Phys.org news

Contrary to common assumptions, pigeons do not lock their eyes in place during flight. Instead, they make slow, subtle eye movements that may help them gather more information about their surroundings.

Phase transformations—in which a material changes from one crystal structure to another, thereby acquiring dramatically different properties—are ubiquitous in nature. Understanding the microscopic mechanisms of these transformations ...

The marine microalgae responsible for the most devastating effects of the South Australian harmful algal bloom (HAB) has now been shown to be the most toxic species of its kind ever studied.

One day, tiny swimming robots may travel through the human body to deliver drugs. The medication would target only areas of need—chemotherapy drugs for a tumor, for example—avoiding healthy tissue and minimizing side effects. ...

In new images from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to celebrate its fourth science anniversary, a familiar galaxy transforms into something far richer and far more complex than ever seen before. Webb's unprecedented sensitivity ...

Tuberculosis, caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), is the world's deadliest single-agent infection, responsible for 1.23 million deaths in 2024, according to the World Health Organization. The bacterium's ...

A new analysis sheds light on the most likely route for the Carthaginian general's famous crossing of the Alps. The study, led by the University of Oxford and iDiv/Friedrich Schiller University Jena, reveals that the Col ...

In the dense forests of the Ecuadorian Andes, the survival of a spider relies not only on its ability to prey on insects but also on its capacity to resist a threat coming from the skies. A new study revealed that the heavy ...

A new Southwest Research Institute-led study compared eight AI-generated lunar crater catalogs, discovering that many of their published performance metrics drop sharply when the databases are evaluated using the same scientific ...

Biologists have long puzzled over how organs develop into their final shapes, and the nearly transparent bodies of young sea stars may offer a unique window into the organ development process.

New research proving bumblebees exhibit emotion-like behaviors—previously thought to exist only in mammalian species—has implications for how scientists understand the consciousness of insects.

RMIT University researchers have tested a more effective way to capture microplastics from wastewater, using a combination of microbubbles and nanobubbles to achieve removal rates of more than 90%.