Phys.org news
Phys.org / A sharper picture of a pandemic: Uncovering the complex history of the plague after the Black Death
The Black Death is often remembered as a single catastrophic event that swept across Europe between 1347 and 1353, killing millions. Yet the disease did not disappear after that first devastating outbreak. For more than four ...
Phys.org / We may soon be able to read long-lost ancient scrolls damaged by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius
X-ray technology and artificial intelligence—along with the discovery of lead in the ink of fragments from a collection of ancient Roman scrolls—could soon help scientists read long-lost texts buried by the eruption of Mount ...
Phys.org / Long-term oyster reef restoration shows clear success in murky waters
Large-scale oyster reef restoration in the Chesapeake Bay is successfully creating three-dimensional habitats that support larger, more diverse fish communities, according to new research from scientists at the University ...
Phys.org / Henry VIII's dissolution enforcer stashed Catholic manuscript—its lost pages have just been rediscovered
Sir John Gage, a key figure in Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries, saved a dangerous Catholic book from likely destruction, a new study suggests. The identification of six lost pages of a medieval bestseller—illicitly ...
Phys.org / Bone strength study reveals new clues about human evolution
Bipedalism, or walking on two legs, is one of the key features that distinguishes humans from other apes. But when and why our ancestors transitioned from a life often spent in trees to a life spent almost exclusively on ...
Phys.org / New method reveals how virus particles can build themselves, molecule by molecule
Oxford University researchers have captured the step-by-step assembly of individual virus-like particles, revealing how simple molecular interactions can reliably build these complex biological structures. The results were ...
Phys.org / Hot electrons reveal electronic collisions may raise resistance in twisted graphene
When a material heats up, its electrical resistance often rises. The harder question is what, exactly, is getting in the way. The electrons carrying the current may be scattered by vibrations of the material's atomic lattice, ...
Phys.org / Building big with DNA gets a software upgrade
Forty-four years ago, Nadrian Seeman published his groundbreaking ideas on using DNA as a structural material, expanding DNA's significance far beyond its role as a carrier of genetic information. Since then, the steadily ...
Phys.org / Mobile trap transports 92 antiprotons by road and stores them for over a month in world first
In March 2026, scientists succeeded in transporting antiprotons by road for the first time in a purpose-built trap loaded on a truck. The BASE collaboration, which realized this experiment at the European Organization for ...
Phys.org / Snow, monsoons and oceans shift Earth's center of mass each year, satellite tracking shows
Seasonal changes redistribute enough water around Earth to shift the planet's center of mass back and forth by fractions of an inch relative to its geometric center. NASA scientists are on the case, tracking the oscillations ...
Phys.org / Global database reveals hidden diversity and potential of deep-sea microbes
The ocean's aphotic zone—the dark, high-pressure region below the surface, where sunlight cannot reach—is home to a vast wealth of microbial life. Yet scientists know relatively little about the genetic makeup, growth and ...
Phys.org / Thinking outside the binding site: Drug molecule makes a square peg fit a round hole
A square peg doesn't fit a round hole. But what if the peg could change the shape of the hole? A newly developed drug molecule can do something surprisingly similar when binding to its target protein, according to a University ...