Phys.org news
Phys.org / 'CRISPR-Combo' system speeds regeneration of hard-to-breed perennial crops
Editing a plant's genes is only half the battle. Before a new, improved trait can ever reach a farmer's field, scientists must be able to grow a whole plant from just a few edited cells—a process that can be slow, unreliable ...
Phys.org / 'White graphene' reshaped at the atomic scale with tailor-made nanopores
A research team at the University of Vienna led by physicist Jani Kotakoski demonstrates how the shape of nanopores in hexagonal boron nitride—the electrically insulating counterpart to graphene, also known as "white graphene"—can ...
Phys.org / Under pressure: How a deep-sea protein adapts to an extreme environment
Life in the deep sea is under immense pressure—literally. Such extreme conditions can disrupt the delicate structures of proteins essential to life. Yet somehow, the proteins in deep-sea creatures remain functional. This ...
Phys.org / Sun's largest sunspots may have potential to trigger superflares
The sun is capable of great things. In massive eruptions, it repeatedly hurls particles and radiation into space. This solar bombardment can be dangerous for technical infrastructure on Earth: For example, satellites and ...
Phys.org / Scientists want to 3D print houses on Mars with the help of yeast
Mars is a terrible place to build a house. It's bitterly cold, blasted by radiation and a near vacuum. Not to mention that the building materials, even for a modest shelter, could spend months hurtling through space before ...
Phys.org / A cellular threshold can determine whether herpesvirus becomes active or lies dormant
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we wore masks and kept 2 meters (6.6 feet) apart in an effort to reduce the spread of the tiny droplets we release into the air with every breath, conversation or cough. The main goal was to ...
Phys.org / 'Fingerprints' inside the sun could reveal if it once swallowed a planet
It is thought the sun may have engulfed a super-Earth-sized planet early in its history. Now, a new study has gone a step further, suggesting that such an event may have left behind detectable clues inside the sun that could ...
Phys.org / How sex with multiple mates can help save species from extinction
Allowing females to mate with multiple males, rather than just one, could help make species more resistant to extinction, University of East Anglia research shows. A new study reveals that when females have multiple males ...
Phys.org / BepiColombo measures Mercury's particle bombardment up close
The joint BepiColombo mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is settling into orbit around Mercury after an eight-year journey. In early September, BepiColombo's two orbiters, ...
Phys.org / New pulse-train method aims to improve precision in quantum control
Quantum technologies are poised to transform fields ranging from medicine and sensing to computing and communications by manipulating the energy states of atoms and molecules. These manipulations are achieved by controlling ...
Phys.org / Injectable nanodevices could provide effective treatment for drug-resistant glioblastoma
Glioblastoma is one of the most aggressive and treatment-resistant brain cancers known to medicine, carrying a median survival of just 12–15 months, even with the best available care.
Phys.org / Water isotopes reveal early drought signals in Central Amazon rainfall
The historic droughts of 2023 and 2024 in the Amazon reduced river flows and altered the region's rainfall composition. Daily monitoring in Manaus, the capital of the Brazilian state of Amazonas, revealed these changes through ...