Phys.org news

Phys.org / Subtle twist in materials prompts surprising electromagnetic behavior

Materials react differently to electric and magnetic fields, and these reactions are known as electromagnetic responses. In many solid materials, unusual electromagnetic responses have been known to only emerge when specific ...

Dec 17, 2025 in Physics
Phys.org / Active thermal metasurfaces amplify heat signatures by a factor of nine

Light undergoes a unique phenomenon called superscattering, an optical illusion where a very small object scatters far more light than expected. This happens when multiple scattering modes overlap and interact, allowing tiny ...

Dec 17, 2025 in Physics
Phys.org / Sourdough starters: How flour choice shapes microbial communities

Sourdough starter, a fermented mix of flour and water, is a staple for bakers. It's also a rich experimental testing ground for microbiologists. The bread's chewy texture and tangy taste arise from the mix of microbes that ...

Dec 17, 2025 in Biology
Phys.org / Conventional entanglement can have thousands of hidden topologies in high dimensions

Researchers from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, in collaboration with Huzhou University, discovered that the entanglement workhorse of most quantum optics laboratories can have hidden topologies, reporting ...

Dec 17, 2025 in Physics
Phys.org / Prehistoric elephant footprints documented for first time in Murcia's fossil dunes

An international team, involving researchers from the University of Seville, the Andalusian Institute of Earth Sciences in Granada and the University of Huelva, has identified the first fossilized vertebrate footprints from ...

Dec 17, 2025 in Biology
Phys.org / Perseverance Mars rover ready to roll for miles in years ahead

After nearly five years on Mars, NASA's Perseverance rover has traveled almost 25 miles (40 kilometers), and the mission team has been busy testing the rover's durability and gathering new science findings on the way to a ...

Dec 17, 2025 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / An 'origami' airless wheel to explore lunar caves

A joint research team from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and the Unmanned Exploration Laboratory (UEL) has developed a transformative wheel capable of navigating the moon's most extreme terrains, ...

Dec 17, 2025 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / One and done is not enough: Study challenges traditional evolutionary research

Every living being must cope with a changing world—summer gives way to winter, one year it floods and the next is a drought. It's obvious that populations of plants and animals must constantly face new challenges, says ...

Dec 17, 2025 in Biology
Phys.org / Shortest light pulse ever created captures ultrafast electron dynamics

Electrons determine everything: how chemical reactions unfold, how materials conduct electricity, how biological molecules transfer energy, and how quantum technologies operate. But electron dynamics happens on attosecond ...

Dec 17, 2025 in Physics
Phys.org / Rate of US coastal sea level rise doubled in the past century, study finds

A July 2025 report from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) claims that U.S. tide gauge measurements "in aggregate show no obvious acceleration in sea level rise beyond the historical average rate." However, a new study by ...

Dec 17, 2025 in Earth
Phys.org / Soil molecular diversity spikes as microbes decompose plants, researchers discover

Globally, soils contain three times as much carbon as exists in the atmosphere and all plants, combined. Which means that understanding how soil microbes recycle organic materials—sometimes sending CO2 back into the atmosphere, ...

Dec 17, 2025 in Earth
Phys.org / Q&A: Climate shifts drove carnivores' evolution from mongoose-like ancestors to diverse forms

The ancestors of our furry cats and dogs once looked similar to today's modern mongoose, a mammal with a long body and small, round ears. In fact, all members of the order Carnivora, which includes a variety of mammalian ...

Dec 17, 2025 in Biology