Phys.org news

If you have ever stood close to an ancient Egyptian mummy, you may remember a distinctive, lingering odor. For a long time, it was assumed that this was simply due to age and decay. However, scientists have discovered that ...

The evolution of the human species is marked by an increase in brain size. Now new research suggests that could be partly dependent on increases in prenatal estrogen—revealed by looking at the length of a person's fingers. ...

An international collaboration of astrophysicists that includes researchers from Yale has created and tested a detection system that uses gravitational waves to map out the locations of merging black holes—known as supermassive ...

In the Pacific Northwest, big faults like the Cascadian subduction zone located offshore, get a lot of attention. But big faults aren't the only ones that pose significant hazards, and a new study investigates the dynamics ...

The Pauli exclusion principle is a cornerstone of the Standard Model of particle physics and is essential for the structure and stability of matter. Now an international collaboration of physicists has carried out one of ...

Earth's magnetic field is generated by the churn of its liquid nickel-iron outer core, but it is not a constant feature. Every so often, the magnetic north and south poles swap places in what are called geomagnetic reversals, ...

Every year at Grand Canyon National Park, millions of visitors from all over the world stop at one of a dozen water spigots. Most people are on a rim, seeing the canyon's majesty for the first time, when they step off the ...

A newly discovered comet has astronomers excited, with the potential to be a spectacular sight in early April. C/2026 A1 (MAPS) was spotted by a team of four amateur astronomers with a remotely operated telescope in the Atacama ...

A new U of T Scarborough study finds that being mentally sharp can translate into a productivity boost equivalent to about 40 extra minutes of work each day.

A study conducted by researchers at the University of Liège on a large population of Japanese giant salamanders—one of the largest amphibians in the world—reveals that above a certain size, a spectacular transition occurs ...

Proteins are the molecular machines of cells. They are produced in protein factories called ribosomes based on their blueprint—the genetic information. Here, the basic building blocks of proteins, amino acids, are assembled ...

Measuring conditions in volatile clouds of superheated gases known as plasmas is central to pursuing greater scientific understanding of how stars, nuclear detonations and fusion energy work. For decades, scientists have ...