Phys.org news

Phys.org / Tiny beach-dwelling crustaceans are big-time sand movers, shaping the California coast

Stand on the damp sand on a California beach and chances are you're standing on top of an active earthworks site. Sand hoppers (Megalorchestia spp.), the tiny, shrimp-like creatures commonly found eating away at kelp on the ...

Sep 20, 2026
Phys.org / 'Rusty treasure' find revealed as Europe's largest assemblage of prehistoric iron bars

Analysis of a "rusty treasure" excavated during industrial gravel extraction at Deinham, Austria, reveals it is the largest mass find of prehistoric iron bars in Europe, pointing to iron production and trade during the Iron ...

Sep 20, 2026
Phys.org / Venus ate its moon: How Earth's 'twin' could have swallowed a rocky satellite

Scientists have long speculated why Venus, with a size, mass and structure similar to Earth's, doesn't have a moon. New UC Riverside research shows that our hungry twin likely swallowed it.

Sep 20, 2026
Phys.org / Virtual cells built from 4D AI models and 'digital twins' could speed up drug discovery

Mitochondria—tiny structures that convert nutrients into energy—are often depicted as discrete kidney bean-shaped objects. But in reality, they form a dynamic, interconnected network throughout the entire cell, rapidly splitting ...

Sep 20, 2026
Phys.org / Two-color light steers electrons through graphene's transient topological state

The electronic properties of materials are typically determined by their structure under normal, undisturbed conditions, when they are in a state known as equilibrium. Intense light beams, however, can temporarily reshape ...

Sep 19, 2026
Phys.org / The monsters that weren't: Dinosaur and tusked-beast claims in San rock art unravel

For decades, an idea has grown in paleontology that, long before scientists began digging up and reconstructing dinosaur bones, the Indigenous San and Basotho in southern Africa noticed them too, incorporating them into songs, ...

Sep 19, 2026
Phys.org / Global population dataset uses buildings to reveal people's daily movement patterns

Researchers at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have released LandScan Mosaic, a next-generation global population distribution dataset that estimates where people are by modeling how ...

Sep 19, 2026
Phys.org / Loss of Y chromosome in men could be an early warning sign of cancer

A study initiated by Dr. Dan Theodorescu, a physician-scientist at the University of Arizona Cancer Center, revealed that the loss of the Y chromosome in men's body tissue could pave the way for cancer to develop. According ...

Sep 19, 2026
Phys.org / How the malaria parasite boosts its transmission potential under stress conditions

The malaria parasite is able to detect changes in its host's environment and respond by increasing the production of sexual forms capable of being transmitted to mosquitoes. A study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global ...

Sep 19, 2026
Phys.org / A molecular bridge connects two signaling pathways critical for pollen development

Cells rely on complex signaling networks in which different molecular pathways communicate with one another. Small GTPases act as molecular switches in these networks, controlling diverse cellular processes such as intracellular ...

Sep 19, 2026
Phys.org / Scientists simulate cosmic crashes to test whether icy moons gain or lose their ability to sustain life

Many of the moons orbiting Saturn, Uranus and Neptune likely conceal oceans of liquid water beneath miles of icy shell. Because life as we know it needs water, these buried oceans rank among the most promising places to search ...

Sep 19, 2026
Phys.org / Protein map reveals how red blood cells rapidly adjust to low oxygen

Scientists map the hidden protein network that helps red blood cells adapt to oxygen

Sep 19, 2026