Phys.org news

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, ...

Mar 9, 2026
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 ...

Mar 9, 2026
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 ...

Mar 9, 2026
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 ...

Mar 9, 2026
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 ...

Mar 9, 2026
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 ...

Mar 9, 2026
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 ...

Mar 9, 2026
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 ...

Mar 9, 2026
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 ...

Mar 9, 2026
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.

Mar 9, 2026
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. ...

Mar 9, 2026
Phys.org / Baltic herring fishing rules may need an update after new genetic mapping

Herring from different parts of the Baltic Sea belong to distinct populations genetically adapted to local differences in salinity and temperature. However, these populations can also mix with each other, according to a new ...

Mar 9, 2026