Phys.org news
Phys.org / Why global wind energy may stay steady even as storm tracks shift poleward
Understanding how wind changes in response to global warming is necessary for accurately modeling climate and weather, identifying risks to infrastructure, and assessing global wind power capacity.
Phys.org / Sixteen new fungus species found hiding in Thailand's flowers
Researchers have discovered 16 new species of fungus living unnoticed inside garden flowers and wildflowers across northern Thailand, more than quintupling the number of such fungi known to occur in the country. The findings ...
Phys.org / Is dark matter 'natural?' Physicist puts the question to the test
Dark matter is one of the oldest open problems in physics. It makes up most of the matter in the universe and shapes how galaxies form and move, yet no one has ever directly detected it. Physicists have proposed dozens of ...
Phys.org / Laser shocks turn plastic into ultra-small, high-purity nanodiamonds
Nanodiamonds are tiny diamond particles that usually measure mere millionths of a millimeter. They are extremely hard, stable and heat-resistant and highly adaptable for various purposes in medicine, new materials, catalysis ...
Phys.org / Electron and photon beams drive same gold-forming reaction toward different nanoscale structures
Beauty and mystery—it is hard to imagine a more alluring combination, and this is precisely what we encounter when we observe phenomena in the nanoworld. But are we really sure that observations made using modern microscopic ...
Phys.org / Wild honeybee populations in the EU are on the Red List for the first time
Populations of the Western honeybee (Apis mellifera) are under immense pressure in the wild in Europe. New research published in Conservation Science and Practice from the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart and Agroscope ...
Phys.org / Microfluidic device simulates human tissue and offers an alternative to animal testing
Researchers at the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) have developed microfluidic technology that can grow cells in three dimensions (3D). The goal is to conduct toxicity tests on new products by ...
Phys.org / Endurance running or endurance diving—which came first?
A new study combines paleoanthropology and diving physiology to address a fundamental question in human evolution: Why did humans evolve their exceptional aerobic endurance? Did our ancestors begin endurance running to exhaust ...
Phys.org / Handheld scanner delivers lab-quality chemical composition maps using infrared light
Researchers have developed a compact, handheld mid-infrared imaging spectrometer that can produce high-resolution chemical maps of a sample without using stains or labels. With further development, the handheld device might ...
Phys.org / Robotic lab sets up and runs optics experiments on demand
Every new generation of phone display, television screen and solar panel is the result of precision optics experiments, which use lasers and other light sources to measure the optical properties of candidate materials. These ...
Phys.org / Beaver reintroduction improves peatland water storage and drought resilience
A study led by a doctoral researcher at the University of Liverpool has found that beavers may help restore degraded peatlands by keeping landscapes wetter and making them more resilient to drought.
Phys.org / Earth's atmosphere is getting less dusty: That could be adding to global warming
Atmospheric desert dust has long swirled around the globe, but a new UCLA study presents the strongest evidence yet that global dust is mysteriously decreasing. Because atmospheric dust has a slight overall cooling effect ...