Phys.org news
Phys.org / Melting diamond could unlock triple fusion gain and the secrets of ice giant planets
Diamond is more than a dazzling gem—the extremely hard form of carbon makes up the pellet that encases fuel for inertial confinement fusion, and scientists believe it rains down deep inside ice giant planets like Neptune ...
Phys.org / Rapid warming may tip Atlantic circulation at 2°C, while slower warming may avert collapse
For several years, climate scientists have shown that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) could come to a halt if the world warms too much. New research from Utrecht University shows that this picture is ...
Phys.org / Climate change decided who ruled as top predator 35 million years ago
An international team of researchers from Belgium, France, Switzerland, Spain and the U.S. has reconstructed the evolution of body mass in carnivorous mammals during the Paleogene—a crucial window in the diversification of ...
Phys.org / Magnetic mystery in thorium clusters resolved by new study
Scientists from the University of Manchester's Department of Chemistry, Centre for Radiochemistry Research and Photon Science Institute, led by Professor Steve Liddle, have uncovered why a rare class of metal clusters appears ...
Phys.org / Thinking fast and slow: Wild fish reveal how cognition evolved in two closely related species
Why do two individuals faced with the same information sometimes make completely different decisions? It is a question made famous by Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman, whose book "Thinking, Fast and Slow" explored the contrast ...
Phys.org / What a dry meteorite tells us about water on Mars
Detecting water where none remains today: Neutron and X-ray tomography make it possible. In an international study conducted with the participation of the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, researchers have brought to light macroscopic ...
Phys.org / Beyond the algorithm, online negativity takes on a life of its own as users try to stand out
It doesn't take a scientist to figure out that social media can trend toward the negative. But it might take one to figure out why. In a new paper in PNAS, professor of psychology Joshua Conrad Jackson and colleagues show ...
Phys.org / Nature's original bioplastic may have fed animals for hundreds of millions of years
Long before humans discovered biodegradable plastics, microorganisms had already invented their own. Many bacteria and archaea produce natural bioplastics called polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), storing them inside their cells ...
Phys.org / One in four cocoa farm audits contain data manipulated to meet sustainability targets, researchers find
ETH researchers have used a sustainability program for cocoa cultivation in Côte d'Ivoire to demonstrate that, in one in four cases, data was manipulated to meet the program's requirements. If the auditor were aware of the ...
Phys.org / Soft-bodied sea slug reconfigures anatomy to simplify feeding control
Made entirely of muscle, with no rigid skeleton, muscular hydrostats like octopus arms, elephant trunks and human tongues can move in ways traditional mechanical systems cannot. Between crawling across the seafloor, picking ...
Phys.org / Satellite data reveal tropical forests respond differently to climate across continents
Satellite images can be used to estimate how much carbon forests store as aboveground biomass (AGB) and how biomass varies in different forests. In a study published in the journal Nature, a team of researchers affiliated ...
Phys.org / Fungal age remains elusive as underground networks continually grow, split and recycle
Some of Earth's oldest living organisms may be right beneath our feet: not ancient trees or coral reefs but fungi. Yet despite their ubiquity and importance, scientists still don't know how long most fungi can live—or even ...
