https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. For a long time, most scientists believed that early human hunter-gatherer societies were mostly equal, with little hierarchy or leadership, and that strong inequalities only emerged later with farming and complex societies. However, new research out of Arizona State University is challenging this. Archaeological finds, ethnographic studies and now psychological research suggest that inequality in influence—who people listen to, copy, and follow—may have been part of human societies deep into our evolutionary past. The research has been published in Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-leadership.html Social Sciences Tue, 03 Feb 2026 06:44:19 EST news689323442 Using the Einstein Probe (EP), astronomers have detected a new X-ray transient event, which turned out to be an X-ray flare from the star PM J23221-0301 located about 150 light years away. The finding was reported in a research paper published December 18 on the arXiv preprint server. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-einstein-probe-ray-flare-nearby.html Astronomy Wed, 31 Dec 2025 08:30:01 EST news686312253 Investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine have developed a versatile and non-toxic technology for controlling the activity of any gene in a cell. Such "gene-switch" tools allow scientists to "turn on" or "turn off" a target gene to study how it works, model diseases and design new therapies. The tool potentially could be adopted throughout biomedical research, including in the development of gene therapies. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-versatile-gene-tool-toxic-molecule.html Biotechnology Mon, 03 Nov 2025 14:30:01 EST news681402025 Researchers at Tel Aviv University have developed a new approach for using locked nucleic acids (LNAs)—a particularly stable type of RNA—to treat inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. The researchers encapsulated selected LNA molecules, which silence a key gene in colitis, within lipid (fat) nanoparticles that serve as targeted drug carriers and injected the nanoparticles into colitis-model mice. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-lipid-nanoparticles-enable-rna-therapy.html Bio & Medicine Wed, 17 Sep 2025 15:21:03 EDT news677341261 U.S. cities are facing a growing threat that goes beyond hot weather or hazy air. New research from the University of Oklahoma reveals that "compound events"—periods when heat wave conditions coincide with high air pollution levels—are becoming more frequent and intense in urban areas across the United States. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-cities-extreme-air-pollution-compound.html Earth Sciences Tue, 02 Sep 2025 14:40:29 EDT news676042821 Approximately 350,000 chemicals are predicted to be commercially available worldwide. Little is known about which chemicals are potentially neurotoxic, meaning harmful to the (developing) brain. To date, efficient testing methods are lacking. A research team at the Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) has now developed a screening approach based on the zebrafish embryo model that enables high-throughput neurotoxicity testing without the need for conventional animal experiments. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-neurotoxic-efficient-chemical-screening-approach.html Biochemistry Tue, 12 Aug 2025 12:58:05 EDT news674222281 A team of scientists has developed a powerful new way to detect subtle magnetic signals in common metals like copper, gold, and aluminum—using nothing more than light and a clever technique. Their research, recently published in Nature Communications, could pave the way for advances in everything from smartphones to quantum computing. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-invisible-hidden-magnetic-clues-everyday.html Condensed Matter Thu, 17 Jul 2025 05:00:01 EDT news671897093 Is it wizardry? Physicists at the University of Konstanz have succeeded in changing the properties of a material in a non-thermal way with the help of light and magnons. The new process is not only promising for information technology, but possibly for quantum research, too—at room temperature. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-magic-magnons-material-properties-thermally.html Quantum Physics Wed, 16 Jul 2025 10:38:00 EDT news671881074 As NASA prepares to send astronauts back to the moon for the first time in over 50 years, new research from the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) has found that lunar dust is less harmful to human lung cells than previously feared, and significantly less toxic than common Earth-based air pollution. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-abrasive-lunar-toxic-city-pollution.html Space Exploration Tue, 17 Jun 2025 10:15:31 EDT news669374127 Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the National Center for Genomic Analysis and the University of Adelaide have created a single-cell RNA analysis method that is 47 times cheaper and more scalable than other techniques. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-imaging-based-technique-democratizes-cell.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 11 Jun 2025 16:02:01 EDT news668876516 A new study highlights a surprising lens for tracking pollution trends over centuries: preserved plants and animals housed at natural history museums around the world. According to Shane DuBay, a researcher at The University of Texas at Arlington, these specimens contain valuable environmental data that can help scientists reconstruct pollution trends spanning more than 200 years. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-museum-specimens-lens-pollution-history.html Environment Wed, 04 Jun 2025 13:15:04 EDT news668261692 A new study using the largest network of microphones to track birds in the United States is providing crucial insights for managing and restoring fire-prone forests across California's Sierra Nevada region. https://phys.org/news/2025-03-acoustic-network-birds-forest.html Ecology Tue, 11 Mar 2025 11:39:04 EDT news660911941 Scientists have discovered the mechanism which allows the superbug methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) to become highly resistant to antibiotics, paving the way for new approaches to control infectious disease. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-mrsa-defense-antibiotics-superbug-evolved.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 31 Oct 2024 14:00:01 EDT news649584181 Colistin is a last-resort antibiotic that is usually only used for severe infections with resistant bacteria. This is due to its severe kidney-damaging side effects, which occur in about 30% of treated patients. A research team at the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research (HZI) and the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) has now been able to produce an inactivated, harmless form of colistin that is only activated in the body with the help of chemical switches. