Phys.org news

New research from Adelaide University suggests the power of the ancient Tethys Ocean might have shaped Central Asia's topography during the Cretaceous period.

A substance poisonous to humans—hydrogen cyanide—may have helped create the seeds of life on Earth. At cold temperatures, hydrogen cyanide forms crystals. And, according to computer models reported in ACS Central Science, ...

Scientists built a robot to help explain how a tropical bat spots insects perched on leaves using echolocation, a highly sophisticated behavior that requires precise, split-second decision making on the part of the hunting ...

Cilia are micrometer-sized biological structures that occur frequently in nature. Their characteristic high-frequency, three-dimensional beating motions (5–40 Hz) play indispensable roles inside the body.

Polyamines are small molecules naturally present in all cells and are critical in guiding cellular decisions, whereas an alteration in the abundance of these metabolites is invariably observed in pathological scenarios such ...

Europe and western North America will experience more frequent and severe crop droughts as Earth warms, even in places where yearly rainfall increases.

University of Birmingham scientists have developed a new way of measuring and analyzing indoor air pollution that—in initial trials—has established a clear link between office occupancy, physical activity, and air quality.

For 21 years, between 1999 and 2020, millions of people worldwide loaned UC Berkeley scientists their computers to search for signs of advanced civilizations in our galaxy.

During spring, when queen bumblebees first emerge from hibernation to start their nests, they work incredibly hard foraging for nectar to fuel their new colonies. But then, as soon as their first workers are born, they seem ...

Evolutionarily speaking, the ultimate goal of a lifeform is to reproduce and stave off extinction. Many plants and animals have evolved unique tricks to do so. One of these tricks is mimicry, which might be used to trick ...

Quantum technologies are highly promising devices that process, transfer or store information leveraging quantum mechanical effects. Instead of relying on bits, like classical computers, quantum devices rely on entangled ...

Our nearest neighbor, the moon, is still something of a mystery to us. For decades, scientists have wondered why it appears so lopsided, with dark volcanic plains on the near side (the side we see) and rugged, cratered mountains ...