Phys.org news

Phys.org / Flatworms reveal exploding immune cells that kill surrounding tissue

Stanford scientists have discovered a new type of immune cell that kills surrounding cells via explosion—a cellular detonation so fast and complete that the cell vanishes within minutes, leaving no trace behind. This discovery ...

Jun 2, 2026
Phys.org / Dormant black hole revives in under three years, brightening 10-fold in nearby galaxy

Astronomers monitoring a nearby active galaxy for six years have watched its supermassive black hole dramatically wake up, brightening by a factor of 10 across ultraviolet and X-ray wavelengths. The paper outlining the study ...

Jun 2, 2026
Phys.org / Ötzi the Iceman and his microbiome—a 5,300-year-old relationship

Researchers at Eurac Research have obtained a detailed picture of the microbial community associated with Ötzi, Europe's oldest known natural human mummy. The study provides insights into a complex microbiome, ranging from ...

Jun 2, 2026
Phys.org / Atomic reshuffle leads to record-breaking catalysts for hydrogen production

Researchers have discovered that atoms can be mixed, separated, and recombined within the same experiment, providing a pathway to a record-breaking catalyst for green hydrogen production. In their study, the team created ...

Jun 2, 2026
Phys.org / Terahertz imaging maps spatial chirality in materials with 100-micrometer resolution

In nature, there exist structures that are mirror images of each other but cannot be perfectly superimposed. These are known as chiral objects, derived from the Greek word for "hand," since left and right hands share the ...

Jun 2, 2026
Phys.org / Lab evolution recreates COVID's path to omicron in months, reveals key conditions

A key step in the origin of many pandemics occurs when an animal-borne virus infects humans and then evolves to spread more efficiently from person to person. That is why scientists and physicians keep a close watch on viruses ...

Jun 2, 2026
Phys.org / City birds dazzle females with 'borrowed' human items

Bowerbirds in an Australian city use a range of human items—from glass and plastic to banknotes and even a pair of handcuffs—to impress females, shows new research in Royal Society Open Science. Male bowerbirds create an ...

Jun 2, 2026
Phys.org / Biohybrid microrobots repair spinal cord by combining stem cells with magnetoelectric nanoparticles

Spinal cord injuries can have devastating consequences for those affected. Nerve cells in the spinal cord rarely regenerate naturally, while scarring often prevents the regrowth of nerve fibers. Modern therapies attempt to ...

Jun 2, 2026
Phys.org / Small Magellanic Cloud is being pulled apart, reshaping how astronomers read its past

Using more than a decade of observations from the VISTA Survey of the Magellanic Clouds (VMC), researchers measured the motions of millions of stars across the Small Magellanic Cloud with unprecedented precision. The new ...

Jun 2, 2026
Phys.org / Mathematicians say 'don't believe hype' on AI capabilities

Dozens of mathematicians signed a declaration Tuesday calling for the discipline to resist beating the drum for artificial intelligence developers.

Jun 2, 2026
Phys.org / A new origin story for multicellular life points to physics, not genes alone

How did life make the leap from single cells to coordinated, multicellular organisms? And how do genetically identical cells still perform a version of that feat every time an embryo begins to take shape?

Jun 2, 2026
Phys.org / Strain creates moiré 2D materials without twisting or stacking, opening more scalable route

Cornell researchers have developed a new way to create moiré patterns—atomic-scale structures that can give materials unusual quantum behaviors—without relying on the traditionally used difficult-to-control twisting and stacking ...

Jun 2, 2026