Phys.org news

Phys.org / AI system TongGeometry generates and solves olympiad-level geometry problems

The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) is a prestigious competition featuring talented high school students from around the world, in which competitors solve complicated mathematical problems. Geometry problems from ...

Feb 17, 2026 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / Massive ceramics haul from a 14th-century shipwreck reveals Singapore's trading past

Singapore was a thriving trading hub hundreds of years before popular narratives depicted it as a quiet fishing village, according to a study of the cargo of a centuries-old shipwreck. Sometime during the middle of the 14th ...

Feb 17, 2026 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / Nanoengineers realize an on-chip excitonic hyperlens

When light passes through materials, it typically changes direction and bends in predictable ways. This change in direction, known as refraction, is caused by a change in the speed of light as it enters a new medium. In some ...

Feb 17, 2026 in Nanotechnology
Phys.org / Double white dwarf system detected in a nearby stellar cluster

Using the Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have discovered a compact binary system consisting of two white dwarfs in the center of a nearby globular cluster designated NGC 6397. The finding was presented in a paper ...

Feb 17, 2026 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / Honey bees navigate more precisely than previously thought

A team from the University of Freiburg led by neurobiologist and behavioral biologist Prof. Dr. Andrew Straw studied the flight behavior of honey bees. Using a drone, the researchers tracked honey bees as they flew between ...

Feb 17, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Scientists raise 300,000 surfclams offshore, proving open-ocean aquaculture can work

Rutgers researchers have made a discovery that could change the future of seafood farming in New Jersey. A study led by marine scientist Daphne Munroe has shown that Atlantic surfclams can be successfully farmed in the open ...

Feb 17, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / A bacterium's built-in compass, explained: Single-cell magnetometry confirms Earth-field alignment

Some bacterial species possess an astonishing ability: They use Earth's magnetic field to orient themselves. To better understand this mechanism, the team led by Argovia-Professor Martino Poggio from the Swiss Nanoscience ...

Feb 17, 2026 in Nanotechnology
Phys.org / Gotland hunter-gatherer graves hint at how Stone Age families organized

A woman was buried with two children, but they were not her own. In another grave, two children were placed. They were not siblings and were more distantly related, perhaps cousins. In a new study published in the Proceedings ...

Feb 17, 2026 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / Nitrogen pollution is rising: What a new global map means for forest carbon

On a cool spring morning in a northern forest, the ground feels soft underfoot. Mist hangs between the trunks, and the air smells of wet leaves and old humus; the slow alchemy that keeps a forest alive. Beneath the surface, ...

Feb 17, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / Scientists discover recent tectonic activity on the moon

Scientists have produced the first global map and analysis of small mare ridges (SMRs) on the moon, a characteristic geological feature of tectonic activity. Published in The Planetary Science Journal Dec. 24, 2025, the analysis ...

Feb 17, 2026 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / The ice on Greenland is acting strangely: Scientists believe they finally know why

Deep inside the Greenland ice sheet are giant swirling plume-like structures. These have puzzled scientists for over a decade, but UiB researchers now believe they have cracked the mystery by applying the same mathematics ...

Feb 17, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / Why Triceratops has such a big nose: The first comprehensive hypothesis on soft tissue in the dinosaur

Triceratops and similar horned dinosaurs had unusually large nasal cavities compared to most animals. Researchers, including those from the University of Tokyo, used CT scans of fossilized Triceratops skulls and compared ...

Feb 17, 2026 in Biology