Phys.org news

Phys.org / Quantum spin effects may enhance one-way electrical transport in chiral magnets

Quantum fluctuations influence direction-dependent electrical transport in chiral magnets, researchers from Science Tokyo report. In chiral magnetic systems, electric current flows differently depending on its direction, ...

Jul 30, 2026
Phys.org / Likelihood of wildfires in Southern Europe has doubled since the 80s, study shows

Summer days featuring conditions that promote wildfire ignition, intensity and spread have more than doubled across large parts of the Iberian Peninsula, France, Italy and Greece since 1981, according to a study in Scientific ...

Jul 30, 2026
Phys.org / Spectroscopy system detects aerosols using light reflected from traffic signs and tree trunks

Researchers have developed and tested an infrared spectroscopy system that can rapidly detect chemical aerosols from a distance by using light reflected from common surfaces such as traffic signs, tree trunks or painted surfaces. ...

Jul 30, 2026
Phys.org / Ancient Chinese seeds spanning 5,000 years train AI to ease archaeology's specialist bottleneck

Ancient plant seeds provide important archaeological evidence for studying the evolution of human civilization. Lingnan University and Shandong University have jointly developed the world's first artificial intelligence (AI) ...

Jul 30, 2026
Phys.org / Ancient stardust grains were seeds for the earliest solids in the solar system

How did the first solids that made up planets, moons and asteroids form from the "hot soup" that characterized our solar system's earliest years? New research from Caltech analyzing pieces of a meteorite has found that, just ...

Jul 30, 2026
Dialog / Bacteria may identify a virus without recognizing its DNA

When a virus enters a cell, its top priority is to replicate its genome rapidly, creating new viruses to infect elsewhere. The host has the opposite priority: to destroy the virus, ideally before it can do any harm. Biology ...

Jul 30, 2026
Phys.org / Flash droughts can pull 'alarming' amounts of moisture from the landscape and intensify wildfires

When catastrophic wildfires capture global headlines, such as the unprecedented blazes sweeping through southern Europe this summer or the devastating 2019–20 "Black Summer" in Australia, they are almost always preceded by ...

Jul 30, 2026
Phys.org / Ancient DNA reveals Ice Age humans targeted female woolly mammoths

Analyzing ancient DNA from more than 500 mammoth bones, an international team of researchers found that Ice Age humans selectively targeted female woolly mammoths. The results of the study, published in Current Biology, show ...

Jul 30, 2026
Phys.org / Uncovering the structure of the poxvirus 'portal complex'

Poxviruses have a long history in human disease as well as medicine: The first-ever vaccine was developed to protect against smallpox, which has since been eradicated. Despite this, scientists still don't fully understand ...

Jul 30, 2026
Phys.org / Surface engineering advances mitochondrial transplantation as a potential therapeutic strategy

Inside almost every cell in our bodies are tiny structures called organelles that keep us alive and functioning. Among these are many bean-shaped mitochondria, often referred to as the cell's power plants because they generate ...

Jul 30, 2026
Phys.org / Redistributing sunlight boosts algae biomass productivity sixfold

Algae are increasingly being explored as sustainable "living factories" that can convert sunlight and carbon dioxide into renewable fuels, plastics, pharmaceuticals and other valuable products.

Jul 30, 2026
Phys.org / Tiny fossils crack a Cretaceous cold case: Ocean acidification triggered one of the ocean's most severe extinctions

A 113-million-year-old marine murder mystery may finally be solved. Using chemical clues locked inside microscopic fossils, Northwestern University scientists found evidence that ocean acidification drove one of the largest ...

Jul 30, 2026