Phys.org news

Phys.org / AI tool can screen unknown bacteria for disease-linked genes, moving closer to preventing pandemics

PathogenFinder2 is a new AI tool developed by researchers at DTU in Denmark, in collaboration with international partners, to determine whether an unfamiliar bacterium possesses genetic characteristics associated with the ...

Mar 26, 2026
Phys.org / One-of-a-kind experiment tracks plant evolution in response to climate change at 30 sites worldwide

For decades, ever since biologists recognized the potential environmental harms from climate change, they have worried that plants will not be able to evolve fast enough to adapt to a rapidly warming planet. But the pace ...

Mar 26, 2026
Phys.org / Study finds 40% of European gas stoves leak cancer-causing benzene while turned off

Benzene, a compound linked with leukemia and other blood cancers, is leaking from gas stoves in Europe, a new study finds. According to the World Health Organization, there is no safe level of exposure to benzene, a compound ...

Mar 26, 2026
Phys.org / SWOT satellite reveals hidden tsunami signals linked to near trench processes of the Kamchatka earthquake

Improving tsunami hazard assessments depends on understanding what happens at the moment an earthquake ruptures beneath the seafloor, especially near deep-ocean trenches where measurements are often scarce. When a powerful ...

Mar 26, 2026
Phys.org / Galactic warming: The 'car engine-like' effect heating our Milky Way

Our Milky Way's halo of hot gas is warmer to the "south" than the "north" because of an internal combustion engine-like effect that is compressing the gas like a piston, a new study has found. Computer simulations reveal ...

Mar 26, 2026
Phys.org / Sediment core reveals 10,800 years of precipitation history in the Sahara

The analysis of a sediment core from an oasis lake in Chad provides new insights into the history of precipitation in the Sahara. The study, led by the University of Cologne, shows that a prolonged wet phase, which lasted ...

Mar 26, 2026
Phys.org / Generative AI for polymer design passes lab tests with a new dielectric material

The words on this page mean something because they are assembled in a particular order and follow the complex rules of grammar and syntax. Creating new chemical polymers follows a similar kind of structure, with rules about ...

Mar 26, 2026
Phys.org / No delta left behind? Study finds adaptation to rising seas is possible in most deltas... for now

Around the world, in nearly every delta, people can adapt to rising sea levels using today's technological capabilities, materials, and space, according to researchers from Utrecht University and Deltares. In their new study—the ...

Mar 26, 2026
Phys.org / Wet lab research and deep machine learning identify a key driver of long-term inflammatory memory

One of the most puzzling aspects of common chronic inflammatory skin diseases such as psoriasis is how they become chronic. What allows an ongoing condition to stay dormant for months or even years, then seemingly spring ...

Mar 26, 2026
Phys.org / Malaria-transmitting mosquitoes in South America are evolving to evade insecticides

Anopheles darlingi mosquitoes—a major vector of malaria in South America—are evolving in response to insecticides, which may make them harder to kill and malaria more difficult to control, according to a new study led by ...

Mar 26, 2026
Phys.org / Ancient fish used their lungs to hear underwater, scientists reveal

How did ancient fish perceive their environment in the deep sea? An international team led by scientists from the Natural History Museum of Geneva (MHNG) and the University of Geneva (UNIGE) reveals that some coelacanths—fish ...

Mar 26, 2026
Phys.org / Limiting space junk's threat by predicting its mess in the Earth-moon neighborhood

Debris from moonbound spacecraft has left craters on the lunar surface since the U.S. Apollo missions. But the moon is not used to being surrounded by debris. With an expected resurgence in lunar missions in the coming years, ...

Mar 26, 2026