Phys.org news

It's a small, simple ring made of copper alloy and engraved with a handful of Greek letters and the image of a pottery vessel. But its unremarkable appearance belies a remarkable history: The signet was likely connected in ...

Researchers from Graz University of Technology (TU Graz), Harvard and the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) have developed an innovative method for coupling light non-linearly. This opens up new possibilities for ...

RNA-based therapeutics use RNA as a blueprint that enables cells to produce specific proteins—including proteins that can precisely modify genes. For this to work, the RNA must reach the inside of the cell intact. Delivery ...

Inside some fusion energy systems, particles hotter than the core of the sun can become unruly in a few thousandths of a second, far faster than any human operator can react. A new software framework developed by researchers ...

As proteins are made in a cell, they are folded into the 3D structure that allows them to work, but sometimes this process can go wrong. When it does, the misfolded proteins lose some or all of their function and usually ...

We often think of microbes as organisms that live around us, like the Salmonella bacteria and flu viruses that cause illness. But some of our most intimate relationships are with the microbes living inside us.

Copper roofs lose their reddish color over time because a pale green layer of copper oxide forms on their surface, protecting the roof from further corrosion for many years. But what exactly happens during the first steps ...

A good adhesive is unequivocally sticky. A great adhesive is sticky until you don't want it to be sticky anymore—a label on cardboard until it's time to recycle it. Medical tape on a cut until the wound heals. A GWAR poster ...

Is a kiss just a kiss? Or is it a sign of love, affection, a biological urge, a contract or even an assault? Law, history, evolution and anthropology show that it can be all those things.

The plot of "Finding Nemo," a film that features an overprotective single father fish taking on dangers at sea to care for his son, may be more reflective of actual fish dad behavior than was previously known. A new study ...

Imagine a construction site where the bricks are individual molecules and the "cranes" are microscopic needles so sharp they can feel a single atom. For decades, building at this scale was a laborious, time-consuming task ...

The United Nations considers well-developed and safe roads an important part of infrastructure in its Sustainable Development Goals. Until now, however, there has been no benchmark for the condition and state of road networks ...