Phys.org news
Phys.org / Tropical feedback loop: Butterfly mimicry patterns evolve faster near the equator
In the early 1990s, Keith Willmott and a friend, both undergraduate students from the United Kingdom, arrived in Ecuador with impressionable minds and big aspirations. Willmott initially imagined there might be 20 to 30 butterfly ...
Phys.org / How a superionic state enables long-term water storage in Earth's interior
The cycling of water within Earth's interior regulates plate tectonics, volcanism, ocean volume, and climate stability, making it central to the planet's long-term evolution and habitability and a key scientific question. ...
Phys.org / Novel ferroelectric ultraviolet photodetector achieves near-10,000-fold speed increase
Researchers from the Institute of Metal Research (IMR) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a new ferroelectric ultraviolet photodetector material that overcomes the long-standing performance limitations of conventional ...
Phys.org / Framework sets new benchmarks for 3D atom maps in amorphous materials
Researchers at the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA published a step-by-step framework for determining the three-dimensional positions and elemental identities of atoms in amorphous materials. These solids, such as ...
Phys.org / Corals sleep like us, but their symbionts never rest
Sleep is essential for much of the animal kingdom. During the night, neuron and tissue repair mechanisms are activated to aid recovery from daily activity. This is risky: organisms that sleep are more vulnerable to predators. ...
Phys.org / Laser beam flips a ferromagnet's polarity without heating the material
Researchers at the University of Basel and the ETH in Zurich have succeeded in changing the polarity of a special ferromagnet using a laser beam. In the future, this method could be used to create adaptable electronic circuits ...
Phys.org / Cryoelectron tomography reveals paracrystalline architecture of proteasome storage granules
Cells organize their molecules into distinct functional areas. While textbooks usually refer to membrane-bound organelles such as mitochondria and cell nuclei, recent studies have also revealed organelles without membranes. ...
Phys.org / Mineral dust accelerates Greenland ice sheet melt by promoting algae growth
Large-scale melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet is irreversible and happening at a rapid rate, and now a new international study is the first to understand why. A University of Waterloo scientist and a team of international ...
Phys.org / Cross-border pollution tracking reveals unequal distribution of risk and responsibility
Microscopic airborne particles known as PM2.5 contribute to 100,000 premature deaths in the United States each year. A new University of Notre Dame study finds that 40% of these deaths can be attributed to pollution that ...
Phys.org / New radio method uncovers hidden bursts from dwarf stars and hints of exoplanets
An international team including Cornell researcher Jake Turner has developed a novel analysis method capable of uncovering previously undetectable stellar and exoplanetary signals hidden within archival radio-astronomical ...
Phys.org / Subtle rotations in ancient light: Decoding the universe's symmetry
A team of researchers studying the uncertainties associated with a phenomenon known as cosmic birefringence has developed a method to reduce uncertainties in its observational measurements, according to a new study published ...
Phys.org / Plant mothers send molecular 'text messages' to pollen
Small RNAs are short RNA molecules that help determine which genes in a cell are switched on or off. Until now, it was assumed that the small RNAs necessary for pollen development originate in the pollen itself and in the ...
