Phys.org news

Phys.org / Detailed map reveals groundwater levels across the U.S.

How much fresh water is in the United States? It's a tough question, since most of the water is underground, accessible at varying depths. In previous decades, it's been answered indirectly from data on rainfall and evaporation. ...

Jan 14, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / Astronomers discover 19 new pulsars by analyzing FAST archival data

Astronomers from Nanjing University in China have analyzed the archival data from the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST), searching for new pulsars. As a result, they detected 19 such objects that ...

Jan 14, 2026 in Astronomy & Space
Phys.org / T. rex grew up slowly: New study reveals 'king of dinosaurs' kept growing until age 40

For decades, scientists have been counting annual growth rings—similar to tree rings—inside fossilized leg bones of Tyrannosaurus rex to estimate how old the giant carnivores were when they died and how quickly they grew ...

Jan 14, 2026 in Biology
Dialog / A new form of graphene-derived material could unlock next-generation printed electronics

Graphene has long been hailed as a "wonder material." It is incredibly strong, highly conductive and almost impossibly thin—just one atom thick. These properties make it a promising candidate for next-generation technologies ...

Jan 14, 2026 in Nanotechnology
Phys.org / Chemists determine structure of fuzzy coat that surrounds Tau proteins

One of the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease is the clumping of proteins called Tau, which form tangled fibrils in the brain. The more severe the clumping, the more advanced the disease is.

Jan 14, 2026 in Chemistry
Phys.org / Black Ivory coffee: Elephant gut bacteria may contribute to its smooth, chocolaty flavor

Coffee beans that pass through the digestive tracts of animals get their unique flavors from the activity of gut microbes, report researchers from the Institute of Science Tokyo. The guts of Asian elephants that produce Black ...

Jan 14, 2026 in Chemistry
Phys.org / Scientist wins 'Environment Nobel' for shedding light on hidden fungal networks

Beneath the surface of forests, grasslands and farms across the world, vast fungal webs form underground trading systems to exchange nutrients with plant roots, acting as critical climate regulators as they draw down 13 billion ...

Jan 14, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Neutral-atom arrays, a rapidly emerging quantum computing platform, get a boost from researchers

For quantum computers to outperform their classical counterparts, they need more quantum bits, or qubits. State-of-the-art quantum computers have around 1,000 qubits. Columbia physicists Sebastian Will and Nanfang Yu have ...

Jan 14, 2026 in Physics
Phys.org / CRISPR–Cas3 genome-editing system holds therapeutic potential

Genetic disorders occur due to alterations in the primary genetic material—deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)—of an organism.

Jan 14, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Ultrasound-activated nanoparticles in immune cells trigger targeted inflammatory response

Piezoelectric nanoparticles deployed inside immune cells and stimulated remotely by ultrasound can trigger the body's disease-fighting response, according to an interdisciplinary team of Boston College researchers.

Jan 14, 2026 in Nanotechnology
Phys.org / Physics of foam strangely resembles AI training

Foams are everywhere: soap suds, shaving cream, whipped toppings and food emulsions like mayonnaise. For decades, scientists believed that foams behave like glass, their microscopic components trapped in static, disordered ...

Jan 14, 2026 in Physics
Phys.org / Analyzing Darwin's specimens without opening 200-year-old jars

Scientists have successfully analyzed Charles Darwin's original specimens from his HMS Beagle voyage (1831 to 1836) to the Galapagos Islands.

Jan 14, 2026 in Chemistry