Phys.org news

Phys.org / How primitive plants evolved to survive Earth's most catastrophic extinction event

Earth responded to its most severe past warming event by evolving a new and bizarre type of photosynthesis that allowed a group of primitive plants to survive. Research led by the University of Leeds has revealed how lycophytes—a ...

5 hours ago
Phys.org / How maze-like magnetic patterns form and evolve in materials

The rapid increase in electric vehicle adoption in recent years has highlighted a crucial issue: the energy conversion efficiency of electric motors. In electric motors, iron loss or magnetic hysteresis loss is a primary ...

5 hours ago
Phys.org / A hidden property of light could power future nanomachines

Light does more than illuminate the world—it can also push and twist matter. It was back in the 1870s that James Clerk Maxwell first predicted that light carries momentum and can exert pressure on objects. Nearly a century ...

5 hours ago
Phys.org / Mind the gap! The semiconductor industry is relying on the wrong materials

2D materials are widely seen as a promising path toward better computer chips. Researchers at TU Wien have now shown that some of these materials are unsuitable due to an underestimated effect. But there are alternatives.

6 hours ago
Phys.org / Emojis trigger brain responses like real faces within 160 milliseconds, study finds

Facial expressions are a fundamental aspect of human social interaction. While emojis are an extremely popular way for people to communicate, very little is known about the psychological response that they can generate. A ...

6 hours ago
Phys.org / Total solar eclipse quiets seismic noise for cities within its path

A seismic hush fell over U.S. and Canadian cities that were in the "path of totality" during the 8 April 2024 total solar eclipse, according to new research presented at the 2026 SSA Annual Meeting.

6 hours ago
Phys.org / How tiny cave shrimps power the underworld of the Yucatan

Beneath the lush rainforests of the Yucatan Peninsula lies a hidden, subterranean world: a vast network of flooded sinkholes and anchialine caves. These unique underwater systems, which mix fresh and saltwater and are influenced ...

6 hours ago
Phys.org / A light-controlled 'muscle' could give synthetic cells a new way to move

Engineers interested in creating artificial cells to deliver drugs to unhealthy parts of the body face a key challenge: for a cell-like system to move, change shape, or divide, it needs a way to generate force on command.

23 hours ago
Phys.org / Atlantic current shows two-decade decline across four deep-ocean monitoring sites

A paper published in the journal Science Advances is adding to the growing body of research showing that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is weakening. In this new study, instead of relying mainly on ...

Apr 19, 2026
Phys.org / These blazing blue explosions may be born when a compact dead star slams into a Wolf-Rayet star

Luminous fast blue optical transients (LFBOTs) are among the universe's brightest and fastest explosions but their origin is not completely understood. A new study takes a closer look at the galaxies they occur in, offering ...

Apr 19, 2026
Phys.org / Sulfur-rich Mercury magmas behave differently than Earth's do

Mercury is a small, rocky planet about which researchers know relatively little. Two missions, taking readings as they passed over the planet, have revealed that Mercury is covered by an iron-poor and sulfur-rich crust. It ...

Apr 19, 2026
Phys.org / Quantum model explains how single electrons cause damage inside silicon chips

Researchers in the UC Santa Barbara Materials Department have uncovered the elusive quantum mechanism by which energetic electrons break chemical bonds inside microelectronic devices—a detrimental process that slowly degrades ...

Apr 19, 2026