Phys.org news

Phys.org / Cosmic radiation at flight altitudes rises when the sun is less active

Radiation from space is constantly entering Earth's atmosphere, but how much of it reaches the altitudes used by commercial aircraft depends not only on height and location, but also on the activity of the sun. A new study ...

21 hours ago
Phys.org / Sparse-data method estimates sea surface temperatures 40% more accurately than conventional approach

Researchers have developed a method for extrapolating sea surface temperatures from sparse data that is significantly more accurate than other commonly used computational methods and slightly more accurate than the best-performing ...

21 hours ago
Phys.org / Giant impacts may strip small icy moons of subsurface oceans

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) scientists used simulations to understand the role disruptive impacts play on icy moons with subsurface oceans in our solar system. A recent paper published in the journal Nature Astronomy ...

23 hours ago
Phys.org / Martian air could yield methane rocket fuel with fewer unwanted byproducts

As NASA prepares to send humans to Mars as early as the 2030s, University of Mississippi researchers are working on one of the key questions: How will they get back?

Sep 8, 2026
Phys.org / Fast radio bursts could help disentangle galactic feedback from dark matter effects

Intense, brief flashes of radio light called fast radio bursts (FRBs) travel across billions of light-years to reach Earth, passing through a fog of matter along the way. The bursts' origins are unclear but may originate ...

23 hours ago
Phys.org / Physics-based AI unlocks first global predictions of carbon cycling in ocean sediments

Researchers at The University of Manchester have developed a new physics-based artificial intelligence approach that, for the first time, enables accurate global-scale predictions of how dissolved organic carbon moves between ...

22 hours ago
Phys.org / A crystalline sponge reveals structures of large 'beyond rule of 5' molecules

Drug discovery has traditionally followed the "rule of 5," which identifies chemical properties generally associated with good absorption of orally administered drugs, including a molecular weight below 500 daltons (Da). ...

22 hours ago
Phys.org / Curved nanographene with five-, six- and seven-membered rings synthesized in two steps

Nanographenes can be considered molecular fragments of graphene, a 2D conductive material in which carbon atoms are connected in a honeycomb pattern. Because their electronic and photophysical properties vary depending on ...

23 hours ago
Phys.org / A photon that challenges Einstein: According to current physics, it should never have reached Earth

How did a photon survive a journey of more than 2 billion light-years when, according to known physics, it should have been absorbed long before reaching Earth? This is the question at the heart of a new study by Giorgio ...

Sep 8, 2026
Phys.org / Plants' response to rising CO₂ could put the brakes on dryland expansion

Drylands are defined as regions where rainfall is low relative to the atmosphere's ability to draw water from soil and plants. Expanding boundaries of these regions are frequent concerns in climate change considerations. ...

Sep 8, 2026
Phys.org / Beyond the sea walls: Underwater archaeology reveals the hidden scale of ancient Mediterranean ports

Trade routes and ports have shaped the history of human civilization, with the Mediterranean network among the most prominent and influential. Yet our understanding of its past is shaped largely by what remains visible on ...

Sep 8, 2026
Phys.org / A new game demonstrates quantum advantage with provable classical limits

For decades, physicists have worked to prove the strange predictions of quantum mechanics with real experiments. As quantum computers have grown more powerful, researchers have devised increasingly sophisticated ways to test ...

Sep 8, 2026