Phys.org news

Phys.org / Breeding a better cucumber: New genetic map reveals 171,892 structural variants

Cucumber is an economically important crop worldwide, ranking as the third most-produced vegetable after tomatoes and onions. Yet breeding improved varieties—plants that are more resilient, produce better-shaped fruit, ...

Feb 10, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / AI model uses molecular energy to predict the most stable atom arrangements

Whether a smartphone battery lasts longer or a new drug can be developed to treat incurable diseases depends on how stably the atoms constituting the material are bonded. The core of molecular design lies in finding how to ...

Feb 10, 2026 in Chemistry
Phys.org / A new inhalable treatment for tuberculosis: Once-weekly nanoparticles match daily oral rifampin in mice

Researchers at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo have developed a new inhalable form of tuberculosis (TB) treatment that could significantly reduce the burden of current therapy. ...

Feb 10, 2026 in Nanotechnology
Phys.org / Chang'e-6 samples constrain lunar impact flux and illuminate early impact history

Scientists from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the CAS Aerospace Information Research Institute, and other institutions, have revised the decades-old lunar crater chronology ...

Feb 10, 2026 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / Exploring how the immune system detects drugs coated with 'stealth' polymers

A recent study by researchers from Institute of Science Tokyo unveils the molecular mechanisms explaining why some "stealth" drug coatings fail to evade the immune system. Using single-molecule atomic force microscopy, the ...

Feb 10, 2026 in Chemistry
Phys.org / Moving beyond money to measure the true value of Earth science information

They're all around us: sensors and satellites, radars and drones. These tools form vast remote sensing networks that collect data on the climate, the ground, the air, and the water. This information is immensely useful for ...

Feb 10, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / Half of the world's coral reefs suffered major bleaching during the 2014–2017 global heat wave, estimates suggest

Benefits to society from coral reefs, including fisheries, tourism, coastal protection, pharmaceutical discovery and more, are estimated at about $9.8 trillion per year. For the first time, an international team led by Smithsonian ...

Feb 10, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / Fruit fly study reveals how mating triggers behavioral changes in females

Researchers from The Universities of Manchester and Birmingham have identified the exact nerve cells in the brain that drive important behavioral changes in female fruit flies after they mate. The discovery, published in ...

Feb 10, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Bison hunters abandoned long-used site 1,100 years ago to adapt to changing climate, Great Plains study finds

On the Great Plains of North America, bison were hunted for thousands of years before populations collapsed to near extinction due to overexploitation in the late 1800s. But long before then, bison hunters used various strategies ...

Feb 10, 2026 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / Nature's 'engine is grinding to a halt' as climate change gains pace, says study

Many ecologists hypothesize that, as global warming accelerates, change in nature must speed up. They assume that as temperatures rise and climatic zones shift, species will face local extinction and colonize new habitats ...

Feb 9, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Building blocks of life discovered in Bennu asteroid rewrite origin story

Amino acids, the building blocks necessary for life, were previously found in samples of 4.6-billion-year-old rocks from an asteroid called Bennu, delivered to Earth in 2023 by NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission. How those amino acids—the ...

Feb 9, 2026 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / Escape from Fukushima: Pig-boar hybrids reveal a genetic fast track in the wake of nuclear disaster

A new genetic study examines an unusually large hybridization event that followed the Fukushima nuclear accident, when escaped domestic pigs bred with wild boar. The research shows that domestic pig maternal lineages sped ...

Feb 9, 2026 in Biology