Phys.org news
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 / 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 / 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 ...
Phys.org / Tabby's star may be orbited by a planetary-mass companion
By analyzing data from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and conducting new radial velocity measurements, U.K. and French astronomers have found evidence that the mysterious Tabby's star may be orbited by ...
Phys.org / Moon's thick crust could amplify elusive gravitational-wave signals
Gravitational waves are tiny ripples in the fabric of spacetime that are produced when massive objects in the cosmos accelerate or collide. By detecting these waves, astrophysicists can study various cosmic events, including ...
Phys.org / Deformed head shapes in fossilized humans show their infants were probably just as helpless as modern human babies
Archaic human parents had to look after helpless infants like modern-day parents do, according to new research. Human babies are born less developed than those of other great apes and are therefore unable to move as freely. ...
Phys.org / New Ribo-Tweezer tool can pluck individual protein pieces out of a working ribosome
Every human cell has millions of ribosomes that make proteins. For decades, biologists thought of ribosomes as tiny, uniform machines. But now a Stanford Medicine team is showing that ribosomes are much more interesting and ...
Phys.org / 'Bag of Bones' preserves rare three-tier prehistoric meal in Outback Queensland
An ancient marine 'crime scene' discovered near Richmond captures the world first evidence of a flying reptile being eaten by a sea monster… before that predator became dinner itself.
Phys.org / Scientists' biographies may demotivate, not inspire, children to study science
Currently popular biographies of famous scientists may demotivate—rather than inspire—children's desire to study or pursue careers in science, according to researchers who studied the messages in 422 bestselling children's ...
Phys.org / Mesolithic hunter-gatherers on Malta relied on repeated sea crossings, study suggests
The existence of humans on Malta, a tiny Mediterranean island, during the Mesolithic period is puzzling. Archaeological evidence indicates that foragers occupied the Maltese islands between 8,500 and 7,500 years ago, and ...
