Phys.org news

Phys.org / Ancient rocks reveal Earth's past warm periods were cooler than thought

Earth's temperature has been much cooler in the past than previously thought, meaning it could be moving toward the warmest it's ever been.

Jul 9, 2026
Phys.org / Using mechanical vibrations instead of magnetic memory for quantum computing

Quantum computers still face limits when it comes to storing information. Researchers at ETH Zurich are now turning to mechanical vibrations rather than electromagnetic memory. Their new vibrating memory can store significantly ...

Jul 9, 2026
Phys.org / Programmable light simulates quantum matter across 300 processes without bigger circuits

A team of researchers at the University of Ottawa and its Nexus for Quantum Technologies Institute, in collaboration with researchers from Federico II University in Italy, has developed a programmable quantum simulator that ...

Jul 9, 2026
Phys.org / The real Moana story: Why the Polynesians suddenly sailed east

Major drought forced people to migrate across the Pacific beyond Samoa and Tonga and toward the Americas, scientists have discovered. With the new live-action "Moana" film hitting cinemas, a team of geographers and climate ...

Jul 9, 2026
Phys.org / New physics-based machine-learning method speeds search for 2D quantum materials

Researchers at The University of Manchester have developed a new computational approach to help identify two-dimensional materials that may host unusual quantum behavior. The work, published in Science Advances, focuses on ...

Jul 9, 2026
Phys.org / Study identifies key mechanism regulating how cells use fat to generate energy

An international study by scientists at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III (CNIC) and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has identified a fundamental mechanism that regulates ...

Jul 9, 2026
Phys.org / 'Check your ingredients': A new blueprint for using Fermi's 'Golden Rule'

Underpinning much of modern technology, from smartphones to scanning tunneling microscopes to particle colliders, is Fermi's Golden Rule. Named for 20th-century Italian American physicist Enrico Fermi (but actually discovered ...

Jul 9, 2026
Phys.org / Quantum material opens new path for studying unusual electronic behavior

By combining approaches from two rapidly growing fields of quantum physics, researchers at Penn State and Saint Louis University have demonstrated that a novel specialized material can naturally enable a new way to study ...

Jul 9, 2026
Phys.org / Carbon–bismuth bonds reveal that relativity blurs the textbook line between sigma and pi bonds

Brown University chemists have provided direct evidence that upends the textbook explanation of how triple chemical bonds work in heavy elements. In a study published in Science, the researchers show evidence that when atomic ...

Jul 9, 2026
Phys.org / Aging rewires RNA production, favoring short genes over long neuronal ones

A new Northwestern Medicine study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has explored the impacts of aging on essential cellular processes, findings that could shape the development of future anti-aging ...

Jul 9, 2026
Phys.org / Transparent nanosheets could shrink phone cameras while preserving high-resolution color images

Researchers at Nagoya University in Japan have developed gallium-doped zinc oxide (GZO) nanosheets that may enhance camera resolution in compact devices, including smartphones and medical endoscopes.

Jul 9, 2026
Phys.org / Heat waves push tropical forests past photosynthesis limits across 57 million hectares

As heat waves continue one after another, we are feeling their effects on our own bodies: It becomes harder for us to function normally. Trees also have their limits when temperatures are too high. Above a certain critical ...

Jul 9, 2026