Phys.org news

Phys.org / Hybrid material confirms antiferroelectricity can coexist with switchable polarization

Many of the advanced electronic components surrounding us in everyday life rely on polar materials to function. Polar materials have an uneven distribution of electric charge. This gives them a positive and a negative side ...

Jul 16, 2026
Phys.org / Tiny gene edit cuts cadmium in rice by 48% without reducing yields

Cadmium (Cd) contamination poses a serious threat to global food safety. As a toxic and carcinogenic heavy metal, cadmium can accumulate in agricultural soils through industrialization and urbanization before entering the ...

Jul 16, 2026
Phys.org / What animals do before going to war

Social animals use a suite of preemptive behaviors in anticipation of conflict, including staying quiet, monitoring their surroundings, conducting raids and bonding through play. In a review published in Trends in Ecology ...

Jul 16, 2026
Phys.org / Braided, exotic particles could build reliable, universal quantum computers

A truly useful quantum computer must be able to run any algorithm, with the same versatility an ordinary laptop offers. Physicists have now shown a new way to give a quantum computer exactly that flexibility, harnessing the ...

Jul 16, 2026
Phys.org / Driving the speed limit could slash fuel use and emissions at the cost of only 54 extra seconds a day

Speeding in your car to work, to pick up your children from school, or go from one errand to the next not only wastes money in gas and sends harmful emissions into the air, it barely saves you time, new research says.

Jul 16, 2026
Phys.org / Black Sea waters reshaped Eastern Mediterranean circulation 11,000 years ago

A new study led by the University of Barcelona reveals that freshwater exported from the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea triggered major environmental changes across the Eastern Mediterranean.

Jul 16, 2026
Phys.org / Small but mighty dung beetles take a big bite out of farm methane

Dung beetles are quietly performing a vital climate change mitigation service for Australia's livestock sector, slashing methane emissions from cattle manure by 85%, a new Southern Cross University study has found.

Jul 16, 2026
Phys.org / Antibiotic resistant gene found in Australian soil

A new study published in Nature Communications reveals a hidden source of antibiotic resistance, providing an early warning sign for researchers and public health officials.

Jul 16, 2026
Phys.org / New computational imaging method cuts X-ray dose while preserving high resolution

Researchers have shown that it's possible to take clear, high-resolution X-ray images using very little radiation. With more development, the new approach could eventually make medical X-ray diagnostics less risky and more ...

Jul 16, 2026
Phys.org / Cave-dwelling snail discovered in Greece, named after Hermes and the nymph who nurtured him

A team of researchers from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens has discovered a completely new genus and species of subterranean freshwater snail in the Peloponnese region of southern Greece. The species, Cyllena ...

Jul 16, 2026
Phys.org / Cellular transporter protein essential for nutrient absorption in pathogenic fungi may offer new treatment approaches

They are the cell's "gatekeepers": specialized proteins, known as transporters, selectively control which substances enter a cell and which do not. Researchers at the University of Münster and the National and Kapodistrian ...

Jul 16, 2026
Phys.org / Roadless rule helps protect clean drinking water for 25 million Americans, new study shows

Approximately 90% of the U.S. population relies on public water systems. A significant portion of the water supplying those systems comes from forested lands, which means policies affecting forests also affect water access.

Jul 16, 2026