Phys.org news

Phys.org / National food waste recycling promises major climate gains but comes with microplastic risks

Keeping food waste out of landfills provides climate and other environmental benefits, and Vermont requires residents to divert these materials to better management pathways. With other states considering similar policies, ...

Jul 23, 2026
Phys.org / Yeast survives after all 300 known spliceosomal introns are removed

Spliceosomal introns are noncoding DNA sequences located between exons in many eukaryotic protein-coding genes. Most are removed post-transcriptionally by RNA splicing and do not encode proteins, but they have been implicated ...

Jul 23, 2026
Phys.org / New physics-based metric improves estimates of climate-driven cooling demand

New research led by atmospheric scientists at the University of Hawai'i (UH) at Mānoa found that the century-old yardstick used across many industries to estimate air-conditioning and refrigeration energy demand—called cooling ...

Jul 23, 2026
Phys.org / Striped or checkered? Magnetic field influences competing electronic patterns in a graphene-like quantum material

In most everyday materials, such as copper, silver and silicon, the behavior of electrons is relatively predictable. In quantum materials, however, electrons can interact in complex ways, giving rise to collective electronic ...

Jul 23, 2026
Phys.org / Peptide isolated from a Cerrado frog increases strawberry shelf life

Five minutes. That was the amount of time that Oso Grande strawberries remained in contact with the Ctx(Ile21)-Ha peptide—a molecule isolated from a frog native to the Brazilian Cerrado—in experiments conducted in Brazil ...

Jul 23, 2026
Phys.org / First 3D nanoscale maps of human airway epithelium reveal hidden architecture of lung defense cells

Researchers at Queen Mary University of London and University of Cambridge in collaboration with colleagues at HHMI Janelia and NIH, have created some of the most detailed three-dimensional maps ever generated of human airway ...

Jul 23, 2026
Phys.org / Heat is coming for Hawaiian corals, but study finds there may be time to adapt

Since the first major bleaching event in 1996, Hawaiian corals have been subject to increasing heat stress and more frequent bleaching events. New research from oceanographers at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa used high-resolution ...

Jul 23, 2026
Phys.org / Silkworm cultivation predates the Silk Road in southern Central Asia, ancient cocoons suggest

The silkworm moth, whose caterpillars have been used in silk production since antiquity, may have been brought to southern Central Asia 4,000 years ago—nearly 2,000 years earlier than previously assumed—according to new research ...

Jul 23, 2026
Phys.org / Virtual café experiment finds Japanese participants keep greater distance than Italians

How close do we stand to other people during a social interaction? The distance we maintain between our body and that of another person—known as interpersonal distance—is a fundamental aspect of everyday life. It influences ...

Jul 23, 2026
Phys.org / Lipid nanoparticles deliver one-two punch to shrink resistant oral tumors in preclinical models

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common form of head and neck cancer, and the number of new cases is predicted to rise by 30% in the next decade. Despite decades of cancer research, treating OSCC remains a ...

Jul 23, 2026
Phys.org / Ceramic vessels reveal how social inequalities were also cooked into 19th-century Brazil

Fish, shellfish, maize, manioc, rice and even chicken eggs. Molecular residues preserved in more than 180 ceramic vessels from southern Brazil have made it possible to reconstruct what different communities were cooking more ...

Jul 23, 2026
Phys.org / Kindness emerges intuitively in young children before reflection catches up, study finds

While humans are inherently social beings, psychology studies suggest that their social skills are gradually fine-tuned over time and with experience. Understanding when different social skills emerge and how they typically ...

Jul 22, 2026