Phys.org news

Phys.org / Frozen rat chromosome springs back to life inside a mouse embryo

Scientists in Japan have developed a rat-mouse hybrid embryo from a single frozen rat chromosome transplanted into a mouse egg cell. The achievement is proof that genetic material can sometimes remain functional after cryopreservation ...

Jun 8, 2026
Phys.org / Nickelate superconductors share a common electronic fingerprint

Superconductors, materials that conduct electricity with zero electrical resistance at specific temperature ranges, have proved very promising for the development of quantum computers and other cutting-edge technologies. ...

Jun 8, 2026
Phys.org / Why this $10 spectrometer chip could bring real-time chemical sensing to wearables

Researchers from the University of Cambridge and GlitterinTech, a startup founded by the same research group, have unveiled a fundamentally new type of optical spectrometer that delivers laboratory-grade precision in a device ...

Jun 8, 2026
Phys.org / River wildlife moves freely once dams are removed, but so too can invasive species

Almost a quarter of all freshwater species are threatened with extinction. The removal of human-made barriers from rivers, such as dams and weirs, is a popular way to restore water flow and sediment transport to its natural ...

Jun 8, 2026
Phys.org / Physicists create new family of Schrödinger-cat states

Quantum mechanics, unlike classical physics, allows objects to exist in more than one state at the same time. This idea is often illustrated by Schrödinger's cat, imagined as being both alive and dead until it is observed. ...

Jun 8, 2026
Phys.org / Cosmic bombardment may have opened Earth's crust for prebiotic chemistry

Asteroids and planetesimals regularly bombarded Earth between about 4.6 billion and 3.5 billion years ago, during the Hadean and Archean eons. Because few rocks today are more than 4 billion years old, our understanding of ...

Jun 8, 2026
Phys.org / Ancient hominins selected basalt sources for specific tools nearly 800,000 years ago, study reveals

A new study finds that ancient hominins nearly 800,000 years ago deliberately selected specific basalt sources for different stages of tool production rather than simply using whatever stone was available nearby. By tracing ...

Jun 8, 2026
Phys.org / Hidden geometry explains why kernel methods separate complex data so well

Are two sets of data genuinely different, or is it because of randomness? This question, known as the two-sample testing problem, becomes notoriously difficult in modern datasets, because they are often high-dimensional, ...

Jun 8, 2026
Phys.org / How plants survive constant DNA damage: Newly identified repair protein protects growth-critical stem cells

Similar to the way DNA damage can contribute to human diseases such as cancer, it can also disrupt growth, development and survival in plants. Every day, plants endure environmental stresses such as sunlight, radiation, drought ...

Jun 8, 2026
Phys.org / Medicinal plants yield carbon nanoparticles that glow red and flag toxic metals

What do iron, lead and nickel have in common? These heavy metals are an indispensable part of many industries. However, they also share a dark reality: They are serious environmental and public health threats. Every day, ...

Jun 8, 2026
Phys.org / Rocket launches and reentries harm Earth's ozone layer

The space industry is surging. In coming years, nearly 10,000 spacecraft are slated to launch into low-Earth orbit for a variety of purposes, such as global surveillance, space tourism, and satellite "megaconstellations" ...

Jun 8, 2026
Phys.org / Astronomers discover the earliest known flickering quasar

A supermassive black hole lies at the heart of every galaxy, including the Milky Way. When a black hole is active, it pulls material in as a whirlpool of high-temperature gas and dust. As this cosmic material piles up and ...

Jun 8, 2026