Phys.org news

Phys.org / Unlocking the 'black box' of Grand Canyon's water supply

Every year at Grand Canyon National Park, millions of visitors from all over the world stop at one of a dozen water spigots. Most people are on a rim, seeing the canyon's majesty for the first time, when they step off the ...

Feb 5, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / A new comet was just discovered. Will it be visible in broad daylight?

A newly discovered comet has astronomers excited, with the potential to be a spectacular sight in early April. C/2026 A1 (MAPS) was spotted by a team of four amateur astronomers with a remotely operated telescope in the Atacama ...

Feb 5, 2026 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / When gigantism shapes the diet of a superpredator: The Japanese giant salamander's spectacular transition

A study conducted by researchers at the University of Liège on a large population of Japanese giant salamanders—one of the largest amphibians in the world—reveals that above a certain size, a spectacular transition occurs ...

Feb 5, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Live-cell tracking reveals dynamic interaction between protein folding helpers and newly produced proteins

Proteins are the molecular machines of cells. They are produced in protein factories called ribosomes based on their blueprint—the genetic information. Here, the basic building blocks of proteins, amino acids, are assembled ...

Feb 5, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / When lasers cross: A brighter way to measure plasma

Measuring conditions in volatile clouds of superheated gases known as plasmas is central to pursuing greater scientific understanding of how stars, nuclear detonations and fusion energy work. For decades, scientists have ...

Feb 5, 2026 in Physics
Phys.org / The Amaterasu particle: Cosmic investigation traces its origin

Cosmic rays are extremely fast, charged particles that travel through space at nearly the speed of light. The Amaterasu particle was detected in 2021 by the Telescope Array experiment in the U.S. It is the second-highest-energy ...

Feb 5, 2026 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / Tuning topological superconductors into existence by adjusting the ratio of two elements

Today's most powerful computers hit a wall when tackling certain problems, from designing new drugs to cracking encryption codes. Error-free quantum computers promise to overcome those challenges, but building them requires ...

Feb 5, 2026 in Physics
Phys.org / How superconductivity arises: New insights from moiré materials

How exactly unconventional superconductivity arises is one of the central questions of modern solid-state physics. A new study published in the journal Nature provides crucial insights into this question. For the first time, ...

Feb 5, 2026 in Physics
Phys.org / Ancient bird routes mapped via plant diversity

It's not what they intended to do or expected to find. They're not even all that interested in birds. When Andre Naranjo and his colleagues began work on a new study published in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, ...

Feb 5, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Invasive termites threatening homes in Florida are spreading farther than predicted

Florida's coastal and urban counties continue to see the spread of two invasive termite species beyond South Florida. The species are now threatening structures statewide, according to a new University of Florida study.

Feb 5, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Global map catalogs 459 rare continental mantle earthquakes since 1990

Stanford researchers have created the first-ever global map of a rare earthquake type that occurs not in Earth's crust but in our planet's mantle, the layer sandwiched between the thin crust and Earth's molten core. The new ...

Feb 5, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / Capturing gravity waves: Scientists break 'decades of gridlock' in climate modeling

Global climate models capture many of the processes that shape Earth's weather and climate. Based on physics, chemistry, fluid motion and observed data, hundreds of these models agree that more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere ...

Feb 5, 2026 in Earth