Phys.org news

A new study combines paleoanthropology and diving physiology to address a fundamental question in human evolution: Why did humans evolve their exceptional aerobic endurance? Did our ancestors begin endurance running to exhaust ...

Researchers have developed a compact, handheld mid-infrared imaging spectrometer that can produce high-resolution chemical maps of a sample without using stains or labels. With further development, the handheld device might ...

Atmospheric desert dust has long swirled around the globe, but a new UCLA study presents the strongest evidence yet that global dust is mysteriously decreasing. Because atmospheric dust has a slight overall cooling effect ...

To enter cells, the COVID-19 virus fuses its surrounding membrane with the membrane of the target cell. This is where the fusion peptides of the spike protein come into play. These regions function as molecular keys that ...

A new study reveals that an important pollinator is rapidly losing genetic diversity in Britain. Moss carder bumblebees were once widespread across the UK, living in flower-rich meadows, marshes and heathlands, where they ...

Every new generation of phone display, television screen and solar panel is the result of precision optics experiments, which use lasers and other light sources to measure the optical properties of candidate materials. These ...

Artificial intelligence programs used to classify images could be trained much more cheaply using a surprisingly simple method inspired by the childhood game of 20 Questions, according to new research posted to the arXiv ...

Researchers have discovered 16 new species of fungus living unnoticed inside garden flowers and wildflowers across northern Thailand, more than quintupling the number of such fungi known to occur in the country. The findings ...

Scientists are getting a leg up on the rice stink bug, one of the most significant threats to rice, a staple food for nearly half the world's population and a major crop in Arkansas.

Frequently located on hillsides and in canyons surrounded by wildlands, wealthy neighborhoods are more likely to catch fire. However, a UC Riverside study shows they are also likely to recover faster than lower-income areas.

Some track cyclists appear to break the rules of physics, but a new study, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, has created a model explaining the illusion. The results suggest that a quick succession of well-timed ...

One of Athens' crowning jewels is the Parthenon, a classical temple on the Acropolis that overlooks the Greek capital. According to legend, many historians, textbooks and tour guides say the ancient Greek architects who designed ...