Phys.org news

Phys.org / From flower to fruit: A tug-of-war between growing tissues

Unlike an animal cell, a plant cell can't crawl or migrate. It's locked inside a rigid wall, cemented to its neighbors for life. A cell born at the center of a young fruit will still be there when that fruit ripens.

Sep 10, 2026
Phys.org / BepiColombo measures Mercury's particle bombardment up close

The joint BepiColombo mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is settling into orbit around Mercury after an eight-year journey. In early September, BepiColombo's two orbiters, ...

Sep 10, 2026
Phys.org / Rewetting peatlands may curb warming-driven CO₂ emissions

Peatlands store large amounts of carbon. However, when they are drained, they can become substantial sources of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO₂).

Sep 10, 2026
Phys.org / Interviewing with AI? Try not to let the robot affect your behavior

A firm handshake used to be all a job candidate needed to make a good first impression, but today a growing number of firms are relying on artificial intelligence to screen applicants.

Sep 10, 2026
Phys.org / 'Fingerprints' inside the sun could reveal if it once swallowed a planet

It is thought the sun may have engulfed a super-Earth-sized planet early in its history. Now, a new study has gone a step further, suggesting that such an event may have left behind detectable clues inside the sun that could ...

Sep 10, 2026
Phys.org / Bringing hidden optical imperfections to light

Tiny manufacturing imperfections in optical components normally go unnoticed. Yet they can alter light in surprisingly significant ways. An international research team led by TU Darmstadt has shown that such imperfections ...

Sep 10, 2026
Phys.org / Dangerous heat days are expanding beyond summer, with regional spring-fall shifts

Extreme heat has become more common—both research and lived experience document this—but when it arrives is a different question. A new study finds that, rather than occurring only during warm seasons, extreme heat events ...

Sep 10, 2026
Phys.org / Northern map turtles leave Lake Erie before algal blooms peak, tracking finds

Harmful algal blooms pose serious threats to people, animals and the environment. The University of Toledo's Dr. Jeanine Refsnider counts it as a positive discovery that northern map turtles tend to steer clear, as she and ...

Sep 10, 2026
Phys.org / First PLP-dependent enzyme that influences bacterial protein production discovered

Researchers from the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research & Technology's (SMART) Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) interdisciplinary research group, alongside collaborators from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Nanyang ...

Sep 10, 2026
Phys.org / Scavenging linked to virus variety in wild birds

The scavenging behavior of many wild birds plays an important role in the type, number and variety of viruses they have, a new University of Otago–Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka-led study has found.

Sep 10, 2026
Phys.org / AI pinpoints when fish reach their thermal limit

Researchers have developed an AI-based system that automatically and objectively detects the moment when fish experience loss of equilibrium (LOE) due to temperature stress. The system combines DeepLabCut, a deep-learning ...

Sep 10, 2026
Phys.org / White is more than a color: How nature inspired a new sustainable way to make white, water-repellent materials

Look closely at Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa, one of Japan's most iconic masterpieces. The brilliant white of the waves, snow on Mount Fuji and clouds above contain no white pigment. Instead, their whiteness comes ...

Sep 9, 2026