Phys.org news
Phys.org / Why subduction zones act as the Earth's 'gold kitchens'
Earth's "gold kitchen" lies deep beneath the seafloor. Island arcs, whose volcanoes form above subduction zones where one oceanic plate sinks beneath another, are often particularly rich in gold. The reasons for this have ...
Phys.org / How gossiping mushroom networks share your public urination secrets
Psst, have you heard that mushrooms can "gossip" and spread information to their neighbors? Underneath the umbrella-like shapes we see on the forest floor is a hidden underground network that allows mushrooms to communicate. ...
Phys.org / A 500-million-year-old clawed predator rewrites the origin of spiders and horseshoe crabs
It had been a long day of teaching for Rudy Lerosey-Aubril. As a reward, he returned to cleaning an intriguing Cambrian arthropod fossil he had recently received for review. At first, the specimen showed all the expected ...
Phys.org / Gemini South confirms long-suspected link between the composition of exoplanets and their host stars
Astronomers have discovered that a giant planet, WASP-189b, echoes the composition of its host star, providing the first direct evidence of a foundational concept in astrobiology. This discovery was achieved through the first-ever ...
Phys.org / Time lapse video shows trees give visual clues as they rehydrate each spring
With the arrival of spring a few weeks ago, new buds and colors on the trees started to appear. Along with that new growth, a UBC Okanagan researcher has determined that some trees in spring also provide simple, visual clues—raised ...
Phys.org / Fins, fingers and toes: A new take on repeating body parts and how they come to be
As biologists know, nature can take its sweet time explaining itself. Andrew Gillis, associate scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), has been investigating how the paired fins of fishes evolved for nearly 20 ...
Phys.org / Nature's photocopiers caught 'doodling'—scientists say it could revolutionize how DNA is written
New research has discovered that the molecular machines responsible for copying our DNA have a surprising hidden talent—an ability to create entirely new and highly sophisticated DNA sequences from scratch. The study, led ...
Phys.org / Hidden features in X-rays could radically change how we measure and understand them
Hidden features uncovered in X-ray signals are set to overturn a key scientific theory and fundamentally change how X-rays are interpreted across fields of physics, chemistry, biology and materials science, new research reveals. ...
Phys.org / Cosmic collision of galaxies mapped by Maunakea telescope
An astronomer at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo is using data from the Canada–France–Hawaiʻi Telescope (CFHT) on Maunakea to help reconstruct a slow-motion cosmic collision, one that has been unfolding for hundreds of ...
Phys.org / Molecular system can distinguish and neutralize cancer cells, paving the way for 'smart' drugs
How can cancer cells be targeted without damaging healthy tissue? This is one of the major challenges facing oncology today. Using synthetic DNA strands, a team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) has created a "smart" ...
Phys.org / New model shows how behavioral flexibility affects animal evolution
When the environment changes dramatically, animals from mollusks to crows can make big changes in their behavior that enable them to survive. For example, marmots and ground squirrels in California are spending more time ...
Phys.org / Helical liquid crystals can flip light's chirality under ultralow electric fields
The direction in which the electromagnetic field of circularly polarized light rotates can be easily reversed by applying a voltage, RIKEN researchers have demonstrated. This could enable a new generation of optical devices ...
