Phys.org news
Phys.org / We think norms spread by imitation, but one deceptively simple rule tells a more human story
A paper appearing in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences offers a strikingly simple answer to a longstanding question: How do people learn and settle on shared social conventions, from everyday habits to workplace ...
Phys.org / 3I/ATLAS contains 30 times more semi-heavy water than comets in our solar system
New observations of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS include the first measurement of the abundance of deuterated water relative to ordinary water in an interstellar object. Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter ...
Phys.org / What if humans could regrow tissue? New study moves science closer
For centuries, the inability to regrow lost body parts has been considered a defining limitation of humans and other mammals. While animals like salamanders can regenerate entire limbs, humans are left with scar tissue. But ...
Phys.org / Milky Way's 'little cousins' may hold clues about infant universe
Ultra-faint dwarf galaxies—tiny satellite galaxies orbiting the Milky Way—have long been seen as cosmic fossils. Now, a new study published today in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society uses an unprecedented ...
Phys.org / Archaeological digs in Amazon provide clues about Indigenous inhabitants before colonization
Paving roads in the Amazon rainforest has long brought deforestation that threatens the people who live there. The same roadwork, however, has also allowed archaeologists to get glimpses of the region's past long before Europeans ...
Phys.org / Moon dust could stop being a nuisance and start reshaping how humans may build beyond Earth
As space agencies and private companies look toward a sustained human presence on the moon, a fundamental challenge centers on how to build strong, durable infrastructure without hauling every material from Earth. New research ...
Phys.org / Life's earliest proteins may have folded into complex shapes with far fewer amino acids
How did the earliest life on Earth build complex biological machinery with so few tools? A new study explores how the simplest building blocks of proteins—once limited to just half of today's amino acids—could still form ...
Phys.org / How a sinking lithospheric root raised Mongolia's Hangay Mountains
Central Mongolia's Hangay Mountains rise more than four kilometers above sea level, forming a dramatic dome that shapes the region's climate. But for decades, geologists have been puzzled: What caused this massive mountain ...
Phys.org / Riding the quantum wave: Quasiparticles reveal a magneto-optical transport phenomenon
Excitons are being explored in materials science and information technology as a means of storing light. These luminous quasiparticles move through individual layers of quantum materials and can absorb and emit light with ...
Phys.org / AI model designs new antibiotic for staph infections after exploring 46 billion compounds
Researchers at McMaster University have developed a new generative artificial intelligence (AI) model capable of drastically speeding up drug discovery—and, in early tests, it has already designed a brand-new antibiotic. ...
Phys.org / Brazil unearths a bizarre beaked reptile with a trans-Atlantic prehistoric link
Paleontologists from the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM) have published a new study in the scientific journal Royal Society Open Science, in which they describe a new species based on a fossil skull approximately ...
Phys.org / A huge tectonic boundary shook the ground where dinosaurs once stood
Scientists have discovered a Jurassic tectonic plate boundary that could help to predict what the planet might look like millions of years into the future. Dr. Jordan Phethean, Senior Lecturer in Earth Sciences at the University ...