Phys.org news

Phys.org / Over 100 South American lakes could become climate-change early-warning observatories

More than 100 shallow lakes stretching over 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) along the Atlantic coast of southern Brazil and Uruguay could become one of the world's most important natural laboratories for understanding how climate ...

Aug 3, 2026
Phys.org / Scientists watch, molecule by molecule, as cell helpers rescue problem proteins

University of Wollongong (UOW) scientists have uncovered, for the first time, exactly how two of the cell's "helper" proteins operate as a rescue crew for misfolded proteins, a discovery that sheds new light on the molecular ...

Aug 3, 2026
Phys.org / Genetic analysis identifies a distinct Risso's dolphin population around British Isles

Risso's dolphins around the British Isles are part of a single population—genetically distinct from those elsewhere in the Atlantic, new research shows. Scientists studied the DNA of dolphins that stranded in England, Scotland ...

Aug 3, 2026
Phys.org / How the brain helps protect fertility from heat-induced damage

As global temperatures continue to rise, scientists are racing to understand why heat so profoundly threatens fertility across the animal kingdom. A new study from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and collaborators has ...

Aug 3, 2026
Phys.org / How simple amber lights could make nights safer for insects

Approximately 40% of insect species worldwide are thought to be in decline and under threat of extinction. Among the key causes are habitat loss, pollution and climate change. Another threat is artificial light from sources ...

Aug 2, 2026
Phys.org / Laid to rest with care: Ancient infants, perhaps twins, found in 1,200-year-old latrine

More than 1,000 years ago, two babies were tucked away in an abandoned Roman toilet channel. Yet, despite what the location suggests, they were cherished, not discarded.

Aug 2, 2026
Phys.org / Webb reveals warped structure in nearby TW Hydrae's protoplanetary disk

Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers obtained high-contrast coronagraphic images of the protoplanetary disk around the young, nearby star TW Hydrae. Results of the observational campaign, published July ...

Aug 2, 2026
Phys.org / DESI side project reveals the spectra of disintegrated exoplanets

Using spectral data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), astronomers have gained some of the clearest evidence yet that white dwarf stars are accreting debris from disintegrating exoplanets. Captured while ...

Aug 2, 2026
Phys.org / Newly unearthed mechanism that helps plants 'feel full' could help crops use fertilizer more efficiently

New York University researchers have pinpointed the molecular players responsible for plants "feeling full" once they've taken up enough nitrogen—a finding that could help scientists develop plants that absorb more nitrogen ...

Aug 2, 2026
Phys.org / New microscopy method achieves angstrom-scale localization precision with one laser

Researchers in the lab of Sam Peng, the Pfizer Inc.–Gerald Laubach Career Development Assistant Professor of Chemistry at MIT and a core institute member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, have developed a super-resolution ...

Aug 2, 2026
Phys.org / A cooperative approach to reproductive success

Fertilization is often imagined as a frantic race, with millions of sperm competing for a single prize. But new research by a team of evolutionary biologists from Syracuse University, the University of Siena in Italy and ...

Aug 2, 2026
Phys.org / Smart sensor identifies present molecules by remembering the past

Most sensors are designed to do only one thing: detect what passes through them. But what if a sensor could do more? To create a new generation of technology, researchers have looked to living systems for inspiration. If ...

Aug 2, 2026