste' into fuel for rapid recovery

New research finds that birds can use lactate, often thought of as a metabolic waste product, as a cellular fuel that aids in rapid recovery from a harmful state that impairs oxygen delivery. Hemoglobin, the protein that ...

13 hours ago
Phys.org / Ancient rocks reveal how water reshaped Earth's interior 3.1 billion years ago

Geologists studying some of the planet's oldest volcanic rocks have uncovered new evidence that water was playing a major role in shaping Earth's interior and driving volcanic activity more than 3 billion years ago.

17 hours ago
Phys.org / Raptorial insect forelegs evolved repeatedly but never converged on one winning design

The evolutionary paths that created snatching forelimbs in insects multiple times moved in a similar direction but didn't end at a single solution. Kobe University research is pioneering a study of how organs with similar ...

17 hours ago
Phys.org / Bulk ferromagnetic quasicrystals emerge without rapid quenching, unlocking stable magnetic studies

Ferromagnetism has long been studied in a wide range of periodic crystals and amorphous materials. In quasicrystals (QCs), which possess long-range quasiperiodic order and unconventional rotational symmetries, such as 10-fold ...

16 hours ago
Phys.org / EV-SELEX speeds GPCR drug discovery by capturing receptor-bound DNA aptamers

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are the most abundantly expressed proteins in the human body, regulating diverse physiological processes ranging from pain perception to hormone signaling. Owing to their central roles ...

16 hours ago
Phys.org / Bacteria discovered with the ability to jettison cells as a survival mechanism

Popular science fiction is no stranger to escape-pod scenarios, typically featuring characters who narrowly avoid their demise by jettisoning from a spaceship—think R2-D2 and C-3PO shooting away from a rebel spaceship in ...

17 hours ago
Phys.org / How proximity steals energy from nanoresonators

Nanomechanical resonators are miniature vibrating structures on chips that oscillate at frequencies ranging from a few kilohertz to gigahertz. They are used as ultrasensitive detectors of mass and force, temperature and pressure, ...

17 hours ago
Phys.org / New biobased polymers exhibit excellent tensile properties beyond polyolefins

The research group of Professor Kotohiro Nomura, Tokyo Metropolitan University, in cooperation with the research groups of Senior Researcher Hiroshi Hirano and Director Seiji Higashi of the Osaka Research Institute of Industrial ...

22 hours ago