Phys.org news

Phys.org / In Kyushu's decorated tombs, humans were never meant to be individuals

When you first step into Japan's Kyushu tombs, the first thing you notice is nothing at all. "When you enter, you're engulfed by darkness; you can smell earth and stone, and you have the sensation of being enclosed …," said ...

Jul 22, 2026
Phys.org / Australian cave discovery shows grass was burned for magic, cures and curses for 25,000 years

The GunaiKurnai, an Australian Aboriginal nation, are the acknowledged traditional custodians of Gippsland and the southern Victorian Alps. Within their territory are caves known from 19th-century ethnographic reports and ...

Jul 22, 2026
Phys.org / Transmissible cancer cells discovered in fish act more like parasites than traditional tumors

A team of Vermont researchers has discovered that mysterious black skin lesions afflicting catfish in Lake Memphremagog and other New England and Canadian lakes are caused by a transmissible cancer—the first identified in ...

Jul 22, 2026
Phys.org / Jupiter-mass 'exomoon' orbiting brown dwarf challenges cosmic labels

Observations made with the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT) have revealed evidence for a moon-like object in the CD-35 2722 system. Unlike moons in our solar system, the newly found object ...

Jul 22, 2026
Phys.org / Juno takes temperature of Jupiter's fiery moon Io

NASA's Juno mission has provided the first measurements of the temperature below the surface of Jupiter's moon Io, revealing significant heating within the shallow subsurface of the most volcanically active world in the solar ...

Jul 22, 2026
Phys.org / Microscale roughness breakthrough defies 80 years of fluid dynamics

Logically, you would think a sleek surface has optimal aerodynamics—but recent research at Tohoku University turns this fundamental principle on its head. Applying an irregular microscale surface texture reduced the aerodynamic ...

Jul 22, 2026
Phys.org / Genome tool places large genetic sequences precisely in rice and tobacco without DNA breaks

Researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) have developed a new way to add large pieces of genetic information to plants, overcoming a challenge that has limited plant biotechnology for decades. ...

Jul 22, 2026
Phys.org / Reusable magnetic invention removes microplastics plus some PFAS from water

Microplastics are an increasing global concern, with growing evidence of their presence in water systems. RMIT University researchers have developed a water treatment material that rapidly removes micro- and nanoplastics ...

Jul 22, 2026
Phys.org / Genetically distinct avocados discovered in Nicaragua

A team of scientists led by researchers at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History and Texas A&M University recently uncovered genetic traces of ancient migration in DNA from avocados growing in Nicaragua. They ...

Jul 22, 2026
Phys.org / Water-surface vortices drive tiny rotors without electricity, magnets or chemicals

Reliably generating controlled miniature rotations has long been a challenge: Chemical propulsion systems wear out, and methods that use electric or magnetic fields require complex setups. A team from KIT's Institute of Microstructure ...

Jul 22, 2026
Phys.org / Neural networks unlock larger quantum simulations with lower computational costs

In recent years, research using artificial intelligence to predict material properties has advanced rapidly. Neural network quantum Monte Carlo methods have attracted attention as highly accurate simulation techniques. However, ...

Jul 22, 2026
Phys.org / Reflooding the Aral Sea could prevent massive CO₂ emissions

About 90% of the Aral Sea has dried up. The exposed sediments have already released enormous amounts of carbon dioxide (748 megatons) since 1960. However, through restoration, the lake could once again become a carbon sink. ...

Jul 22, 2026