Phys.org news
Phys.org / Dual-atom fuel cell catalysts break single-peak rule, exposing two optima
Researchers have uncovered a new principle that could accelerate the development of cheaper and more efficient fuel cells by revealing how dual-atom catalysts behave during a key energy conversion reaction. The study, led ...
Phys.org / Extraterrestrial life may be slipping past space missions, astrobiologists warn
Suppose there are signs of extraterrestrial life and we have not yet been able to detect them. What does that mean? In Nature Astronomy, researchers discuss the consequences of these so-called false-negative results. "We ...
Phys.org / Faster gene screening method targets deadly fungus
Researchers at the University of Guelph have developed a faster way to identify potential drug targets against a dangerous fungal pathogen, allowing for the study of hundreds or thousands of genes simultaneously instead of ...
Phys.org / Astronomers de-fog exoplanet atmospheres with new cloud-detecting method
Sand clouds form every morning but clear up by nightfall on WASP-94A b, a well-studied gas giant in a constellation located nearly 700 light years away from Earth. Using data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), research ...
Phys.org / Musk's SpaceX bonus comes with unique condition: Colonize Mars
SpaceX's blockbuster IPO filing included some out-of-this-world details, including a provision that founder Elon Musk's massive bonus only kicks in if one million humans settle on Mars.
Phys.org / Central Asia's record-breaking ice loss in 2025 raises water risks for millions
A new international study led by Lander Van Tricht (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, ETH Zürich), shows that glaciers in Central Asia experienced their most extreme mass-loss year on record in 2025, designated as the International ...
Phys.org / Coupled DNA nanopores control molecular traffic inside synthetic cell microreactors
Living systems such as cells rely on membrane pores and channels to transport molecules, exchange signals, and organize biochemical reactions. These functions emerge from dynamic interactions between molecular components. ...
Phys.org / AI-designed miniproteins switch key cell receptors on and off
G protein-coupled receptors, or GPCRs, sit in the plasma membrane, the boundary that defines the inside and outside of a living cell. They communicate with nearly every physiological process in our bodies—from the ability ...
Phys.org / Flint reveals changes in human mobility in the southern Pyrenees during the Upper Paleolithic
Analysis of more than 3,000 lithic artifacts from the Cova Gran de Santa Linya site (Les Avellanes-Santa Linya, Lleida) shows that anatomically modern human communities occupying the southern Pyrenees during the Upper Paleolithic ...
Phys.org / Multiplexed method reveals protein energy landscapes across 10 domain families
Northwestern Medicine scientists have developed a new experimental method to analyze conformational fluctuations in protein domains on a uniquely large scale, which may improve data-driven modeling, biology and protein engineering, ...
Phys.org / Ice core discovery finds volcanic eruptions could cause greater global disruption than previously thought
New research from the University of St Andrews has precisely dated an eruption from Newberry Volcano and discovered that its ash spread more than 5,000 km across the globe, far further than previously thought for an eruption ...
Phys.org / Piezoelectric effect in diamond membranes challenges century-old scientific dogma
A research team in China has reported a significant piezoelectric effect in ultrathin and ultra-flexible polycrystalline diamond membranes. This pioneering discovery challenges a century-long scientific dogma that diamonds ...
