Phys.org news

Europe is no stranger to powerful windstorms, but some storms capable of causing serious damage have an unusual origin. Tropical cyclones can occasionally travel north from lower latitudes and reach Europe, where they can ...

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have identified one of the most distant exploding stars ever confirmed. The supernova, SN 2023aeaf, was found at a redshift of 3.195—so far away that its light has been traveling ...

Astronomers may have finally solved the mystery behind a nearly two-decade-old cosmic explosion that seemed to break the rules of physics. The energy output of a powerful gamma-ray burst, GRB 061201, discovered in 2006, did ...

The ancient Romans were a deeply religious and superstitious people, worshiping dozens of cults—some official and others secretive. One of these was dedicated to Sabazios, a deity from Thrace and Phrygia (regions spanning ...

A new study led by Flinders University has flipped the historical narrative about Australia's thylacine, finding the native apex predator known as the "Tasmanian tiger" was significantly different from the wolves and wild ...

Carnegie Mellon University scientists have uncovered a new phenomenon that challenges a longstanding assumption about how electronic materials respond to magnetic fields. The discovery broadens the fundamental understanding ...

One of the central ideas in modern physics is the phase transition—a sudden transformation of the state of a material. We encounter phase transitions throughout everyday life: water freezes into ice, wax melts in the warmth ...

Despite protections, blue whales remain endangered, primarily because of the risk of collisions with ships. MBARI's Blue Whale Observatory uses a suite of technologies to study these animals and their primary food source, ...

Despite the importance and dominance of angiosperms ("flowering plants") in the current ecosystem, it is rather surprising that we know so little about their origin and early evolution. Paleobotanists have been making efforts ...

Biologists and linguists alike have long puzzled over the universal human tendency to see and name colors as a combination of four "pure" hues—red, yellow, green and blue.

Communication between cells in plants, animals and humans takes place via specialized connecting structures. An international team led by biologists from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) and involving the University ...

Swapping out one letter in a word can entirely change its meaning. Similarly, swapping one atom in a molecule can completely change its identity. A group of chemists at the University of Chicago has demonstrated a new way ...