Phys.org news
Phys.org / Hearing research traces evolution of key inner ear protein
In the intricate machinery of the inner ear, hearing begins with a protein that moves a few billionths of a meter up to 100,000 times per second. That protein, called TMC1, sits at the tips of sensory hair cells deep in the ...
Phys.org / Advanced dating method reveals age of Pacific coral architecture
Application of an advanced dating technique establishes the first precise construction timeline for houses built out of coral in French Polynesia. The findings reveal previously hidden patterns of architectural development ...
Phys.org / Organocatalytic strategy provides a metal-free route to antiviral candidates
A research team led by Prof. Sun Jianwei has achieved an advancement in organic synthesis and medicinal chemistry by developing an air-stable chiral phosphine-catalyzed enantioselective approach to synthesize enantioenriched ...
Phys.org / Making quantum vibrations nonlinear to enable phonon-phonon interactions
Phonons are the quantum units of mechanical vibration. They describe how motion propagates through a solid at the smallest possible scales, in much the same way that electrons describe electric currents. Because phonons can ...
Phys.org / Radio signals at the edge of extreme stars come from far beyond their surfaces
Pulsars are ultra-dense, rapidly spinning, and highly magnetized remnants of dead stars. They act like cosmic lighthouses, sending out regular pulses of radio waves and sometimes gamma rays in beams that sweep across the ...
Phys.org / XRISM clocks hot wind of galaxy M82 at 2 million mph
For the first time, astronomers have directly measured the speed of superheated gas billowing from a cauldron of stellar activity at the heart of M82, a nearby galaxy undergoing an extraordinary burst of star formation. The ...
Phys.org / Topological solitons power a chip-scale frequency comb source
Caltech scientists have developed a new way to produce optical frequency combs—important tools in devices that keep time and measure distances very precisely—at the chip scale, an advance that should make it easier to incorporate ...
Phys.org / If the Laschamps geomagnetic excursion happened today, aviation radiation exposure would be radically altered
Earth's magnetic field acts as a vital shield against radiation arriving from space, but it is not constant. A new international study has examined how a reduction of the magnetic field similar to the Laschamps excursion ...
Phys.org / Motivations behind violent extremism uncovered in new global study
New research from the University of St Andrews has revealed that human readiness for intergroup violence is not a single or unified mindset. Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the new study, ...
Phys.org / How the body senses cold has been a mystery—until now
When you reach into a bucket of ice, open your front door on a snowy day, or feel the tingle of menthol toothpaste, a protein in your nerve cells called TRPM8 springs into action, opening like a tiny gate to send a "cold" ...
Phys.org / Finding order in disorder: New mechanism amplifies transverse electron transport
For decades, it has been widely believed that electrons move most efficiently in materials that are clean and highly ordered. Much like water flowing more easily through a smooth pipe, conventional wisdom has held that electrical ...
Phys.org / Is nectar naturally spiked? What widespread low-level ethanol could mean for pollinators
As bees and hummingbirds flit from flower to flower, greedily sipping nectar in exchange for pollination, the animals often get another treat: alcohol. In the first broad analysis of the alcohol content of flower nectars, ...
