Phys.org news
Phys.org / Cotton's roots traced to Yucatan Peninsula, where wild gene pool runs deepest
There's nothing like this in nature, Jonathan Wendel said as he showed a visitor in his Bessey Hall office the long white puffs billowing from a cotton boll—the protective flower capsule of the plant cultivated by humans ...
Dialog / Slaughter in the water: Can the Ramsar Convention protect African waterbirds?
The Ramsar Convention is the world's longest-standing international treaty for wetland and waterbird protection. Signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971, the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl ...
Phys.org / Santa Cruz trail study reveals how mountain lions and outdoor recreation can safely share spaces
California's iconic Santa Cruz Mountains are an outdoor recreation wonderland. With a world-class network of hiking, mountain biking and equestrian trails, they draw millions of visitors each year from neighboring Santa Cruz, ...
Phys.org / A flexible graphene-based neural interface can 'speak and listen' to the brain
Neural interfaces are devices that can detect or modulate neuronal activity when placed in contact with the brain. They are already used to treat various conditions related to the nervous system. However, current technologies ...
Phys.org / Genome-wide analysis uncovers clues to Faroese ancestral history
Genome sequencing has revealed insights into how current-day residents of the Faroe Islands can trace their ancestry to a North Atlantic founder population and how evolutionary forces have shaped their genomes since. The ...
Phys.org / Radiocarbon dating confirms 10,000 years of continuous human occupation in the Pyrenees
Researchers from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) have created an open database with 124 carbon-14-dated samples that have made it possible to construct the chronological sequence of 380 sites located in the Aigüestortes ...
Phys.org / Why one famous predator shrank two ways: Fossils reveal distinct growth strategies in early Permian Dimetrodon
The sail-backed predator Dimetrodon is one of the most iconic animals of the early Permian—long before dinosaurs dominated Earth. Most known species of this early relative of mammals reached large body sizes, sometimes up ...
Phys.org / Black holes unleash delayed radio 'burps' years after tearing apart stars
Astronomers using the U.S. National Science Foundation Very Large Array (NSF VLA) have found that when a supermassive black hole tears apart an unlucky star, the fireworks are not over when the first flash fades. Years after ...
Phys.org / A new explanation for the mystery death of Botticelli's Birth of Venus model, Simonetta Vespucci
A paper on new research into the cause of death of Simonetta Vespucci, model for the world-renowned Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli, has been published by researchers at Queen Mary University of London, Universita Campus ...
Phys.org / Rare B meson decays tighten search for hidden particles and dark matter links
A University of Melbourne researcher has placed the strongest constraints yet on certain rare decays of subatomic particles, narrowing the window for where new "hidden" particles could be lurking.
Phys.org / Cockatoos learn when touchscreen rewards 'die,' then apply rule to new contexts
For humans, death is surrounded by culture, emotion, ritual and language. But the question can be framed in a much more basic way: What would an animal have to understand in order to recognize that someone has died?
Phys.org / Intensive nickel mining has transformed microbial biodiversity of Thio Lagoon in New Caledonia
A study carried out by scientists from Ifremer, IRD, the universities of Western Brittany (UBO) and Bordeaux, CNRS, and the University of Tartu (Estonia) reveals the impact of nickel mining on the coastal ecosystems of New ...
