Phys.org news
Phys.org / The cost of memory: How organisms balance thinking and sensing
Remembering the past can help living organisms make better decisions, but memory comes at a cost. Whether it is an animal searching for food or a single cell responding to its surroundings, storing and using information requires ...
Phys.org / Oil beetle larvae smell like flowers to manipulate bees and sneak into their nests
For the first time, a research team from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology and Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, Germany, has demonstrated that insects can mimic floral scents to manipulate pollinators.
Phys.org / Gene discovery could shave years off avocado breeding
Scientists have found a genetic switch that could shave years off avocado breeding by allowing researchers to identify one of a young tree's most important traits long before it flowers.
Phys.org / Repeating distance patterns let optical systems tackle large optimization problems
From planning transportation networks to organizing massive datasets, many of society's most important challenges boil down to an optimization problem: finding the best solution among an enormous number of possibilities. ...
Phys.org / Understanding eras: Predicting audience preferences with new perspective on nostalgia
When brands spend millions every year to transport Super Bowl audiences back in time during commercials, what happens if they choose the wrong era? Knowing who prefers which part of history is valuable marketing knowledge, ...
Phys.org / Mosquitoes are rapidly activating enzymes against common insecticide, researchers warn
Traditionally, public health programs have relied on chemicals for mosquito management, which may be why combating mosquitoes is becoming more difficult. Over time, insecticides trigger biochemical and genetic variations ...
Phys.org / Ultracold neutrons don't disappear into the mirror world
For decades, a theory in physics has postulated the existence of a mirror world whose interaction with our own reality is extremely feeble. The particles in this mirror universe are also thought to be candidates for dark ...
Phys.org / New theory on how six‑tonne Stonehenge rock was transported from Scotland thousands of years ago: On a glacier
Built from stones weighing between 2 and 25 tonnes (2 to 28 tons), the structure of Stonehenge demonstrates a scale of construction hard to imagine before the invention of the wheel. The mystery deepens when you consider ...
Phys.org / DNA studies uncover a forgotten population at the top of the world
Scientists have uncovered an ancient population previously unknown to science in Ladakh, a high-altitude region in northern India. Their studies revealed individuals with a nearly perfect 50–50 mix of South Asian-related ...
Phys.org / California drought may have pushed parts of the Sacramento Valley aquifer toward permanent collapse
Around a quarter of the U.S. food supply is grown in California's Central Valley. Most of its crops, like rice, fruit trees and nut trees, are water-intensive and require extensive groundwater pumping during droughts. Over ...
Phys.org / Astronomers find strongest evidence yet that Betelgeuse has a companion
At long last, astronomers have firm evidence that Betelgeuse, one of the most famous stars in the night sky, is not alone. Using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT), a team led by French researcher ...
Phys.org / Evidence of giant rings in Venus's atmosphere uncovered in archived observations
In 2010, scientists waiting to use the William Herschel Telescope in the Canary Islands captured a brief 36 minutes of images of Venus. They were waiting for the sun to set so they could look at distant stars and dust disks ...
