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 ...

Apr 23, 2026
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 ...

Apr 23, 2026
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 ...

Apr 23, 2026
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 ...

Apr 23, 2026
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 ...

Apr 23, 2026
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 ...

Apr 23, 2026
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 ...

Apr 23, 2026
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 ...

Apr 23, 2026
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 ...

Apr 23, 2026
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. ...

Apr 23, 2026
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 ...

Apr 23, 2026
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 ...

Apr 23, 2026