Phys.org news
Phys.org / Total solar eclipse quiets seismic noise for cities within its path
A seismic hush fell over U.S. and Canadian cities that were in the "path of totality" during the 8 April 2024 total solar eclipse, according to new research presented at the 2026 SSA Annual Meeting.
Phys.org / How resilient fungus might survive Mars and space
Scientists have long known that fungi are resilient, but a new study suggests that some strains might survive every step of the long, brutal trip to Mars. In a paper published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, researchers ...
Phys.org / Emojis trigger brain responses like real faces within 160 milliseconds, study finds
Facial expressions are a fundamental aspect of human social interaction. While emojis are an extremely popular way for people to communicate, very little is known about the psychological response that they can generate. A ...
Phys.org / Why so many mollusks sound Greek—their naming evolves at a snail's pace
"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet," said Juliet Capulet in William Shakespeare's famous play. And the same is presumably true for mollusks, albeit with different odors. When you think about the scientific names ...
Phys.org / Atlantic current shows two-decade decline across four deep-ocean monitoring sites
A paper published in the journal Science Advances is adding to the growing body of research showing that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is weakening. In this new study, instead of relying mainly on ...
Phys.org / These blazing blue explosions may be born when a compact dead star slams into a Wolf-Rayet star
Luminous fast blue optical transients (LFBOTs) are among the universe's brightest and fastest explosions but their origin is not completely understood. A new study takes a closer look at the galaxies they occur in, offering ...
Phys.org / Quantum model explains how single electrons cause damage inside silicon chips
Researchers in the UC Santa Barbara Materials Department have uncovered the elusive quantum mechanism by which energetic electrons break chemical bonds inside microelectronic devices—a detrimental process that slowly degrades ...
Phys.org / Sulfur-rich Mercury magmas behave differently than Earth's do
Mercury is a small, rocky planet about which researchers know relatively little. Two missions, taking readings as they passed over the planet, have revealed that Mercury is covered by an iron-poor and sulfur-rich crust. It ...
Phys.org / A light-controlled 'muscle' could give synthetic cells a new way to move
Engineers interested in creating artificial cells to deliver drugs to unhealthy parts of the body face a key challenge: for a cell-like system to move, change shape, or divide, it needs a way to generate force on command.
Phys.org / Wafer-scale 2D magnetic films emerge thanks to a new low-defect growth technique
In a major advance, researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have devised a method to grow high-quality 2D magnetic materials (2D-MMs) over centimeter-scale wafers. Earlier approaches in the field were limited ...
Phys.org / How tiny voids could make fusion targets more stable under powerful shockwaves
Picture two materials sandwiched together. The boundary between them may appear flat, but, in reality, it is full of tiny bumps and dents. Suddenly, the materials are hit with a shockwave. If that wave hits a bump in the ...
Phys.org / Theoretical models of supernova chemistry overhauled after X-ray data from Perseus Cluster reveal key discrepancies
The Perseus Cluster is a massive galaxy cluster located in the constellation Perseus. It is one of the largest structures in the observable universe, comprising more than a thousand galaxies—equivalent to roughly a thousand ...
