Phys.org news

Phys.org / Captured on camera for the first time: How tiny marsupials crawl to their mother's pouch

For the first time, scientists have recorded how baby dunnarts, tiny carnivorous marsupials from Australia, reach their mother's pouch not long after being born. While much is known about how many other marsupial babies go ...

Feb 11, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Subaru observations suggest an intrinsic gap in NGC 5466's tidal stream

Astronomers from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) and elsewhere have used the Subaru Telescope to perform deep imaging observations of a distant globular cluster known as NGC 5466. The observational campaign ...

Feb 11, 2026 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / Saturn's moon Titan could have formed in a merger of two old moons

Recent research suggests that Saturn's bright rings and its largest moon, Titan, may have both originated in collisions among its moons. While Cassini's 13-year mission expanded our understanding of Saturn, the discoveries ...

Feb 11, 2026 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / A familiar magnet gets stranger: Why cobalt's topological states could matter for spintronics

The element cobalt is considered a typical ferromagnet with no further secrets. However, an international team led by HZB researcher Dr. Jaime Sánchez-Barriga has now uncovered complex topological features in its electronic ...

Feb 11, 2026 in Physics
Phys.org / Unseen planet or brown dwarf may have hidden 'rare' fading star

One of the longest stellar dimming events ever observed was likely caused by the gigantic saucer-like rings of either an unseen brown dwarf or "super-Jupiter" blocking its host star's light, astronomers say. For decades, ...

Feb 11, 2026 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / 7,000-year-old deer antler headdress from Eilsleben illustrates contact between hunter–gatherers and early farmers

Central Germany is among the regions where, as early as the mid-6th millennium BC, farmers displaced the Mesolithic hunter–gatherers from the fertile loess soils. Soon after this migration, however, exchange began between ...

Feb 11, 2026 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / Cell division spindles self-organize like active liquid crystals—a theory that holds up

When a cell divides, it performs a feat of microscopic choreography—duplicating its DNA and depositing it into two new cells. The spindle is the machinery behind that process: It latches onto chromosomes (where DNA is stored) ...

Feb 11, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Carbon nanotube 'sandpaper' polishes semiconductor surfaces down to a few atoms

The performance and stability of smartphones and artificial intelligence (AI) services depend on how uniformly and precisely semiconductor surfaces are processed. KAIST researchers have expanded the concept of everyday "sandpaper" ...

Feb 11, 2026 in Nanotechnology
Phys.org / How often do people feel passionate love? Study finds about two lifetime loves

Falling passionately in love is one of the most talked about human experiences, celebrated in songs, movies, literature, and art across cultures. Passionate love is widely considered a hallmark of romantic relationships and ...

Feb 11, 2026 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / 7,000 years of change: How humans reshaped Caribbean coral reef food chains

Human activity has lessened the resilience of modern coral reefs by restricting the food-fueled energy flow that moves through the food chains of these critical ecosystems, reports an international team of researchers in ...

Feb 11, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Mira A ejects seven Earth masses, forming a heart-shaped cloud 300 light-years away

Just in time for Valentine's Day, space offers a heart-shaped greeting. The star Mira A, about 300 light-years from Earth, has released material into an expanding cloud of gas and dust resembling a heart. Both the amount ...

Feb 11, 2026 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / What honey bee brain chemistry tells us about human learning

A multi-institutional team of researchers led by Virginia Tech's Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC has for the first time identified specific patterns of brain chemical activity that predict how quickly individual ...

Feb 11, 2026 in Biology