Phys.org news
Phys.org / Topological solitons power a chip-scale frequency comb source
Caltech scientists have developed a new way to produce optical frequency combs—important tools in devices that keep time and measure distances very precisely—at the chip scale, an advance that should make it easier to ...
Phys.org / Motivations behind violent extremism uncovered in new global study
New research from the University of St Andrews has revealed that human readiness for intergroup violence is not a single or unified mindset. Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the new study, ...
Phys.org / If the Laschamps geomagnetic excursion happened today, aviation radiation exposure would be radically altered
Earth's magnetic field acts as a vital shield against radiation arriving from space, but it is not constant. A new international study has examined how a reduction of the magnetic field similar to the Laschamps excursion ...
Phys.org / Finding order in disorder: New mechanism amplifies transverse electron transport
For decades, it has been widely believed that electrons move most efficiently in materials that are clean and highly ordered. Much like water flowing more easily through a smooth pipe, conventional wisdom has held that electrical ...
Phys.org / Is nectar naturally spiked? What widespread low-level ethanol could mean for pollinators
As bees and hummingbirds flit from flower to flower, greedily sipping nectar in exchange for pollination, the animals often get another treat: alcohol. In the first broad analysis of the alcohol content of flower nectars, ...
Phys.org / How the body senses cold has been a mystery—until now
When you reach into a bucket of ice, open your front door on a snowy day, or feel the tingle of menthol toothpaste, a protein in your nerve cells called TRPM8 springs into action, opening like a tiny gate to send a "cold" ...
Phys.org / Protein modification discovery opens cancer therapy possibilities
A research team led by Purdue University's W. Andy Tao has discovered a new type of protein modification related to cellular mutation that impairs a crucial enzyme's ability to help drive energy processes. Their discovery, ...
Phys.org / Importance of sublimation for the Rocky Mountain snowpack highlighted in study
This past winter, the Rocky Mountains experienced an historic snow drought, a worrying development for the tens of millions of people in the arid American West who depend on snowmelt for water. Now, a new study in the journal ...
Phys.org / Now you see it, now you don't: Material can transition between quantum states
A team of scientists led by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory has identified a rare, switchable quantum property in a new type of nickel sulfide material. The discovery could have applications ...
Phys.org / A forest cleanup crew at risk? What hotter Amazon lowlands could mean dung beetles
Dung beetles remove feces from wild animals in forests and thus inhibit the spread of parasites. They work the dung into the soil and thus supply nutrients to plants. They fulfill this task both in European commercial forests ...
Phys.org / Past CO₂ emissions may drive far bigger future economic losses
The economic damage yet to come from carbon dioxide emitted decades ago far exceeds the harm it has wrought so far, according to a new Stanford University study. The research, published in Nature, puts a dollar value on the ...
Phys.org / Using 'imaginative' AI to survey past and future earthquake damage
Researchers have used artificial intelligence to develop a new tool for assessing earthquake damage, a leap that could ultimately help first responders in making critical rescue decisions, suggests a new study. The team's ...