Phys.org news

Phys.org / Why supermarkets may sell more by putting fresh meals in front

Why did the rotisserie chicken cross the aisle—and end up in your shopping cart? Maybe you grabbed the container that was closest to you, or maybe you examined all of the chickens, checking dates and timestamps to see when ...

Feb 8, 2026 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / Ancient Yangtze floods linked to Shijiahe decline, new 1,000-year rainfall record shows

A new study involving researchers from Oxford's Department of Earth Sciences has finally solved the mystery of what caused the collapse of an Ancient Chinese civilization—finding that widespread flooding was to blame. The ...

Feb 8, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / Skull fragments expand the frontiers of Iberian severed head ritual

The study of skull fragments from the Olèrdola (Olèrdola, Barcelona) and Molí d'Espígol (Tornabous, Lleida) sites has provided new evidence that would allow the ritual of "severed heads" from the northeast of the Iberian ...

Feb 8, 2026 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / Water molecules actively reshape chiral catalyst structure, research shows

Researchers have analyzed the stepwise hydration of prolinol, a molecule widely used as a catalyst and as a building block in chemical synthesis. The study shows that just a few water molecules can completely change the preferred ...

Feb 8, 2026 in Chemistry
Phys.org / Chemistry isn't always essential for order: How simple geometry gives rise to complex materials

Utrecht University researchers Rodolfo Subert and Marjolein Dijkstra show in their latest study that complex three-dimensional networks in materials can emerge from nothing more than particle shape. In Nature Communications ...

Feb 8, 2026 in Chemistry
Phys.org / Webb unveils nature of distant ultraviolet-luminous galaxy CEERS2-588

Astronomers from the University of Tokyo in Japan and elsewhere have employed the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to observe a distant ultraviolet-luminous galaxy known as CEERS2-588. Results of the observational campaign, ...

Feb 7, 2026 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / Pulsar timing hints at a nearby dark matter 'sub-halo'

A group of US astronomers may have uncovered the first evidence for a dark matter sub-halo lurking just beyond our stellar neighborhood. Reporting their findings in Physical Review Letters, a team led by Sukanya Chakrabarti ...

Feb 7, 2026 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / Lahontan Basin cave burials 'neither rare nor uncommon,' says new study

In a study published in American Antiquity, Dr. David Madsen and his colleagues address the proposition that the lower Lahontan drainage basin (LLDB), located in the Intermountain West, is "unique" for the use of caves and ...

Feb 7, 2026 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / What to watch as fungal infections rise: Species that can quickly 'translate' fat-use proteins

A new study by researchers at Kiel University and MPI-EvolBio describes how more efficient protein production drives the adaptation of fungi to the human body, potentially turning previously harmless species into emerging ...

Feb 7, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Light-based Ising computer runs at room temperature and stays stable for hours

A team of researchers at Queen's University has developed a powerful new kind of computing machine that uses light to take on complex problems such as protein folding (for drug discovery) and number partitioning (for cryptography). ...

Feb 7, 2026 in Physics
Phys.org / How eggs get built: Cells use actin and microtubules as a coordinated scaffold

A Northwestern Medicine study has shed light on one of the most intricate construction projects in biology: how cells build and coordinate the internal scaffolding needed to create a healthy egg. The research, published in ...

Feb 7, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / New type of magnetism discovered in 2D materials

In collaboration with international partners, researchers at the University of Stuttgart have experimentally demonstrated a previously unknown form of magnetism in atomically thin material layers. The discovery is highly ...

Feb 7, 2026 in Nanotechnology