Phys.org news
Phys.org / For satellites as small as a briefcase, getting around in space just got a whole lot easier
MIT engineers are testing a new propulsion system that combines the power and speed of conventional chemical thrusters with the precision and fuel-efficiency of electrical thrusters. The system could enable the design of ...
Phys.org / Small Magellanic Cloud is being pulled apart, reshaping how astronomers read its past
Using more than a decade of observations from the VISTA Survey of the Magellanic Clouds (VMC), researchers measured the motions of millions of stars across the Small Magellanic Cloud with unprecedented precision. The new ...
Phys.org / Strain creates moiré 2D materials without twisting or stacking, opening more scalable route
Cornell researchers have developed a new way to create moiré patterns—atomic-scale structures that can give materials unusual quantum behaviors—without relying on the traditionally used difficult-to-control twisting and stacking ...
Phys.org / Bees can swim and use visual cues to survive water crashes
When a bee crashes into water, it may still be able to swim to safety. New research from Michigan State University confirms that honeybees can propel themselves across the water's surface, and their movement is purposeful ...
Phys.org / Laser beam builds cell-like protein networks without chemical modification
Networks of protein fibers play important roles in living cells. To understand the dynamical behavior of these networks, model networks are needed to perform in vitro studies. However, fabrication of protein networks similar ...
Phys.org / Amazon rainforest emits new stress-defense molecules during El Niño drought
The Amazon rainforest responded to the most severe drought ever recorded in the basin with an unexpected defense mechanism. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, Germany, found that during and after ...
Phys.org / Under Notre Dame cathedral, a 'dig of the century' unearths 1,700 years of history
Wilting in the summer sun, a line of tourists waits to climb Notre Dame cathedral and meet its gargoyles.
Phys.org / Proteins can be selectively controlled with radio waves
In a significant advance in biological quantum sensing, a research team led by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has discovered and tested a new mechanism of action in which proteins can be controlled with radio waves. ...
Phys.org / Leafy camouflage reshapes katydid love songs, making males more attractive to females
New research from the University of St Andrews has discovered that insects who conceal themselves as leaves also use their leafy camouflage to amplify mating calls, making themselves more attractive to the opposite sex. The ...
Phys.org / Canadian forest fires are losing their climate cooling power, says study
Diminishing periods of snow cover in northern forests, shortened by climate change, are poised to disrupt a delicate balance in some of the planet's most climate-sensitive regions—according to new research from McMaster University, ...
Phys.org / Animals were sharpening their senses long before the Cambrian explosion, ancient tracks reveal
Tracks left by some of the earliest complex animals are giving new insights into how they experienced the world. New research reveals how these creatures started to understand their surroundings, paving the way for animal ...
Phys.org / First human SMUG1 atomic snapshots reveal how cells repair DNA
Researchers have captured the first atomic structures of human SMUG1, an enzyme that helps cells repair damaged DNA. The findings provide new insight into how cells recognize and remove harmful DNA bases, and may support ...
