Phys.org news

Phys.org / Why Europe's trees are dying

In Europe, trees are increasingly dying prematurely. A new study by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) on French forests now shows that it is not only drought but also unusually warm ...

5 hours ago
Phys.org / How proximity steals energy from nanoresonators

Nanomechanical resonators are miniature vibrating structures on chips that oscillate at frequencies ranging from a few kilohertz to gigahertz. They are used as ultrasensitive detectors of mass and force, temperature and pressure, ...

10 hours ago
Phys.org / Watching how molecules change shape in slow motion could inform future molecular machines

Researchers at the Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI) at Kanazawa University, the Institute for Molecular Science and SOKENDAI have uncovered the hidden mechanism behind a molecular switch—a molecule that can change ...

6 hours ago
Phys.org / Scientists enable DNA synthesis using only temperature instead of chemical reagents

"Complex chemical processes are essential for making DNA." This long-held assumption in the field of biotechnology has been overturned by a Korean research team. A KAIST research team has developed the world's first foundational ...

6 hours ago
Phys.org / New biobased polymers exhibit excellent tensile properties beyond polyolefins

The research group of Professor Kotohiro Nomura, Tokyo Metropolitan University, in cooperation with the research groups of Senior Researcher Hiroshi Hirano and Director Seiji Higashi of the Osaka Research Institute of Industrial ...

15 hours ago
Phys.org / AI system translates protein sequences into text, helping reveal functions of unknown proteins

In a paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from Technion and Tel Aviv University present BetaDescribe, an AI system that translates protein sequences into natural-language descriptions, ...

18 hours ago
Phys.org / Soil thickness controls landslide occurrence, study finds

Researchers at University of Tsukuba analyzed high-resolution topographic data from airborne LiDAR to examine the relationships among landslide area, depth, and slope gradient.

18 hours ago
Phys.org / Hummingbirds speed up pineapple family's evolution

Hummingbirds make bromeliad plants split into new species twice as fast as other pollinators do, scientists at the University of Reading have found. The research team gathered records of which animals pollinate 403 types ...

20 hours ago
Phys.org / South Australian algal bloom species the world's most toxic harmful microalga yet recorded

The marine microalgae responsible for the most devastating effects of the South Australian harmful algal bloom (HAB) has now been shown to be the most toxic species of its kind ever studied.

23 hours ago
Phys.org / Engineers discover 'unexpected motion' in drug-delivery robots

One day, tiny swimming robots may travel through the human body to deliver drugs. The medication would target only areas of need—chemotherapy drugs for a tumor, for example—avoiding healthy tissue and minimizing side effects. ...

23 hours ago
Phys.org / Atomic 'domino effect' found to drive phase changes in a two-dimensional crystal

Phase transformations—in which a material changes from one crystal structure to another, thereby acquiring dramatically different properties—are ubiquitous in nature. Understanding the microscopic mechanisms of these transformations ...

22 hours ago
Phys.org / Storms impact the architecture of webs and the survival of spiders

In the dense forests of the Ecuadorian Andes, the survival of a spider relies not only on its ability to prey on insects but also on its capacity to resist a threat coming from the skies. A new study revealed that the heavy ...

22 hours ago