Phys.org news

Humans and dogs have been living together side by side for thousands of years, so you would think we know everything about our four-legged friends by now. But we may not understand them as well as we think we do.

Quantum spin liquids are exotic states of matter in which spins (i.e., the intrinsic angular momentum of electrons) do not settle into an ordered pattern and continue to fluctuate, even at extremely low temperatures. This ...

An international team of scientists, including the University of Wollongong (UOW), has found compelling evidence that a changing climate played a role in the extinction of the early human species Homo floresiensis, also known ...

Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), an international team of astronomers has observed an elliptical galaxy known as NGC 4486B. Results of the observational campaign, published Dec. 16 on the arXiv preprint server, ...

In a recent study published in the Cambridge Archaeological Journal, Dr. Bernardo Arriaza argues that the practice of artificial mummification among the Chinchorro people may have evolved as a response to high infant mortality ...

Altermagnets are a newly recognized class of antiferromagnets whose magnetic structure behaves very differently from what is found in conventional systems. In conventional antiferromagnets, the sublattices are linked by simple ...

Legend once had it that the huge, three-toed footprints scattered across the central highlands of Bolivia came from supernaturally strong monsters—capable of sinking their claws even into solid stone.

In the Middle Ages, a plague killed a third of Europe's population. Fleas carried the plague bacterium, Yersinia pestis, transmitting the Black Death from infected rats to millions of people.

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are among the most powerful explosions in the universe, second only to the Big Bang. The majority of these bursts are observed to flash and fade within a few seconds to minutes. But on 2 July 2025, ...

Leading X-ray space telescopes XMM-Newton and XRISM have spotted a never-seen-before blast from a supermassive black hole. In a matter of hours, the gravitational monster whipped up powerful winds, flinging material out into ...

An elusive wild cat long feared extinct in Thailand has been rediscovered three decades after the last recorded sighting, conservation authorities and an NGO said Friday.

In a study published in Latin American Antiquity, Dr. Julien Hiquet and Dr. Rémi Méreuze analyzed the remains of a unique mosaic-style patolli game board discovered in the Classic Period city of Naachtun, Guatemala.