Phys.org news

Phys.org / How 'super' enzymes can transform recycling

From microplastics clogging up our oceans to landfills leaching dangerous chemicals, plastic waste is a serious and growing problem for human health and the environment. We need to recycle more and, crucially, recycle better.

Jul 22, 2026
Phys.org / Antibiotic-tolerant bacteria rely on a hidden RNA-based survival strategy

Antibiotics are a medical marvel, but many microbes are gaining the ability to resist and tolerate these therapeutics. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have uncovered how S. pneumoniae adapts to antibiotic ...

Jul 22, 2026
Phys.org / Fruit flies turn fleeting scent puffs into directional memories, study finds

When a fruit fly catches a whiff of a ripe peach, it quickly heads toward it. Time after time, it finds the fruit—even from many feet away and even if the scent arrives only as a few drifting, disconnected puffs. How do they ...

Jul 22, 2026
Phys.org / Chemists develop a molecular platform for the selective control of oxygen reaction pathways

Controlling how oxygen reacts is important for improving technologies such as batteries, fuel cells and environmentally sustainable chemical processes. A research team led by professor Seung Jun Hwang from KAIST's Department ...

Jul 22, 2026
Phys.org / Solar-powered process turns CO₂ into protein-building amino acids

According to United Nations projections, global food demand could increase by around 60% by 2050, while only about 2% of additional agricultural land is expected to become available. Researchers at the Technical University ...

Jul 22, 2026
Phys.org / Black coral shapes influence how microscopic cilia move food and oxygen

An international research team led by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen and the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde (IOW) investigated how the shape of black corals ...

Jul 22, 2026
Phys.org / More connections can deepen polarization when social ties remain weak

Social networks, intended to bring people together, can actually increase polarization, new research finds, because while the links in the network may be plentiful, they're probably weak. A research team including Cornell ...

Jul 22, 2026
Phys.org / Combined nanoparticle and internal laser method could make cancer therapy less invasive

In a promising development for cancer treatment, a collaborative research team has overcome two issues that have prevented photothermal therapy, a much less invasive treatment option than surgery and/or radiation, from becoming ...

Jul 22, 2026
Phys.org / Spread of invasive malaria mosquito from Asia to Africa traced in new genomic study

A genomic surveillance study has shed new light on how an invasive urban malaria mosquito species spread from Asia to Africa, potentially threatening public health across a rapidly urbanizing continent where malaria is mainly ...

Jul 22, 2026
Phys.org / Reversing soil degradation by 10% could feed 70 million more, global analysis finds

Factors such as erosion, dehydration and soil compaction are jeopardizing food supplies for broad swaths of the world's population, according to a study by the University of Bonn, the University of Minnesota, the University ...

Jul 22, 2026
Phys.org / Different lessons, shared kindness: Global study finds children's social behavior becomes more alike with age

Children in one country may be encouraged to share their toys, while those in another are taught to show kindness through empathy or building strong social bonds. Despite these different approaches, a new study led by the ...

Jul 22, 2026
Phys.org / Floating colonies: Engineering 3D microbial architectures in liquid cultures

Microbes in the gut, lungs and biofilms do not simply exist as perfectly mixed populations; instead, they grow in layered and clustered three-dimensional (3D) arrangements. This spatial organization shapes how nutrients and ...

Jul 22, 2026