Phys.org news

Phys.org / Some tropical land may heat up nearly twice as much as oceans under climate change, sediment record suggests

Some tropical land regions may warm more dramatically than previously predicted, as climate change progresses, according to a new CU Boulder study that looks millions of years into Earth's past. Using lake sediments from ...

Feb 2, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / Unexpected climate feedback links Antarctic ice sheet with reduced carbon uptake

A study in Nature Geoscience reveals that changes in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) closely tracked marine algae growth in the Southern Ocean over previous glacial cycles, but not in the way scientists expected. The ...

Feb 2, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / Bubble bots: Simple biocompatible microrobots autonomously target tumors

The potential of microrobots is enormous. These miniature objects can be designed to carry out actions within the body, such as sensing biomarkers, manipulating objects like blood clots, or delivering drug therapies to tumor ...

Feb 2, 2026 in Nanotechnology
Phys.org / Tibet's tectonic clash: New satellite view suggests weaker fault lines

A study on tectonic plates that converge on the Tibetan Plateau has shown that Earth's fault lines are far weaker and the continents are less rigid than scientists previously thought. This finding is based on ground-monitoring ...

Feb 2, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / Machine learning accelerates plasma mirror design for high-power lasers

Plasma mirrors capable of withstanding the intensity of powerful lasers are being designed through an emerging machine learning framework. Researchers in Physics and Computer Science at the University of Strathclyde have ...

Feb 2, 2026 in Physics
Phys.org / Tiny new dinosaur Foskeia pelendonum fills in an evolutionary gap

An international team has described Foskeia pelendonum, a tiny Early Cretaceous ornithopod from Vegagete (Burgos, Spain), measuring barely half a meter long. Led by Paul-Emile Dieudonné (National University of Río Negro, ...

Feb 2, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Natural magnetic materials can control light in unprecedented ways

Imagine shining a flashlight into a material and watching the light bend backward—or in an entirely unexpected direction—as if defying the law of physics. This phenomenon, known as negative refraction, could transform ...

Feb 2, 2026 in Physics
Phys.org / Biochemists find solution that lets bacteriophages bypass bacterial immunity

Antimicrobial resistance—when bacteria and fungi defend themselves against the drugs designed to kill them—is an urgent threat to global public health, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. To combat ...

Feb 2, 2026 in Chemistry
Phys.org / Unraveling the physics behind Kamchatka's 73-year earthquake cycle

A research team from University of Tsukuba and collaborating institutions has clarified why M9-class megathrust earthquakes recur off the Kamchatka Peninsula with an unusually short cycle of 73 years. By analyzing the rupture ...

Feb 2, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / Complex tongue bones, fleshy teeth on the roof of earliest known bird's mouth might have helped it snag food

Flying is really hard work. Compared to walking, swimming, or running, flying is the form of movement that takes the most energy and requires the most calories. That means that birds have had to evolve specialized ways to ...

Feb 2, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Real-time view inside microreactor reveals 2D semiconductor growth secrets

As the miniaturization of silicon-based semiconductor devices approaches fundamental physical limits, the electronics industry faces an urgent need for alternative materials that can deliver higher integration and lower power ...

Feb 2, 2026 in Nanotechnology
Phys.org / Reshaping gold leads to new electronic and optical properties

By changing the physical structure of gold at the nanoscale, researchers can drastically change how the material interacts with light—and, as a result, its electronic and optical properties. This is shown by a study from ...

Feb 2, 2026 in Nanotechnology