Phys.org news

Phys.org / People are marrying holograms and making friends with chatbots. But can AI bring true happiness?

Can technology really replace human relationships? As philosophy scholars who focus on human happiness and on artificial intelligence (AI), we tackle this question in a recent paper.

Jun 18, 2026
Phys.org / Long-dismissed moss gene suppresses twins and triplets, reshaping ideas of plant evolution

A moss gene previously thought to have been inactive actually plays a key role in its evolutionary success, researchers from the University of Bristol have discovered. The new paper published in Current Biology investigated ...

Jun 18, 2026
Phys.org / Beyond bread and beer, alluring yeast species could yield new mosquito traps to combat malaria

An orange-colored yeast species isolated from a Baltimore sidewalk several years ago could be the basis of eco-friendly mosquito traps that reduce malaria transmission, according to a new study from researchers at the Johns ...

Jun 18, 2026
Phys.org / Real-time microscopy reveals how semiconductor nanowires grow, and how bismuth seeds can speed their formation

Scientists from the National Graphene Institute at the University of Manchester and Sun Yat-sen University have captured the growth of semiconducting tellurium nanostructures in liquid in real time, revealing how tiny seed ...

Jun 18, 2026
Phys.org / AI-driven optical tweezers sort hundreds of particles per hour without humans

By teaching an AI to use optical tweezers, researchers from the University of Gothenburg and Chalmers University of Technology have sped up the analysis of life's smallest components. The AI platform captures particles, takes ...

Jun 18, 2026
Phys.org / Cockroach genomes are packed with DNA transferred by their endosymbiont bacterial partners

Genes aren't just transferred from parents to their offspring. Nature has found other ways to pass on genetic information, even between different species. And a new study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National ...

Jun 17, 2026
Phys.org / Why just sharing a stick while walking can significantly improve balance

Could the secret to preventing dangerous falls be surprisingly simple? For older adults, these unexpected tumbles are a leading cause of injury, affecting roughly 1 in 4 people 65 and older each year. What if the key isn't ...

Jun 17, 2026
Phys.org / AI could be trapped in a 'Carbon Valley' unless action is taken soon

AI is growing fast, and keeping up means building more data centers, manufacturing advanced chips and powering the tech behind it. All of that comes with a carbon cost. AI advocates claim that in the long run, AI will save ...

Jun 17, 2026
Phys.org / Baby fossils reveal link between human and Neanderthal development

An international study of infant remains from 50,000–75,000 years ago has provided new evidence about the developmental trajectory of our evolutionary "cousins," Neanderthals.

Jun 17, 2026
Phys.org / Quantum Hall effect gains a new twist in graphene moiré systems

Physicists have long been drawn to the nonlinear Hall effect: a subtle variant of the classical Hall effect, in which an electric voltage appears perpendicular to a current flowing through a material. Unlike its classical ...

Jun 17, 2026
Phys.org / Ancient amber fossil captures mites marching in line

Many animals exhibit fascinating collective behaviors, which allow them to move, search for food, reproduce and avoid threats more effectively than they would alone. One of these behaviors is queuing migration, which essentially ...

Jun 17, 2026
Phys.org / Goats listen to human voices to find hidden food treats

Goats appear to have a rare ability not shared by many in the animal kingdom, and that is being able to follow the direction of a human voice to locate hidden objects. While dogs have been shown to do this, even our closest ...

Jun 17, 2026