Phys.org news
Phys.org / First cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza in northern elephant seals confirmed in California
Seven weaned elephant seal pups in California's Año Nuevo State Park tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Veterinary Services Laboratory confirmed ...
Phys.org / Mother's breasts may protect a newborn from the cold—a new perspective on breast evolution
Humans differ from other primates due to their relatively large, permanent breasts, and their development has so far not been conclusively explained. According to a study conducted at the University of Oulu, Finland, the ...
Phys.org / Robot pollinator uses computer vision to shake flowers and boost indoor farm yields
Indoor farms, also known as vertical farms, are popular among agricultural researchers and are expanding across the agricultural industry. Some benefits they have over outdoor farms include the year-round production of food ...
Phys.org / AI gets water right: How a hydration shield helps proteins keep their shape
A study published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society reports that artificial intelligence can enhance protein stability in an unexpected way—by engineering the water around a protein, not just the protein itself. ...
Phys.org / Which cell measurements matter most? AI tool helps researchers see the bigger picture
Studying gene expression in a cancer patient's cells can help clinical biologists understand the cancer's origin and predict the success of different treatments. But cells are complex and contain many layers, so how the biologist ...
Phys.org / Worming out the molecular secrets behind collective behavior
Studying social behavior is crucial for understanding how certain neuromodulatory pathways—like the serotonin pathway, which influences mood and social interactions—are regulated. Kavita Babu, Professor at the Centre ...
Phys.org / Bacterial pathogens build antibiotic-resistant 'bunkers' using filament scaffolds
Researchers have discovered and characterized at the atomic level a mechanism that enables bacterial pathogens—including hospital bacteria Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa—to assemble antibiotic-resistant ...
Phys.org / Tropical flowers are blooming weeks later than they used to through climate change
Climate change has caused some tropical plants to flower earlier or later than they used to; in some cases by a matter of weeks or even months, according to a study of 8,000 flowers across more than two centuries, published ...
Phys.org / This mysterious protein punctures our cells—now researchers know how
The human body is a dynamic place. Blood pumps, spinal fluid flows, oxygen comes in and carbon dioxide goes out. Deeper still, charged molecules pass through cell walls, quietly keeping the body's systems in balance. A new ...
Phys.org / Iron and blue LEDs synthesize natural molecules, cutting the need for expensive chiral components
Photocatalysts facilitate chemical reactions by absorbing light. Metal-based photocatalysts are widely used in organic synthesis due to their durability and the ability to tune their function by modifying the ligands attached ...
Phys.org / Climate change could fragment habitat for monarch butterflies, disrupting mass migration
Suitable habitat for migrating monarch butterflies will shift southwards because of climate change, according to a study published in PLOS Climate by Francisco Botello and Carolina Ureta at the National Autonomous University ...
Phys.org / Combination of wildfires and seismic lines may limit spread of non-native plants in Canada's boreal forest
A pair of disturbances common in Western Canada's boreal forests, when combined, may have an unexpected benefit of limiting the spread of non-native plant species, a University of Alberta study shows. The research gauged ...