Phys.org news
Phys.org / Atlantic Forest's top predator faces a hidden collapse, and protected areas are no longer enough
In addition to habitat loss and illegal hunting, the jaguar (Panthera onca) faces another threat that increases its risk of extinction in the South American Atlantic Forest: food scarcity. A study by Brazilian researchers ...
Phys.org / Soil fertilization with Amazonian dark earth increases tree diameter by up to 88%
A study conducted in the Brazilian state of Amazonas has demonstrated that small amounts of Amazonian dark earth (ADE)—an anthropogenic soil created by ancient Amazonian populations—can increase the height and diameter of ...
Phys.org / How hard-surface feeding unlocked a burst of reef fish evolution 50 million years ago
Why are there so many species of coral reef fish? According to a new study, it's because about 50 million years ago, some fish figured out how to bite food from hard surfaces.
Phys.org / Light can now be shaped in empty space, and it could simplify sensing and boost data links
Scientists at the University of East Anglia have uncovered a hidden property of light that allows it to twist, spin and behave differently—without mirrors, materials or special lenses. In a breakthrough that could transform ...
Phys.org / Decades-long study finds 'stable' soil carbon degrades
After nearly four decades, the world's longest-running soil warming experiment is revealing a surprising result: even "stable" carbon in forest soils can break down as temperatures rise, releasing more CO₂ into the atmosphere. ...
Phys.org / Astronomers release massive set of 'virtual universes' for global research
Understanding the universe as a whole requires simulations on cosmic scales. An international team of astrophysicists, with a leading role for researchers at Leiden University, Netherlands, has now released one of the largest ...
Phys.org / Hidden stripe pattern lets microscopes auto-focus across 400 times deeper range
Anyone who has ever used a microscope knows that it takes time to bring a sample into sharp focus. Each time you move the slide, the image blurs, and you have to stop and carefully turn a knob to bring everything back into ...
Phys.org / Natural rubber process boosts tire toughness about tenfold while preserving stiffness
Natural rubber, tapped from trees as latex, is the world's most widely used bio-elastomer. Comprising long molecular chains that make it pliable and stretchy yet highly resistant to cracking and strain, natural rubber is ...
Phys.org / Data from Earth's most remote atoll show soil fungi are key to island regeneration
Palmyra Atoll, a remote, uninhabited speck of land, coral and sea halfway between Hawaii and American Samoa, is one of the healthiest, intact atolls on the planet—so ecologically sensitive that visiting researchers freeze ...
Phys.org / They cover just 3% of Earth, yet the unanswered questions around them could reshape climate action forever
Researchers including a number from the University of Exeter, have identified the most urgent unanswered questions about peatlands, providing a global roadmap to guide future science and policy for one of the planet's most ...
Phys.org / New microscope reveals previously hidden differences in photosynthetic light-harvesting antennae
How do photosynthetic organisms harvest light so efficiently? To help answer this question, researchers have developed an ultrafast transient absorption microscope with sensitivity approaching the single-molecule level.
Phys.org / Investigating the disordered heart of glass
Recent research led by the University of Trento reveals that fundamental atomic vibrations remain unchanged also in ultra-stable glasses. This discovery advances the decade-long debate on the physics of disorder and opens ...
