Phys.org news
Phys.org / Scientists solve 200-year-old puzzle of how tobacco plants make nicotine
Scientists have uncovered how tobacco plants naturally make nicotine, solving a mystery that has puzzled researchers for nearly two centuries. The discovery, published in Nature Communications, could lead to safer production ...
Phys.org / Extreme weather events are accelerating tidal wetland loss, satellite data show
Tidal wetlands are critical, yet vulnerable ecosystems. Tidal marshes, mangrove forests, and tidal flats support biodiversity, protect against flooding and storm surges, sequester carbon, and improve water quality. Due to ...
Phys.org / Seabird world shrinks as oceans warm, forcing longer flights to survive
Seabirds such as albatrosses and petrels are retreating into smaller areas of ocean and traveling further to find new places to live as the climate warms. Scientists from the University of Reading studied more than 120 species ...
Phys.org / Urban life makes animals bolder, more aggressive across 133 species, analysis finds
A global analysis has found that urban animals are bolder and more aggressive, exploratory and active than their rural counterparts. The findings are published in the Journal of Animal Ecology.
Phys.org / Bats create 'silent frequency zones' to detect prey in noisy flight, researchers reveal
Sound plays an important role for many animals, helping them navigate and hunt. Echolocation is the ability of animals like bats and dolphins to locate objects by emitting sound waves and interpreting the returning echoes. ...
Phys.org / DNA floating in seawater is now enough to let scientists monitor the health of America's dolphin populations
DNA is everywhere in the world's oceans—not only packaged inside cells from skin, scales, mucus, feces, and blood, but also floating freely. Sequencing such "environmental DNA" (eDNA) from open water has long been used as ...
Phys.org / Supernova dust may be behind one of JWST's biggest puzzles
Astronomers may have found an explanation for one of the biggest mysteries revealed by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST): why so many galaxies in the early universe appear unexpectedly bright in ultraviolet light. The ...
Phys.org / Debunking a core chemistry concept taught in classrooms everywhere
A new study has revealed that a core idea taught in chemistry classrooms around the world may be wrong. Dr. Edwin Johnson, Lecturer at the University of Newcastle, co-authored the paper published in the Journal of Chemical ...
Phys.org / Ultrafast switching device unlocks low-power optical-to-electrical conversion for AI hardware
Modern energy demands are soaring as technologies like AI and IoT become more common, and researchers have been working hard to develop hardware that can keep up. Now, a team of researchers from the University of Tokyo has ...
Phys.org / White hydrogen discovered in billion-year-old Canadian Shield rock points to potential new energy source
Within the Canadian Shield, hydrogen gas is steadily building up naturally among some of the oldest rocks on Earth. Now, for the first time, geochemists at the University of Toronto and the University of Ottawa have measured ...
Phys.org / AI-generated fake citations are flooding scientific literature across publications, scientists warn
The citations at the end of a research paper should represent a solid foundation of existing knowledge about a particular field, a pool of peer-reviewed sources built over years of research and study. However, with the increasing ...
Phys.org / Sea level rise is swallowing US Mid-Atlantic farmland faster than expected, study finds
Ghost forests, the cemetery-like groupings of dead trees killed by saltwater intrusion, have become haunting symbols of sea level rise overtaking land along the Mid-Atlantic coast. But a new study published in Nature Sustainability, ...
