Phys.org news

Mosses thrive in the most extreme environments on Earth, from the peaks of the Himalayas to the sands of Death Valley, the Antarctic tundra to the lava fields of active volcanoes. Inspired by moss's resilience, researchers ...

The tectonic plates under Africa and Asia are slowly drifting apart, as the Gulf of Suez that separates these two land masses continues to widen at a rate of about 0.26–0.55 millimeters per year.

Primordial black holes (PBHs) are black holes theorized to have formed shortly after the Big Bang. Compared to black holes emerging from collapsing stars, PBHs could have very different masses, ranging from very small to ...

An international team of astronomers reports the discovery of a new dusty star-forming galaxy at high redshift. The newfound galaxy, designated AC-2168, was detected using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array ...

Quantum computers, which operate leveraging effects rooted in quantum mechanics, have the potential of tackling some computational and optimization tasks that cannot be solved by classical computers. Instead of bits (i.e., ...

A recent study by Dr. Omer Peleg and his colleagues examined the unique 7th-century BCE (Iron IIC) cremation burial assemblage discovered at Horvat Tevet. The assemblage is the richest and most diverse burial assemblage found ...

If "Batman" appears on the scene, we immediately become more altruistic: in fact, research conducted by psychologists from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, shows that the sudden appearance of something unexpected—Batman—disrupts ...

A new study has found African lions produce not one, but two distinct types of roars—a discovery set to transform wildlife monitoring and conservation efforts.

A new study by Dr. Angela Harris from The University of Manchester and Professor Richard Bardgett from Lancaster University has revealed that scientists can now detect the hidden world of microbes living in the soil—from ...

Making new friends has its challenges, even for birds. Researchers at the University of Cincinnati found that monk parakeets introduced to new birds will "test the waters" with potential friends to avoid increasingly dangerous ...

A new study challenges the idea that language stems from a single evolutionary root. Instead, it proposes that our ability to communicate evolved through the interaction of biology and culture, and involves multiple capacities, ...

When ultraviolet light hits ice—whether in Earth's polar regions or on distant planets—it triggers a cascade of chemical reactions that have puzzled scientists for decades.