Phys.org news
Phys.org / Strontium optical clock accurate to within 1 second over 30 billion years
Researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China have achieved a major breakthrough in optical clock technology, developing a strontium optical lattice clock with stability and uncertainty both surpassing ...
Phys.org / Five-minute test spots PFAS down to parts-per-trillion
When Sandia scientists Ryan Davis and Nathan Bays set out to find a better way to absorb and degrade PFAS in water sources, they kept running into the same issue: Detecting the chemicals in samples took too long. So, they ...
Phys.org / Unlocking the hidden pocket on a billion‑dollar drug target
For years, a protein inside our cells has quietly powered billions of dollars' worth of cancer drugs. Now a team of researchers have discovered that this workhorse protein, called cereblon, in addition to its known functions, ...
Phys.org / Ultrafast light pulses make molecules rotate on quantum materials
Researchers from Germany, Japan and India, led by scientists from DESY and the Universities of Kiel and Hamburg, have found a way to collectively make molecules on a flat surface rotate by exposing them to light using ultrafast ...
Phys.org / Scientists trace crop viruses back to the last Ice Age
Long before humans cultivated crops or sailed between continents, a group of plant viruses was already evolving among wild plants in Eurasia. According to a new international study published in Plant Disease, the ancestors ...
Phys.org / Key protein SYFO2 enables 'self-fertilization' of leguminous plants
Most plants allow fungal microorganisms to enter their root cells and provide them with carbohydrates in exchange for a better supply of nutrients and water. Only leguminous plants like peas, beans, and clover enter into ...
Phys.org / ESA analyzing fireball over Europe on 8 March 2026
At approximately 18:55 CET (17:55 UTC) on Sunday, March 8, 2026, a very bright fireball moving from the southwest to the northeast was observed by many people in Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.
Phys.org / Microbes hitchhiking on marine snow could limit how deep carbon sinks
In some parts of the deep ocean, it can look like it's snowing. This "marine snow" is the dust and detritus that organisms slough off as they die and decompose. Marine snow can fall several kilometers to the deepest parts ...
Phys.org / Pathogenic virus infects and structurally reorganizes human cells, finds new study
Orthohantaviruses, such as the Puumala virus, are widespread in Europe, causing flu-like illnesses and severe kidney damage in those infected. It is increasingly considered a zoonotic threat. Researchers from the Medical ...
Phys.org / Mapping 3D-super-enhancers with machine learning to pinpoint regulators of cell identity
Scientists usually study the molecular machinery that controls gene expression from the perspective of a linear, two-dimensional genome—even though DNA and its bound proteins function in three dimensions (3D). To better ...
Phys.org / Study finds teens spend nearly a third of the school day on smartphones: Frequent checking linked to poorer attention
A new study from researchers at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill finds that middle and high school students spend nearly one-third of the school day on their smartphones, checking them dozens of times, often for ...
Phys.org / Ocean carbon removal looks promising, but nutrient cycling could curb long-term gains
There is growing interest in the scientific community and private sector in biological approaches to marine carbon dioxide removal—strategies designed to enhance the ocean's natural ability to absorb carbon from the atmosphere. ...