Phys.org news

Phys.org / Viruses found in carbon-storing wetlands play an active role in shaping ecosystem health

Viruses in wetland soil play a more important role than previously understood and could even be indicators of ecosystem health, according to a new study by researchers from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Recently ...

20 hours ago in Biology
Phys.org / Magnetic ordering induces Jahn-Teller effect in spinel-type compounds

The Jahn-Teller effect, proposed by Jahn and Teller in 1937, describes how molecules or crystals with degenerate electronic orbitals can lower their total energy by distorting their structure. This distortion lifts the degeneracy, ...

20 hours ago in Physics
Phys.org / ALICE solves mystery of light-nuclei survival

Observations of the formation of light-nuclei from high-energy collisions may help in the hunt for dark matter.

22 hours ago in Physics
Phys.org / Black hole eats star: Student helps chart gamma-ray burst that lasted for days

A team of astronomers including George Washington University physics Ph.D. student Eliza Neights recorded an extraordinary cosmic outburst this July which likely heralds a new kind of stellar explosion. With a flood of data ...

22 hours ago in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / How emotions spread online following celebrity suicide news

Reshare cascades on X (formerly Twitter) show how different expressed emotions unfold in the aftermath of celebrity suicides, according to a study published in PLOS One by Ehsan Nouri of the University of Virginia, U.S., ...

20 hours ago in Other Sciences
Phys.org / An old jeweler's trick could unlock next-generation nuclear clocks

In 2008, a team of UCLA-led scientists proposed a scheme to use a laser to excite the nucleus of thorium atoms to realize extremely accurate, portable clocks. Last year, they realized this longstanding goal by bombarding ...

23 hours ago in Physics
Phys.org / Honeybees crowd out bumblebees—even on flower-rich heathlands

When the late summer sun falls over Ireland's Wicklow Mountains, the slopes turn purple with blooming heather. Honeybees are moved to the heathlands for the sought-after heather honey, but their presence affects wild bumblebees.

22 hours ago in Biology
Phys.org / Study suggests Earth's inner core may have onion-like layered structure

An international research team may have found an explanation for seismic anomalies, the noticeable deviations in the behavior of earthquake waves, in Earth's inner core.

23 hours ago in Earth
Phys.org / Hidden gatekeeper of cell death reveals new layer of control

A new Dartmouth study opens new avenues for understanding—and potentially manipulating—how cells decide to live or die.

22 hours ago in Biology
Phys.org / A new 'hypertropical' climate is emerging in the Amazon, exposing trees to deadly stress

The Amazon rainforest is slowly transitioning to a new, hotter climate with more frequent and intense droughts—conditions that haven't been seen on Earth for tens of millions of years.

23 hours ago in Earth
Phys.org / Tropical cyclones and the carbon cycle: New insights from a model simulation

For the first time, scientists have resolved extremely intense tropical cyclones and their effect on the ocean carbon cycle in a global Earth system model. Using two category-4 hurricanes in the North Atlantic as examples, ...

22 hours ago in Earth
Phys.org / The rhythm of swarms: Tunable particles synchronize movement like living organisms

A collaboration between the University of Konstanz and Forschungszentrum Jülich has achieved the first fully tunable experimental realization of a long predicted "swarmalator" system. The study, published in Nature Communications, ...

22 hours ago in Physics