Phys.org news
Phys.org / Charcoal records reveal 'unprecedented' wildfires in tropical peatlands during 20th century
A new study reveals an unprecedented increase in wildfires in tropical peatlands during the 20th century. "Unprecedented burning in tropical peatlands during the 20th century compared to the previous two millennia" is published ...
Phys.org / 3D structure reveals how tuberculosis bacteria power themselves
Researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) have uncovered how the bacteria that causes tuberculosis fuels itself during infection, providing new insights into one of the world's deadliest infectious diseases. ...
Phys.org / Moths are flying later in the year than a century ago, study finds
South of Fall Creek by the edge of the woods, the moths would gather. They were, of course, drawn by light—set out by a researcher working in Cornell University's old Insectory building. In 1889, the lure came from a kerosene ...
Phys.org / Changing flight paths could slash aviation's climate impact
Small changes to aircraft flight paths to avoid the atmospheric conditions that create condensation trails—known as contrails—could reduce aviation's global warming impact by nearly half, a new study suggests. The study, ...
Phys.org / Endangered smalltooth sawfish make a comeback in a historical Florida nursery
During the winters of 2024 and 2025, widespread "spinning fish" events swept through the Florida Keys, impacting more than 80 marine fish species and likely killing hundreds of endangered large juvenile and adult smalltooth ...
Phys.org / Warmer, wetter cyclone weather made Peru's dengue outbreak 10 times larger, study finds
Diseases historically absent from the United States have been showing up in Florida, Texas, California and other U.S. states in recent years. To understand why, look to Peru. That's where researchers from Stanford and other ...
Phys.org / Inverse design: A new pathway to custom functional polymers
At a potluck, you ate the best chocolate chip cookie—golden-brown, thick and chewy. Unfortunately, you don't know who made the cookie to get the recipe from, so you decide to recreate it. Using forward design principles, ...
Phys.org / Students discover new crab egg predator
After a year and a half of remote work and learning, UC Santa Barbara undergraduate students Sophia Lecuona Manos, Gabrielle Plewe, Carson Gadler and doctoral student Zoe Zilz returned to campus in late 2021 eager for some ...
Phys.org / Engineered lipid nanoparticles reprogram immune metabolism for better mRNA vaccines
The most common side effects of mRNA vaccines like the COVID-19 shot are well known: soreness, mild fever, and general malaise. Those symptoms, which typically resolve within days, are the natural result of the immune system ...
Phys.org / Extremely rare second-generation star discovered inside ancient relic dwarf galaxy
Discovered in the Pictor II dwarf galaxy, star PicII-503 has an extreme deficiency in iron—less than 1/40,000th of the sun. This signature makes it the clearest example of a star within a primordial system that preserves ...
Phys.org / Bull sharks form social relationships with specific 'friends,' research reveals
Sharks are often viewed as solitary, but a new study—carried out on the Shark Reef Marine Reserve in Fiji—has found that rather than mixing at random, bull sharks have "active social preferences" and choose their social ...
Phys.org / ISS study identifies thresholds for muscle atrophy and fiber changes in reduced gravity
It's well known that spaceflight causes muscle atrophy and other biological changes in reduced gravity, and especially in near-zero gravity (microgravity) environments. However, the gravity threshold needed to maintain sufficient ...
