Phys.org news

Phys.org / This rare British butterfly looks familiar, but its genome tells a very different story

The British swallowtail butterfly (Papilio machaon britannicus) is the U.K.'s only native swallowtail and its largest native butterfly. It's instantly recognizable by its striking light yellow-and-black wings, with twin tail-like ...

Jul 8, 2026
Phys.org / Slowing Atlantic current could fuel stronger California atmospheric rivers by century's end

A slowing Atlantic Ocean current is projected to intensify powerful storms in California while reducing snowfall over Greenland, according to a recent University of California, Riverside study. The Atlantic Meridional Overturning ...

Jul 8, 2026
Phys.org / New CRISPR method makes it possible to control protein production in cells

The speed at which a cell produces proteins is a decisive factor in determining whether it divides, specializes or retains its stem cell properties. A team of researchers led by Professor Stefan H. Stricker, professor of ...

Jul 8, 2026
Phys.org / Scientists discover rare 'super-Jupiter' planet with 180-day long orbit

Scientists from Queen's University Belfast have led an international team in the discovery of a rare new planet, which is larger than Jupiter and orbits a distant star every 180 days. Named NGTS-38 b, it is an exoplanet—a ...

Jul 8, 2026
Phys.org / Scientists find gas emissions from rocks may have contributed to ancient climate swings, mass extinctions

An interdisciplinary team from Florida State University's Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science has uncovered new evidence about processes that may have contributed to ancient mass-extinction events, some of ...

Jul 8, 2026
Phys.org / From the lab to the moon: Lunar cement alternative survives 6 months on ISS and returned stronger in some tests

Building material samples from the University of Delaware spent six months mounted outside the International Space Station, where the harsh conditions of low Earth orbit tested their limits.

Jul 8, 2026
Phys.org / Why some glasses break suddenly while others deform smoothly

If a liquid is cooled slowly to its freezing point, it becomes a crystal in which the constituent particles are arranged in an ordered pattern. In contrast, when the liquid is cooled very quickly, the particles are unable ...

Jul 8, 2026
Phys.org / New probe could help trace Alzheimer's-linked lipids one cell at a time

Cells sitting side by side in the same tissues are not identical. Each cell carries its own subtly different chemical signature—a hidden individuality that can reveal how diseases take root and spread. Now, researchers from ...

Jul 8, 2026
Phys.org / X-pinch plasma achieves radial proton acceleration for crisp imaging

Plasma pinches: From pursuits of nuclear fusion to an attractive point source of accelerated protons for proton radiography.

Jul 8, 2026
Phys.org / New deep-sea measurements show how the ocean floor forms

The first-known direct observations of a seafloor spreading event at a mid-ocean ridge in the Indian Ocean are presented in Nature. The observations offer insight into how new oceanic crust is created.

Jul 8, 2026
Phys.org / Primordial mini-moons may explain meteorite composition

A new Southwest Research Institute-led study proposes a solution to a longstanding puzzle in planetary science: What caused the concentration, assembly, and preservation of millimeter-sized, spherical mineral grains within ...

Jul 8, 2026
Phys.org / Caddisfly silk gene evolves quickly without losing adhesive power

Caddisflies are among nature's master underwater builders, capable of spinning sticky silk that they use to form protective cases and webs in freshwater streams. Scientists like the University of Utah's Russell Stewart have ...

Jul 8, 2026