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-chemical-antibiotic-pathogen.html Biochemistry Mon, 21 Oct 2024 10:43:36 EDT news648726208 Astronomers report the detection of a second exoplanet orbiting a G-type star known as TIC 393818343, located some 300 light years away. The newfound alien world is about three times less massive than Jupiter. The finding was detailed in a research paper published October 9 on the pre-print server arXiv. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-exoplanet-orbiting-early-star.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 17 Oct 2024 09:50:01 EDT news648376677 Using the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) and various ground-based telescopes, an international team of astronomers have performed observations of a strong X-ray superflare which occurred in 2022 on a giant star known as HD 251108. Results of the observational campaign, published Oct. 4 on the pre-print server arXiv, provide more insights into the flaring activity of this star. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-astronomers-strong-superflare-giant-star.html Astronomy Mon, 14 Oct 2024 09:04:29 EDT news648115464 Diabetes, a widespread condition affecting approximately 13% of American adults, is often accompanied by complications such as impaired wound healing. If left unchecked, this can lead to severe outcomes, including the need for amputation. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-harnessing-exosomes-hydrogels-advanced-diabetic.html Bio & Medicine Fri, 20 Sep 2024 12:18:58 EDT news646053534 Astronomers have employed NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) to observe a subdwarf star designated TIC 441725813. In result, they found that TIC 441725813 is a hybrid hot B subdwarf pulsator. The discovery was detailed in a research paper published July 25 on the pre-print server arXiv. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-tic-hybrid-pulsating-subdwarf-star.html Astronomy Thu, 01 Aug 2024 08:00:01 EDT news641712782 As wildfires in Siberia become more common, global climate modeling estimates significant impacts on climate, air quality, health, and economies in East Asia and across the northern hemisphere. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-broader-effects-wildfires-siberia.html Earth Sciences Wed, 24 Apr 2024 09:00:01 EDT news633166141 Using the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT), astronomers have performed high-resolution observations of a recently detected extreme helium star designated EC 19529–4430. It turned out that EC 19529–4430 is the most metal deficient among the population of known extreme helium stars. The finding was reported in a research paper published April 5 on the pre-print server arXiv. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-astronomers-metal-poor-extreme-helium.html Astronomy Wed, 17 Apr 2024 08:53:00 EDT news632562773 Experimental research conducted by a joint team from Los Alamos National Laboratory and D-Wave Quantum Systems examines the paradoxical role of fluctuations in inducing magnetic ordering on a network of qubits. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-experimentation-explores-defects-fluctuations-quantum.html Quantum Physics Thu, 01 Feb 2024 12:41:02 EST news626013661 A Lancaster University Ph.D. student has measured the optical depth of Saturn's rings using a new method based on how much sunlight reached the Cassini spacecraft while it was in the shadow of the rings. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-eclipses-transparency-saturn.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 14 Nov 2023 09:13:02 EST news619175581 In a paper published recently in Advanced Science, researchers from the Paul Drude Institute in Berlin, Germany, and the Xiamen University, Xiamen, China, demonstrated that ferrimagnetic NiCo2O4 (NCO) constitutes a solution for the long-term challenge of finding materials with a robust out-of-plane magnetization. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-solution-long-term-benefits-spintronics-storage.html Condensed Matter Mon, 30 Oct 2023 11:24:03 EDT news617883842 A new objective examination of almost a quarter-of-a-century of ocean acidification research shows that, despite challenges, experts in the field can have confidence in their research. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-ocean-acidification-robust-ebbs.html Earth Sciences Mon, 25 Sep 2023 13:26:40 EDT news614867198 Nothing in the world is perfect. This is also true in materials research. In computer simulations, one often represents a system in a highly idealized way; for example, one calculates the properties that an absolutely perfect crystal would have. In practice, however, we always have to deal with additional effects—with defects in the crystal lattice, with additional particles that attach to the material, with complicated interactions between the particles. The crucial question is therefore: Do these unavoidable additional effects change the material properties or not? https://phys.org/news/2023-08-electron-graphene-nanostructures.html Nanophysics Tue, 29 Aug 2023 08:42:04 EDT news612517322 The sustainable production of hydrogen could potentially be made more efficient by adding a cleverly chosen salt to the process. Researchers at the Leiden Institute of Chemistry (LIC), in collaboration with physicists at the University of Twente, have discovered that the type of salt present in the production of hydrogen through electrolysis affects the formation of hydrogen bubbles. This is interesting because bubble formation affects the efficiency of hydrogen production. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-role-formation-sustainable-hydrogen-production.html Materials Science Thu, 10 Aug 2023 12:46:00 EDT news610890353 When is having trillions of choices not enough? Apparently when making aptamers. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-aptamers.html Biochemistry Thu, 06 Jul 2023 11:46:16 EDT news607862772 In recent years, scientists have been studying special materials called topological materials, with special attention paid to the shape, or topology, of their electronic structures (electronic bands). Although it is not visible in real space, their unusual shape in topological materials produces various unique properties that can be suitable for making next-generation devices. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-features-band-topology-amorphous-thin.html Analytical Chemistry Fri, 30 Jun 2023 09:38:02 EDT news607336681 Climate change in current times has created problems for humans such as wildfires and reduced growing seasons for staple crops, spilling over into economic effects. Many researchers predict, and have observed in published literature, an increase in interpersonal violence and homicides when temperatures increase. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-climate-violence-early-andean-populations.html Archaeology Thu, 15 Jun 2023 16:05:19 EDT news606063909 Chemotherapy treatments produce strong side effects. A new agent that accumulates in the tumor tissue and is activated there by ultrasound waves does not have this problem. https://phys.org/news/2023-04-team-anticancer-nanoparticles-ultrasound.html Bio & Medicine Wed, 05 Apr 2023 12:03:04 EDT news599914982