Phys.org news

Phys.org / Hypersonic impact rapidly transforms diamond into graphite, revealing energy-absorbing mechanism

Rice University researchers have developed a way to stabilize diamond during high-temperature and low-pressure processing, creating a strong bulk composite and discovering that high-speed collisions can rapidly transform ...

Aug 20, 2026
Phys.org / Welcome to the jungle: Newly discovered snake named after Slash from Guns N' Roses

Slash, aka Saul Hudson, is probably best known as the guitarist for Guns N' Roses. But there's more to Slash than his music. He's also a lifelong reptile lover and an avid supporter of zoos and museums. And now, he's the ...

Aug 20, 2026
Phys.org / 'Shaking up' biofilm research: Active topography reduces bacterial infections

The use of antibiotics has traditionally been considered the gold standard in bacterial infection control—the more bacterial cells you kill, and the faster you kill them, the better. University of Tennessee, Knoxville Professor ...

Aug 20, 2026
Phys.org / Rising ocean temperatures reduce the natural carbon storage capacity of seagrass meadows

A new study published in Communications Earth & Environment, with contributions from researchers at the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), shows that higher seawater temperatures could significantly reduce ...

Aug 20, 2026
Phys.org / Thinner lenses, brighter colors: Metalens research clears two hurdles for AR and VR glasses

AR and VR glasses once seen only in science fiction may soon be realized not as bulky stacks of lenses but as a single eyeglass-like optical element. That future is now closer to reality.

Aug 20, 2026
Phys.org / North Sea wind farm expansion may shift rain offshore, simulations suggest

Offshore wind farms are a key pillar of the energy transition. The European Union plans to expand offshore wind capacity in the North Sea by 2050. A new study by the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon indicates that a very extensive ...

Aug 20, 2026
Phys.org / Alternative mRNA modification lets ribosomes move nearly twice as fast

In a new study, scientists from Johns Hopkins Medicine report that an experimental mRNA-based platform has the potential to help deliver next-generation mRNA therapeutics, including vaccines to fight infectious diseases, ...

Aug 20, 2026
Phys.org / Fibrinogen discovery reshapes understanding of how wounds heal

Scientists have redefined how the key blood-clotting protein fibrinogen behaves when it contacts air, overturning two decades of scientific consensus on wound healing. It is the culmination of more than a decade of international ...

Aug 20, 2026
Phys.org / Dynamics of the Icelandic ice sheet altered North Atlantic seawater chemistry, environmental physicists reveal

Over the past 230,000 years, the growth and retreat of the Icelandic ice sheet have led to major changes in the seawater chemistry of the North Atlantic, caused by the interaction between volcanism and ice in Iceland. Scientists ...

Aug 20, 2026
Phys.org / Magnetically levitated quantum bit could address design flaws

Researchers at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, headquartered at Florida State University, have designed a new quantum computing architecture that uses magnetic levitation ...

Aug 20, 2026
Phys.org / AI boosts sensitivity to double-Higgs signatures occurring about once per trillion collisions

Is the universe as stable as we think it is? That's one of the big questions that particle physicists worldwide are preparing to answer with the Large Hadron Collider, or LHC—the world's most powerful particle accelerator—when ...

Aug 20, 2026
Phys.org / Intense light bent out of shape—ultrafast lenses made from gas

Researchers from the MPIK in Heidelberg used an atomic gas as a time-dependent lens to shape and spectrally manipulate intense high-frequency laser pulses. This gas-based optical element could pave the way toward better XUV- ...

Aug 20, 2026