Phys.org news
Phys.org / Chemists unlock first total synthesis of rare plant alkaloid tied to anticancer activity
Plants are undeniably one of nature's most promising sources of new medicines, with monoterpenoid indole alkaloids (MIAs) being a great example. Some intricate compounds are built from multiple-linked chemical units that ...
Dialog / A 170 km journey by a freshwater stingray challenges long-held conservation assumptions
Most sharks and rays inhabit the oceans, but a small proportion thrive in freshwater. Approximately 4% to 5% of all shark and ray species live in tropical and subtropical rivers around the world. Two main ecological strategies ...
Phys.org / Rocket launches and reentries harm Earth's ozone layer
The space industry is surging. In coming years, nearly 10,000 spacecraft are slated to launch into low-Earth orbit for a variety of purposes, such as global surveillance, space tourism, and satellite "megaconstellations" ...
Phys.org / Lighter X-ray aprons could spare health care workers from chronic pain
A light, flexible polymer material developed at the University of Waterloo could replace the lead in heavy X-ray aprons, providing the same protection from harmful radiation while reducing their weight by almost 90%.
Phys.org / Magnesium transporter discovery could improve rice nutrition and taste
Rice is a staple food for nearly half the global population and an important dietary source of magnesium, a mineral essential for human health, plant growth and energy metabolism. Although magnesium is known to influence ...
Phys.org / Yeast experiments reveal an evolutionarily conserved backup route for making a molecule that's essential to life
Hiroshima University researchers say a newly proposed three-step "detour" pathway for making dolichol, a molecule cells need to properly process proteins, may be more universal than scientists realized. Experiments in yeast ...
Phys.org / How Artemis II livestreamed hi-def videos and images from the moon to Earth
This April, humanity had front-row seats to space as the Artemis II Orion spacecraft transmitted crystal-clear footage of its historic journey around the moon from more than 250,000 miles (about 402,000 kilometers) back to ...
Phys.org / Brazilian breadbasket's aquifers are falling, and new satellite maps show where water stress is growing
A collaboration of scientists from NASA and Brazilian research institutions has produced a detailed picture of groundwater change across Brazil. The images reveal significant declines in some of the aquifers that are critical ...
Phys.org / Alien signal claims face stricter verification under updated disclosure rules
The IAA SETI Committee has updated rules for evaluating and revealing the detection of extraterrestrial intelligence.
Phys.org / Bacteria can learn and form memories without a brain
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have shown that bacteria can learn from past experiences, store memories across generations and adapt their behavior to changing environments, all without a brain or nervous system. ...
Phys.org / Gleam-glum effect reveals emotional word cues in children as young as five
The words "tick-tock," "hiss" and "screech" are examples of onomatopoeia because they imitate the sounds they represent: the rhythmic ticking of a clock; an angry cat, or a slowly deflating bike tire; a high-pitched scream. ...
Phys.org / Hidden geometry explains why kernel methods separate complex data so well
Are two sets of data genuinely different, or is it because of randomness? This question, known as the two-sample testing problem, becomes notoriously difficult in modern datasets, because they are often high-dimensional, ...