Phys.org news

Phys.org / Cracking the rules of gene regulation with experimental elegance and AI

Gene regulation is far more predictable than previously believed, scientists conclude after developing the deep learning model PARM. This might bring an end to a scientific mystery: how genes know when to switch on or off.

Feb 4, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Hadean zircons reveal crust recycling and continent formation more than 4 billion years ago

Parts of ancient Earth may have formed continents and recycled crust through subduction far earlier than previously thought. New research led by scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison has uncovered chemical signatures ...

Feb 4, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / Reuniting forcibly separated families: How a machine-learning model can help

Around the world, millions of families have suffered forcible separation, through war, trafficking, natural disasters, or socioeconomic crises. In China, family separation is a particularly large-scale and far-reaching problem. ...

Feb 4, 2026 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / Engineered antibody targets bacteria-specific sugar, clears lethal drug-resistant infection in mice

Australian researchers have developed a powerful new way to target deadly, drug-resistant bacteria by designing antibodies that recognize a sugar found only on bacterial cells—an advance that could underpin a new generation ...

Feb 4, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / A minimalist bacterial defense strategy: Scientists discover single protein that disrupts viral assembly

University of Toronto researchers have expanded our understanding of bacterial immunity with the discovery of a new protein that can both sense and counteract viral infections. In the study, published in Nature, researchers ...

Feb 4, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / TESS observations reveal sustained quasi-periodic oscillations in multiple blazars

Quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) are a rare phenomenon in active galactic nuclei. They have been observed to occur at periods ranging from minutes to hours, days, weeks, and even years across the electromagnetic spectrum. ...

Feb 4, 2026 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / Nanobodies: A cure for treatment-resistant depression depression?

A new study led by the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine's Kirill Martemyanov, Ph.D., and international collaborators highlights a new approach to treating depression that bypasses many limitations of traditional ...

Feb 4, 2026 in Nanotechnology
Phys.org / Stacking the genetic deck: How some plant hybrids beat the odds by erasing lethal genes

In the plant world, when two different species mate, their offspring often don't survive. The reason lies in their DNA: incompatible genes often mix in their offspring, triggering a fatal breakdown known as hybrid lethality ...

Feb 4, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / How cities primed spotted lanternflies to thrive in the US

Spotted lanternflies are adapting to the pressures of city life such as heat, pollution, and pesticides, according to genomic analyses of the invasive insects in the US and their native China. The findings, published in the ...

Feb 4, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Did we just see a black hole explode? Physicists think so—and it could explain (almost) everything

In 2023, a subatomic particle called a neutrino crashed into Earth with such a high amount of energy that it should have been impossible. In fact, there are no known sources anywhere in the universe capable of producing such ...

Feb 3, 2026 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / Physicists achieve near-zero friction on macroscopic scales

For the first time, physicists in China have virtually eliminated the friction felt between two surfaces at scales visible to the naked eye. In demonstrating "structural superlubricity," the team, led by Quanshui Zheng at ...

Feb 3, 2026 in Physics
Phys.org / Ultra-thin metasurface can generate and direct quantum entanglement

Quantum technologies, devices and systems that process, store, detect, or transfer information leveraging quantum mechanical effects, have the potential to outperform classical technologies in a variety of tasks. An ongoing ...

Feb 3, 2026 in Physics