Phys.org news

Phys.org / First cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza in northern elephant seals confirmed in California

Seven weaned elephant seal pups in California's Año Nuevo State Park tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Veterinary Services Laboratory confirmed ...

15 hours ago in Biology
Phys.org / 'Tiny' dinosaur, big impact: A 90-million-year-old fossil rewrites history

A team co-led by University of Minnesota Twin Cities researcher Peter Makovicky and Argentinean colleague Sebastian Apesteguía has identified a 90-million-year-old fossil that provides the "missing link" for a mysterious ...

19 hours ago in Biology
Phys.org / Ion bombardment triggers a reliable quantum switch in tantalum disulfide crystals

When you toss a coin, you put it into a higher-energy state until it falls back down again. It can then end up in one of two possible states: heads or tails. No matter which state the coin was in before, after the toss both ...

15 hours ago in Physics
Phys.org / Tropical flowers are blooming weeks later than they used to through climate change

Climate change has caused some tropical plants to flower earlier or later than they used to; in some cases by a matter of weeks or even months, according to a study of 8,000 flowers across more than two centuries, published ...

16 hours ago in Biology
Phys.org / This mysterious protein punctures our cells—now researchers know how

The human body is a dynamic place. Blood pumps, spinal fluid flows, oxygen comes in and carbon dioxide goes out. Deeper still, charged molecules pass through cell walls, quietly keeping the body's systems in balance. A new ...

16 hours ago in Biology
Phys.org / Climate change could fragment habitat for monarch butterflies, disrupting mass migration

Suitable habitat for migrating monarch butterflies will shift southwards because of climate change, according to a study published in PLOS Climate by Francisco Botello and Carolina Ureta at the National Autonomous University ...

16 hours ago in Biology
Phys.org / Humanity's oldest geometries, engraved on ostrich eggs

At several archaeological sites in southern Africa, hundreds of highly unusual fragments of ostrich eggs have been found. Dating back more than 60,000 years, the shells were engraved by groups of Homo sapiens who lived in ...

18 hours ago in Other Sciences
Phys.org / Land plants began reshaping Earth 455 million years ago, scientists discover

Pinpointing when early land plants colonized terrestrial environments and began influencing Earth's systems is a core question in the evolution of the Earth system. A research team led by Prof. Zhao Mingyu at the Institute ...

18 hours ago in Biology
Phys.org / Combination of wildfires and seismic lines may limit spread of non-native plants in Canada's boreal forest

A pair of disturbances common in Western Canada's boreal forests, when combined, may have an unexpected benefit of limiting the spread of non-native plant species, a University of Alberta study shows. The research gauged ...

16 hours ago in Biology
Phys.org / New michelin star jellyfish discovered in Japanese aquaria

Researchers have reported the discovery of a new species of jellyfish, Malagazzia michelin, marking only the second species of its genus ever found in Japanese waters. Led by Takato Izumi of Fukuyama University, the discovery ...

17 hours ago in Biology
Phys.org / Mother's breasts may protect a newborn from the cold—a new perspective on breast evolution

Humans differ from other primates due to their relatively large, permanent breasts, and their development has so far not been conclusively explained. According to a study conducted at the University of Oulu, Finland, the ...

20 hours ago in Biology
Phys.org / The physics of sneaker squeaks: High-speed imaging shows how they arise from supersonic detachment pulses

Basketball shoes on a gym floor, bicycle brakes in need of a tune-up, or the squeal of tires are everyday examples of squeaking sounds. Such sounds have long been attributed to stick-slip friction, or a cycle of intermittent ...

19 hours ago in Physics