Phys.org news
Phys.org / Europe's last pagan state was already diverse: Medieval Vilnius drew migrants from Christian lands
Lithuania was famously the final pagan state in Europe. While the rest of the continent converted to Christianity, Lithuania remained officially pagan until Catholicism was adopted in AD 1387. Despite this, the extent to ...
Phys.org / Low carbon dioxide levels improve microbial production of biodegradable plastic
In an innovative gas fermentation process, reducing the concentration of carbon dioxide was found to significantly improve microbial production of the biodegradable plastic poly[(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate]. Researchers found that ...
Phys.org / Ancient Roman farm women made wine, oil and profits. Historians dismissed them as 'housekeepers'
Female farm managers are hidden in plain sight in ancient Roman texts, mentioned in laws, literature and grave inscriptions across five centuries. Modern historians have generally assumed they were housekeepers, in charge ...
Phys.org / Haven or trap? Study finds sinkholes protect endangered tree at evolutionary cost
Are giant sinkholes in China's karst mountains havens or traps for the rare plants that inhabit them? A new study finds they are both—offering refuge from heat and drought while gradually eroding the evolutionary potential ...
Phys.org / 'Amazing moths': Study pinpoints insect habitat that draws grizzlies to glacier peaks
When grizzly bears clamber onto the talus slopes high in Glacier National Park, they're searching for an abundant, fatty meal: army cutworm moths. The inch-long (2.5-centimeter-long) moths hatch on the Great Plains and fly ...
Phys.org / 'Uncanny valley' effect observed in macaques through 3D animated monkey avatars
A new tool that allows researchers to create realistic full-body animations of monkeys has provided the first evidence that nonhuman primates experience the "uncanny valley" phenomenon for body avatars, according to a study ...
Phys.org / How supermassive black holes feed themselves
Astronomers are closer to solving the mystery of how supermassive black holes feed themselves thanks to new images from the James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST. The images provide the clearest view ever seen of gaseous filaments ...
Phys.org / Hidden muscle machinery reveals 50 new gene subfamilies across vertebrates
Within every muscle of every living species with a backbone, a protein called myosin tugs on a partner protein to generate a muscle contraction. This function, discovered in mammals a century ago, has been presumed by scientists ...
Phys.org / With an eye toward exploration, researchers map moon's regolith thickness
New research by lunar scientists from Brown University provides critical new insights into the thickness of the moon's regolith, the layer of loose dust and rock that drapes the entire lunar surface.
Phys.org / Roman telescope will spot distant black holes that shred stars
How do black holes at the centers of galaxies form and grow over time? To answer this question, scientists need to detect and study supermassive black holes at great distances that existed much earlier in the universe's history. ...
Phys.org / Study reveals Hawaiian hotspot is getting hotter
Contrary to conventional geological thinking, the Hawaiian mantle plume has gotten hotter by about 250°C (480°F) over the past 47 million years. This discovery, led by Earth scientists at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, ...
Phys.org / Researchers define new frontier in quantum materials
Researchers at City College of New York physicist Vinod M. Menon's Laboratory for Nano and Micro Photonics (LaNMP) have outlined an emerging frontier in quantum materials: atomically thin systems in which light, magnetism ...
