Phys.org news
Phys.org / Survey raises estimate of African forest elephant numbers
DNA pulled from the dung of African forest elephants has given experts a more accurate—and higher—population estimate for the elusive animal, but the species remains critically endangered, a study showed Thursday.
Phys.org / Drones: An ally in the sky to help save elephants
They say an elephant never forgets—and it turns out they can learn to adapt to drones. Once seen as a source of alarm, drones are now proving to be surprisingly elephant-friendly and a valuable research tool. Previously, ...
Phys.org / RNA in action: Filming ribozyme self-assembly
RNA is a central biological macromolecule, now widely harnessed in medicine and nanotechnology. Like proteins, RNA function often depends on its precise three-dimensional structure. A recent study published in Nature Communications ...
Phys.org / Instagram users overestimate their social media addiction, study suggests
Instagram users may overestimate the extent to which they are addicted to the platform, according to research conducted on 1,204 U.S. adults published in Scientific Reports. The findings suggest that for most social media ...
Phys.org / Satellites spot surprising tsunami patterns: Massive Kamchatka quake challenges old models
A satellite deployed to measure ocean surface heights was up to the challenge when a massive earthquake off the Kamchatka Peninsula triggered a Pacific-wide tsunami in late July.
Phys.org / Electric discharges detected on Mars for the first time
On Mars, winds constantly stir up whirlwinds of fine dust. It was at the center of two of these dust devils that the SuperCam instrument's microphone, the first ever to operate on Mars, accidentally recorded particularly ...
Phys.org / The collapse of Maya civilization: Drought doesn't explain everything
Between 750 and 900 CE, the population of the Maya lowlands in Central America experienced a major demographic and political decline which, according to the scientific literature, coincided with repeated episodes of intense ...
Phys.org / Modern life explains why people in Chile are taller and have larger heads than their ancestors
Modern Chileans are significantly taller and have larger heads than their ancestors. That's the central finding of new research looking at how intracranial volume (ICV) has changed across thousands of years in northern Chile. ...
Phys.org / Diamond defects, now in pairs, reveal hidden fluctuations in the quantum world
In spaces smaller than a wavelength of light, electric currents jump from point to point and magnetic fields corkscrew through atomic lattices in ways that defy intuition. Scientists have only ever dreamed of observing these ...
Phys.org / Shop-bought cable helps power two quantum networks
For decades, physicists have dreamed of a quantum internet: a planetary web of ultrasecure communications and super-powered computation built not from electrical signals, but from the ghostly connections between particles ...
Phys.org / Astronomers investigate nearby pulsar with radio telescopes
Using the Large Phased Array (LPA) and the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST), astronomers from Russia and China have observed a nearby pulsar designated PSR J1951+2837. The new observations, presented ...
Phys.org / Flightless ancestor shows brain evolution in pterosaurs and birds took different paths
Flight is a rare skill in the animal world. Among vertebrates, it evolved only three times: in bats, birds, and the long-extinct pterosaurs. Pterosaurs were the pioneers, taking to the skies more than 220 million years ago, ...
