Phys.org news

Phys.org / Coral refuges in Western Australia resist 2025 bleaching through record marine heat

The team of scientists from James Cook University, University of Western Australia and Edith Cowan University surveyed coral reefs in the West Australian Houtman Abrolhos group of islands (HAI), publishing their findings ...

May 22, 2026
Phys.org / Asexual lizards, virgin births and clones—the all‑female species of the animal kingdom

It may sound too bizarre to be true, but the Amazon molly (Poecilia formosa), a fish that inhabits rivers, lakes, and swamps in Mexico and Texas, exists over much of its range in populations that are 100% female. In 1932, ...

May 22, 2026
Phys.org / Gibraltar monkeys eat soil in junk food detox, study finds

A colony of macaques that gorge on snacks offered by tourists in the British territory of Gibraltar swallow soil to recover from their junk food binges, a study has found.

May 22, 2026
Phys.org / If you need to anesthetize a butterfly, here's the best way to do it

Anesthesia makes life-saving procedures as painless and stress-free as possible for the animals we love and care for. But not a lot is known about the effects of anesthesia on animals that we don't typically consider pets—like ...

May 22, 2026
Phys.org / Sequential antibiotic strategy can weaken dangerous pathogens

A research team from Kiel University has demonstrated which specific cellular mechanisms lead to the targeted weakening of bacterial pathogens, thereby increasing the effectiveness of antibiotic treatment. The research is ...

May 22, 2026
Phys.org / Midwest flamingos and 'hurricane toads': Wildlife's strange storm stories

Hurricanes can be a devastating force—leveling trees, erasing beaches and damaging homes. But what do they do to wildlife? The answer ranges from the good to the bad to the ugly. Hurricanes sometimes help native species, ...

May 22, 2026
Phys.org / Black holes may avoid singularities when charge and Hawking radiation combine, theoretical physicist argues

Black holes are regions in space where gravity is so strong that nothing, even light, can escape. Einstein's theory of general relativity breaks down inside black holes, either by the presence of a so-called "curvature singularity" ...

May 21, 2026
Phys.org / Quantum supremacy just ran into an unexpected rival: An ordinary laptop armed with new math

Using a conventional computer and cutting-edge mathematical tools and code, physicists at the Center for Computational Quantum Physics (CCQ) at the Simons Foundation's Flatiron Institute and collaborators at Boston University ...

May 21, 2026
Phys.org / Astronomers may have discovered the tiniest odd radio circle

Astronomers have identified a possible new member of one of astronomy's strangest classes of objects: Odd radio circles (ORCs), enormous ring-like structures visible only at radio wavelengths. The newly discovered source, ...

May 21, 2026
Phys.org / Crystals of space and time: A structural phenomenon that may collapse into tiny black holes

A team from Vienna and Frankfurt has found a formula describing a strange phenomenon: Space and time can form a kind of "crystal" that may turn into a black hole. The results are described in Physical Review Letters.

May 21, 2026
Phys.org / Molecule-in-a-crystal system could boost quantum computing via chemically engineered qubits

Within a crystal's atomic structure, tiny atomic-scale flaws will naturally occur where electrons can become trapped. These defects have emerged as one of the leading platforms for quantum information processing. Through ...

May 21, 2026
Phys.org / Ancient seas get a new T. rex as massive mosasaur emerges from Texas fossils

There's a new T. rex in the fossil record, only this one terrorized the ancient seas. New research led by scientists at the American Museum of Natural History, the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas, and Southern ...

May 21, 2026