Phys.org news

Phys.org / Cats' purrs reveal who's who better than their meows

A new study by researchers from the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin and the University of Naples Federico II shows a domestic cat's purr reveals far more about its individual identity than its meow. While meows are highly flexible ...

Dec 10, 2025 in Biology
Phys.org / Analysis of Diplodocus dinosaur scales reveals possible speckled color patterning

Scientists have long been trying to reconstruct the appearance of dinosaurs. The tidbits they are able to piece together from fossils and other analysis are displayed in museums, educational materials, and media, lending ...

Dec 10, 2025 in Biology
Phys.org / Searchable Bronze Age site database could help answer key questions about ancient Anatolia

To boost our understanding of a little-known civilization that thrived more than 3,000 years ago, scientists have built an easy-to-use digital catalog of 483 Bronze Age sites in western Anatolia.

Dec 10, 2025 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / Ancient Roman officers may have kept pet monkeys to highlight their status

There were many ways in which the elites of ancient Roman society flaunted their wealth. They built vast villas, sponsored extravagant games and imported luxury goods. And military top brass, at least those stationed at an ...

Dec 10, 2025 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / Massive non-cool-core galaxy cluster explored with Chandra

Astronomers have employed NASA's Chandra spacecraft to perform X-ray observations of a massive galaxy cluster known as SPT-CL J0217-5014. Results of the observational campaign, published December 4 on the arXiv preprint server, ...

Dec 10, 2025 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / New circoviruses discovered in pilot whales and orcas from the North Atlantic 

A collaborative team of researchers has identified two previously unknown circoviruses in short-finned pilot whales and orcas from the Caribbean region of the North Atlantic Ocean. The findings represent the first detection ...

Dec 10, 2025 in Biology
Phys.org / Mitochondrial enzyme's atomic-level structure reveals how it processes RNA

Researchers at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Karolinska Institutet have captured the first detailed molecular snapshots of human polynucleotide phosphorylase (hPNPase) in action, revealing how this essential ...

Dec 10, 2025 in Biology
Phys.org / Roman urbanism was bad for health, new study confirms

Analysis of skeletal remains from England before and during Roman occupation confirms theories that the population's health declined under Roman occupation, but only in the urban centers, suggesting pre-Roman traditions continued ...

Dec 10, 2025 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / Study links vanishing of specific heats at absolute zero with principle of entropy increase

In a new publication, Professor José-María Martín-Olalla, from the Department of Condensed Matter Physics at the University of Seville, has described the direct link between the vanishing of specific heats at absolute ...

Dec 10, 2025 in Physics
Phys.org / Earliest botanical art hints at prehistoric mathematical thinking

A new study published in the Journal of World Prehistory reveals that some of humanity's earliest artistic representations of botanical figures were far more than decorative; they were mathematical.

Dec 10, 2025 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / A pioneering study on the feasibility of asteroid mining

Much remains to be known about the chemical composition of small asteroids. Their potential to harbor valuable metals, materials from the early solar system, and the possibility of obtaining a geochemical record of their ...

Dec 10, 2025 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / The evolutionary mysteries of a rare parasitic plant: Shrinking plastids and strange reproductive strategies

At the base of mossy trees, deep in the mountains of Taiwan and mainland Japan or nestled in the subtropical forests of Okinawa, grows what most might mistake for a mushroom—but it is actually a very unique plant with some ...

Dec 10, 2025 in Biology