Phys.org news
Phys.org / 100-million-year-old molecular 'bypasses' may have helped grasses dominate landscapes and agriculture
100 million years ago, long before human intervention, ancestors of grasses, including wheat, rice and maize, developed "bypasses" in chemical pathways used to create two critical compounds: lignin and starch. These more ...
Phys.org / How well do past extinctions predict extinction risk today?
In the last few centuries, mammals and other animals have been going extinct at least 100 times faster than they did before humans arrived on the scene. So who will be next? Which species are most likely to survive, and which ...
Phys.org / A new kind of polymer with two faces and a twist control electron spin
Researchers from the University of Osaka have developed a new class of chiral semiconducting polymers that can generate highly spin-polarized electrical currents. The team's unique molecular design allows the polymers to ...
Phys.org / Oxygen vacancies unlock fast lithium-ion transport in battery material
Lithium titanate (LTO, Li4Ti5O12) is a well-established battery material that in its pristine state is a poor conductor of lithium ions. It develops high ionic conductivity only during charging, when additional lithium ions ...
Phys.org / Honeybees struggle to gather nectar in August, direct measurements reveal
Letting late-summer weeds grow could help honeybees when they find it most challenging to gather nectar, according to new research published in the journal, Functional Ecology.
Phys.org / Illuminating the limits of the international unit of light, the candela
The candela, the international unit of light in use for almost a century, forms the basis of photometry. According to a new study, measurements derived from it systematically misjudge the brightness of colored light sources ...
Phys.org / Blocc chemistry could automate molecular discovery and democratize access to new materials
A paper published in the journal Science lays out a roadmap for broadening access to the process of discovering molecular tools that can benefit society, including medicines, materials and a wide range of everyday consumer ...
Phys.org / How sex sheds evolutionary baggage
Why is there sex—or, more precisely, sexual reproduction? If you're an evolutionary biologist, the answer isn't obvious. Sexual reproduction is biologically costly, requiring not only competition for mates but also the creation ...
Phys.org / Tobacco companies helped flood the federal comment process that stalled menthol cigarette ban
When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed banning menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars in 2022, nearly 250,000 public comments flooded in—a record response that led the Biden administration to delay a final ...
Phys.org / Rescue mission is called off for NASA's aging Swift space telescope
The mission to save NASA's sinking Swift Observatory was called off Wednesday, dooming the telescope to a fiery reentry later this year.
Phys.org / DNA's physical properties may shape which mutations evolution preserves
Nearly every cell in the human body contains essentially the same genetic information, yet different cells activate different genes. For regulatory proteins to reach these genes, DNA must be accessible. This accessibility ...
Phys.org / Snake bones with flint cuts show Mount Carmel settlers ate reptiles 15,000 years ago
Around 15,000 years ago, the way of life of human communities in the southern Levant underwent a fundamental change. Groups of hunter-gatherers, who until then had been nomadic, reduced their mobility and established small, ...
