Phys.org news

Phys.org / Gut bacteria may influence social behavior through smell

In a new study, Northwestern University neurobiologists discovered that gut bacteria and the nose work together to shape social behavior in mice, including who fights and who backs down. Using a combination of genetic and ...

Mar 30, 2026
Phys.org / How systems science helps keep my flower delivery costs low

When you go out to run errands on the weekend, you're on a "tour" as defined by human mobility researchers. Same if you book a guided tour of a famous city or take a trip on a cruise boat that reaches multiple ports. A characteristic ...

Mar 30, 2026
Phys.org / What's inside a masterpiece? Laser scans and AI map paint layers molecule by molecule

Paintings are far more than dabs of oil on canvas. They are complex works of art composed of multiple layers, from primer and glues to the pigments and protective varnishes applied by the artists. Being able to see into these ...

Mar 30, 2026
Phys.org / Quantum twisting microscope reveals electron-electron interactions in graphene at room temperature

An international team of researchers built a highly sensitive quantum microscope and used it to directly observe, for the first time at room temperature, how electrons subtly interact with each other in graphene—confirming ...

Mar 30, 2026
Phys.org / Thawing permafrost becomes 25 to 100 times more permeable, experiments find

Experiments by University of Leeds researchers, published in Earth's Future, have shown that thawing of permafrost makes it between 25 and 100 times more permeable, allowing more climate change forcing gases to escape.

Mar 30, 2026
Phys.org / Nanoparticles can genetically modify several human cell types

In a demonstration that could help pave the way for gene therapies with fewer side effects, several human cell types have been genetically modified with protein nanoparticles designed at University of Michigan Engineering ...

Mar 30, 2026
Phys.org / Cornerstone model of evolutionary biology built on math flaw, study argues

New research is significantly revising a widely cited evolutionary model, the Inhibitory Cascade Mode (ICM). Benjamin Auerbach, professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Tennessee, ...

Mar 30, 2026
Phys.org / Next-generation optical sensor can read photon spin across UV-to-infrared wavelengths

A research team led by Professor Jiwoong Yang of the Department of Energy Science and Engineering at DGIST has developed next-generation optical sensor technology capable of precisely detecting not only the intensity and ...

Mar 30, 2026
Phys.org / Sacrifice before the cataclysm: The aromas of Pompeii's household altars

The destruction of Pompeii preserved ash residues on the household altars of its inhabitants. An international research team has scientifically investigated for the first time what was burned in Roman incense burners from ...

Mar 30, 2026
Phys.org / Animals are powerful landscape engineers shaping the Earth's surface, global study finds

Wild animals are not just inhabitants of the natural world. Many also act as natural landscape engineers, reshaping Earth's surface as they burrow, feed, and build shelters that move soil and sediment across ecosystems. From ...

Mar 30, 2026
Phys.org / Stabilized laser components could shrink quantum computers from room- to chip-scale

Scientists in the Riccio College of Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of California Santa Barbara have demonstrated key laser and ion trap components necessary to help drastically shrink ...

Mar 30, 2026
Phys.org / Recovery from sudden permafrost collapse ranges from 10 years to a century, study suggests

Some Arctic regions regain their "greenness" within a decade of a sudden permafrost collapse, while others can take a century or more to recover, researchers report in a new study. The difference is directly related to each ...

Mar 30, 2026