Phys.org news
Phys.org / Interacting with AI can make people act more like robots
As AI continues to develop at a rapid pace, social robots powered by AI are becoming more commonplace in customer service settings such as retail, hospitality, tourism and health care. But as these robots become smarter and ...
Phys.org / Why many birds add fresh plants to their nests remains unclear despite signs of healthier offspring
As they build their nests, many birds are known to interweave dried grasses and other materials with green plants, such as fresh leaves, grass stems, herbs and aromatic leaves. While this behavior is well documented, why ...
Phys.org / An echo of Einstein: An unexpected link between whale calls and special relativity
Standing on the sandy, windswept shores of Provincetown, Massachusetts, people may find themselves squinting at the horizon, waiting for a whale to make its grand entrance with a spectacular breach.
Phys.org / Gentle chemical glow helps scientists capture sharper images of living cells
We reach for brighter, better lighting for sharper pictures, whether we're photographing a puppy or a microscopic cell. In most cases, the light comes from outside the object being photographed. A recent study explored a ...
Phys.org / Turning a quantum battery's environmental sensitivity into an advantage
Quantum batteries, devices that store energy by exploiting quantum mechanical phenomena, could, in principle, be charged faster and more efficiently than classical ones. Despite their potential, connecting these batteries ...
Phys.org / Astronomers catch hot birth of galaxy cluster more than 11 billion light-years away
Astronomers have detected an enormous cloud of gas tens of millions of degrees hot surrounding one of the most extreme structures known in the early universe. The study offers one of the clearest views yet of a galaxy cluster ...
Phys.org / Shrews exhibit reversible size changes in their skulls and noses to get through the winter
Scientists had previously observed that some species of shrews undergo a form of biological plasticity in which their bodies, skulls, brains and some organs shrink in the winter, then regrow in the spring. Now, a new study ...
Phys.org / Oases in the desert of Arabia created 'brands' in the Bronze Age
Did brands exist before modern society, in noncapitalist economies? An international team led by Marta Luciani of the University of Vienna has made unexpected discoveries about Bronze Age trade: Yes, brands did indeed exist ...
Phys.org / Volcano myths unravel, from 'smoke' plumes to Yellowstone catastrophe claims
Volcanoes emit smoke. Beneath a volcano lies a huge chamber filled with liquid magma. A series of earthquakes means an eruption is imminent. And if a "supervolcano" like Yellowstone were to awaken, a global catastrophe would ...
Phys.org / Search in strange quark sector reveals new particle possibilities
Despite science's best efforts to classify the vast menagerie of subatomic particles discovered over the past few decades, some exotic varieties defy explanation. Now, nuclear physicists at the U.S. Department of Energy's ...
Phys.org / Beijing's isoprene-emitting trees highlight ozone risks in greener, hotter cities
Amid current heat waves, urban greening is once again moving to the center of public debate. Greener cities are generally expected to have cleaner air because trees capture airborne particles, absorb gaseous pollutants and ...
Phys.org / 3D map of cell signaling sites could help improve cancer treatment
Cell-communication molecules called kinases play a key role in the growth and spread of many cancers. But exactly which kinases are active in a particular cancer is not always clear—there are 1.8 million sites on human proteins ...
