Phys.org news

Phys.org / Mount Etna breaks volcano rules, tapping 80-kilometer-deep magma in a rare fourth category of eruption

Located in Sicily, Mount Etna is Europe's most active volcano. Yet its origin remains largely enigmatic, as no existing geological model fully explains how it formed. In a new study, scientists from the University of Lausanne ...

Apr 13, 2026
Phys.org / The sun is tearing an asteroid to pieces, and Earth is now flying through the fallout

Across Earth, every night, thousands of automated stargazers are waiting to take pictures of shooting stars. I am one of the scientists who study these meteors.

Apr 13, 2026
Phys.org / Low-cost robotic chemistry system can be built and deployed in any lab

In a paper just out in Nature Synthesis, researchers led by Prof. Timothy Noël of the University of Amsterdam's Van 't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences presented a breakthrough in autonomous laboratory systems for synthesis ...

Apr 13, 2026
Phys.org / Compact CRISPR system unlocks targeted in-body gene editing, with up to 90% efficiency

A research team has discovered an enhanced CRISPR gene-editing system that could enable targeted delivery inside the human body—a key step toward broader clinical use. Researchers identified a naturally occurring enzyme, ...

Apr 13, 2026
Phys.org / Lost seal of Edward the Confessor resurfaces after going missing for 40 years

An 11th-century Anglo-Saxon seal belonging to Edward the Confessor has been rediscovered more than 40 years after being declared lost. The wax impression of the "Saint-Denis seal" disappeared without official explanation ...

Apr 13, 2026
Phys.org / Scottish Neolithic tombs were used to trace kinship—including descent, DNA analysis reveals

Archaeologists have investigated genetic relationships between individuals buried in Neolithic chambered tombs in northern Scotland, suggesting monumental tombs may have been physical embodiments of prehistoric kinship, tracing ...

Apr 13, 2026
Phys.org / Date palm waste yields bio-oil, unlocking energy use for 150 million trees

Researchers have developed a method to extract bio-oil from the surface fiber waste of date palm trees, an abundant, low-cost, and sustainable biomass resource generated by an estimated 150 million date palm trees worldwide. ...

Apr 13, 2026
Phys.org / Ultrasound creates light inside the body, opening a new path to targeted treatments

Light has an increasing number of applications in biology and medicine—it can be used to stimulate cell growth, manipulate neural signals, and treat some cancers—but it doesn't easily pass through tissue. Most methods to ...

Apr 13, 2026
Dialog / Why do some stars in the galactic center survive while others are destroyed?

The center of our galaxy is an extreme place. Surrounding the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*, stars are packed densely into a region where gravity, radiation, and dark matter all interact in complex ways. It is a ...

Apr 13, 2026
Phys.org / Satellites reveal city methane emissions are rising faster than official estimates

Urban emissions of methane—a potent greenhouse gas—are rising faster than bottom-up accounting estimates anticipated, according to a study led by University of Michigan Engineering. The discrepancy was found with satellite ...

Apr 13, 2026
Phys.org / New 'molecular handle' uses common amino acid to build complex medicines

In a new study published in Nature Communications, a team of chemists has unveiled a radically simple way to attach a highly sought-after "molecular handle," known as the dichloromethyl group, onto complex compounds. Instead ...

Apr 13, 2026
Phys.org / Museum fossil reveals that extinct giant echidnas once roamed Australia

Paleontologists have used an Ice Age fossil found 120 years ago in an underground cave to reveal that extinct giant echidnas roamed southeastern Australia during the Pleistocene Epoch, filling a major knowledge gap in the ...

Apr 13, 2026