Phys.org news
Phys.org / Break the mold: Who defines the 'real' chemist?
The perception of a chemist varies. Some might imagine the "mad scientist" from old cartoons—a white-haired older man working with beakers in his lab—but as that cliche fades, the reality of what constitutes a chemist's ...
Phys.org / Biphenomycin biosynthetic pathway decoded, opening door to new antibiotic development
Biphenomycins, natural products derived from bacteria, show excellent antimicrobial activity, but have long remained out of reach for drug development. The main obstacle was the limited understanding of how these compounds ...
Phys.org / Tracing a path through photosynthesis to food security
The energy that plants capture from sunlight through photosynthesis provides the source of nearly all of humanity's food. Yet the process of photosynthesis has inefficiencies that limit crop productivity, especially in a ...
Phys.org / Graphene membranes offer efficient, low-cost option for industrial CO₂ capture
Carbon capture is becoming essential for industries that still depend on fossil fuels, including the cement and steel industries. Natural-gas power plants, coal plants, and cement factories all release large amounts of CO₂, ...
Phys.org / Fungal allies arm plant roots against disease by rewriting the rules of infection
Scientists have discovered that beneficial root-dwelling fungi boost plant resilience to disease by remodeling the plant cell membrane at pathogen infection sites—offering critical new insights into how plants coordinate ...
Phys.org / Enhancing machine-learning interatomic potentials for advanced materials modeling
Machine learning is transforming many scientific fields, including computational materials science. For about two decades, scientists have been using it to make accurate yet inexpensive calculations of interatomic potentials, ...
Phys.org / Small galaxies may buck the black hole trend, Chandra finds
Most smaller galaxies may not have supermassive black holes in their centers, according to a recent study using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. This contrasts with the common idea that nearly every galaxy has one of these ...
Phys.org / How extreme weather events affect agricultural trade between US states
The U.S. is largely self-sufficient in agricultural food production, supported by a well-developed storage and interstate trade system. However, extreme weather events put increasing pressure on agriculture, potentially impacting ...
Phys.org / Astronomers challenge 50-year-old quasar law
Compelling evidence that the structure of matter surrounding supermassive black holes has changed over cosmic time has been uncovered by an international team of astronomers.
Phys.org / Astronomers create first map of the sun's outer boundary
Astronomers have produced the first continuous, two-dimensional maps of the outer edge of the sun's atmosphere, a shifting, frothy boundary that marks where solar winds escape the sun's magnetic grasp. By combining the maps ...
Phys.org / How to build a genome: Scientists release troubleshooting manual for synthetic life
Leading synthetic biologists have shared hard-won lessons from their decade-long quest to build the world's first synthetic eukaryotic genome in a Nature Biotechnology paper. Their insights could accelerate development of ...
Phys.org / Chinese intertidal shellfish farming: An unexpected fuel station for millions of migrating shorebirds
China's tidal flats feed people and mollusk-eating migrating shorebirds such as red knots, great knots and Eurasian oystercatchers. Under good management, these flats used for aquaculture markedly reduce human disturbance ...
