Phys.org news

Phys.org / Scientists solve years-long mystery of 'beating' signal in a quantum material

A team of Korean researchers has become the first in the world to identify the origin of the "beating" signal that has long been a major obstacle to interpreting quantum signals in topological insulator (TI) nanowires. Their ...

Sep 3, 2026
Phys.org / Surf's up: How the seafloor shapes breaking waves

A new study led by surfing scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego revealed the physical relationships underlying a pattern familiar to generations of surfers.

Sep 3, 2026
Phys.org / Microbial 'dark matter' yields 173 potential carbon dioxide-fixing strains

There are millions of species of bacteria and archaea on Earth, remarkably little is known about most of them. Now, researchers have mined the genomes of thousands of microorganisms preserved at the RIKEN BioResource Research ...

Sep 3, 2026
Phys.org / How stressed cells put the brakes on protein 'shipping'

Cells synthesize proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), and these proteins are transported to the Golgi apparatus for distribution to their ultimate destinations inside and outside the cell. The structures that transport ...

Sep 3, 2026
Phys.org / Dual-purpose qubit design could speed operations while cutting quantum errors

Researchers from MIT have designed a new qubit architecture that enables qubits to interact with each other much more quickly while remaining very stable. This advance could someday help scientists build practical quantum ...

Sep 3, 2026
Phys.org / Electron spin unlocks magnetic control of hydrogen surface reactions

Chemical reactions at surfaces play a central role in many processes, including catalysis and materials synthesis. It is well known that the outcome of these reactions is influenced by the translational, vibrational and rotational ...

Sep 3, 2026
Phys.org / Metabolic networks provide clues about the earliest stages of enzyme evolution

The enzymes found in modern organisms are complex proteins, often with multiple folded substructures and specialized catalytic sites. Proteins are encoded by genes. Tracing the history of enzymes across all living organisms ...

Sep 3, 2026
Phys.org / Quantum control algorithm looks to explain how birds migrate

The hidden world of quantum mechanics exists at scales many orders of magnitude smaller than living organisms, yet scientists have long theorized that quantum effects play an important role in biology. Birds' ability to sense ...

Sep 3, 2026
Phys.org / Bacterial nanoplatform reprograms spleen immune cells to help prevent cancer recurrence

A research team led by Professor Yong Taik Lim at the SKKU Advanced Institute of Nanotechnology (SAINT), Sungkyunkwan University, have developed an engineered nanoplatform named t-SMC (trained immunity-mediated splenic myelopoiesis ...

Sep 3, 2026
Phys.org / First DDT, now the flu: Peregrine falcons in San Francisco Bay Area hit hard by H5N1 variant

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) featured prominently in the news during 2020 as it took the lives of millions of birds across the globe. While the worst seems to be behind us, population-level effects are just now ...

Sep 3, 2026
Phys.org / Probiotic and postbiotic treatments revive heat-stressed corals in field experiment

Climate change continues to threaten the world's coral reefs, which support at least a quarter of all marine life. Though probiotics have been shown to rehabilitate corals in aquarium experiments, demonstrating the efficacy ...

Sep 3, 2026
Phys.org / Tiny crustacean helps scientists understand genes regulating circatidal rhythms

Scientists at UMass Chan Medical School and the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole have shown that the four core clock genes responsible for maintaining circadian rhythms in animals—Per, Cry2, Bmal1 and Clk—also regulate ...

Sep 3, 2026