Phys.org news
Phys.org / Decoding the DNA switches behind gene regulation
Understanding gene regulation may be key to interpreting human disease genetics. Genes are regulated in part by stretches of DNA called enhancers, which define when, where and how strongly each gene is turned on. Mapping ...
Phys.org / Black holes from stellar to supermassive size may follow one jet-launching rule
An early-career Western Australian astrophysicist has helped uncover a universal rule behind one of the most powerful behaviors in the universe: when black holes launch jets. The discovery, published in the journal Nature ...
Phys.org / Moles' wide-armed posture reshapes how their shoulder bones carry loads
While the scapula is the primary bone supporting the body in terrestrial quadrupedal mammals, an analysis of internal bone structure in underground moles (family Talpidae) showed a more important role for the clavicle.
Phys.org / Capybaras in the desert? Fossil casts doubt on Atacama as world's oldest continuously dry region
Ask any zoo-goer and they will tell you that capybaras are adorable. Ask a scientist specializing in the rodents, which resemble oversized guinea pigs, and they will tell you they are obligate semiaquatic herbivores that ...
Phys.org / Activated learning-and-memory protein forms growing molecular chains, imaging reveals
Researchers at the Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI) at Kanazawa University, Kyoto University, SOKENDAI and the National Institute for Physiological Sciences have revealed how CaMKIIα—a key brain protein involved ...
Phys.org / What ancient Mars rocks reveal about its buried carbonate stores
Carbonate minerals are among the best records of past liquid water on Mars: They form when water carrying dissolved carbon dioxide reacts with rock, and their composition reflects the chemistry of both. Yet Mars has surprisingly ...
Phys.org / Two spike 'keys' work together to let SARS-CoV-2 enter cells, study reveals
To enter cells, the COVID-19 virus fuses its surrounding membrane with the membrane of the target cell. This is where the fusion peptides of the spike protein come into play. These regions function as molecular keys that ...
Phys.org / Amazonian study identifies most effective ways of conserving biodiversity and carbon
As the 2026 El Niño intensifies across the Amazon, new research highlights the urgent need to better protect the region's remaining forests from disturbances.
Phys.org / Threatened bumblebee populations in England and Wales face severe genetic declines
A new study reveals that an important pollinator is rapidly losing genetic diversity in Britain. Moss carder bumblebees were once widespread across the UK, living in flower-rich meadows, marshes and heathlands, where they ...
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 / How a simple game of 20 questions could help make AI fit for the future
Artificial intelligence programs used to classify images could be trained much more cheaply using a surprisingly simple method inspired by the childhood game of 20 Questions, according to new research posted to the arXiv ...
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 ...
