Phys.org news

Phys.org / Zebrafish rebuild damaged 'second brain' networks in nine days, offering clues for nerve repair

Why can zebrafish regenerate damaged gut nerves while humans largely cannot? Michigan State University researchers have developed a new research tool that allows them to remove gut neurons in zebrafish and watch them regenerate ...

Jul 23, 2026
Phys.org / How insect submariners survive the depths without imploding

Deep-diving insect larvae are challenging a long-held idea about why there are almost no insects in the ocean, thanks to sturdy air sacs. In Lake Malawi in East Africa, billions of lake fly larvae (Chaoborus edulis) make ...

Jul 23, 2026
Phys.org / Human impacts rewrite the rules of island biodiversity around the globe

A new study reveals that human activities have fundamentally reshaped biodiversity patterns on islands across the globe, with important implications for how scientists understand ecology, evolution and conservation.

Jul 23, 2026
Phys.org / Nanopores can activate human T cells without biochemical signals

Immune cells protect and heal the human body. In medicine, they are specifically activated through biochemical reactions to treat certain diseases. Researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon, ETH Zurich, Humboldt University ...

Jul 23, 2026
Phys.org / Yeast survives after all 300 known spliceosomal introns are removed

Spliceosomal introns are noncoding DNA sequences located between exons in many eukaryotic protein-coding genes. Most are removed post-transcriptionally by RNA splicing and do not encode proteins, but they have been implicated ...

Jul 23, 2026
Phys.org / New physics-based metric improves estimates of climate-driven cooling demand

New research led by atmospheric scientists at the University of Hawai'i (UH) at Mānoa found that the century-old yardstick used across many industries to estimate air-conditioning and refrigeration energy demand—called cooling ...

Jul 23, 2026
Phys.org / First 3D nanoscale maps of human airway epithelium reveal hidden architecture of lung defense cells

Researchers at Queen Mary University of London and University of Cambridge in collaboration with colleagues at HHMI Janelia and NIH, have created some of the most detailed three-dimensional maps ever generated of human airway ...

Jul 23, 2026
Phys.org / Environmental bacteria ferry genes that boost antibiotic resistance over 10,000-fold

A patient with a severe infection is prescribed a potent antibiotic. Hopes for improvement are high, but just after treatment is given, resistance to the drug increases thousands of times. How could this happen?

Jul 23, 2026
Phys.org / Shaking atoms to bring black-hole quantum chaos into the lab

Physicists have discovered a surprisingly simple way to reproduce one of the most fascinating models in modern physics—linked to black holes, quantum chaos and exotic electronic materials—using ultracold atoms trapped in ...

Jul 23, 2026
Phys.org / Peptide isolated from a Cerrado frog increases strawberry shelf life

Five minutes. That was the amount of time that Oso Grande strawberries remained in contact with the Ctx(Ile21)-Ha peptide—a molecule isolated from a frog native to the Brazilian Cerrado—in experiments conducted in Brazil ...

Jul 23, 2026
Phys.org / Silkworm cultivation predates the Silk Road in southern Central Asia, ancient cocoons suggest

The silkworm moth, whose caterpillars have been used in silk production since antiquity, may have been brought to southern Central Asia 4,000 years ago—nearly 2,000 years earlier than previously assumed—according to new research ...

Jul 23, 2026
Phys.org / Virtual café experiment finds Japanese participants keep greater distance than Italians

How close do we stand to other people during a social interaction? The distance we maintain between our body and that of another person—known as interpersonal distance—is a fundamental aspect of everyday life. It influences ...

Jul 23, 2026