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. The basics of photosynthesis are something that every student learns in school: carbon dioxide, water and light in; oxygen and sugar for growth out. In a world where atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are rising, it is plausible to think that trees and other plant life growth will rise in lockstep. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-pores-longstanding-mystery-uneven-tree.html Environment Mon, 22 Dec 2025 13:20:06 EST news685631722 A fundamental link between two counterintuitive phenomena in spin glasses—reentrance and temperature chaos—has been mathematically proven for the first time. By extending the Edwards–Anderson model to include correlated disorder, researchers at Science Tokyo and Tohoku University provided the first rigorous proof that reentrance implies temperature chaos. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-mathematical-proof-puzzling-phenomena-glass.html Condensed Matter Mon, 27 Oct 2025 10:14:04 EDT news680778841 University of Warwick research demonstrates how to engineer "cell factories" that last longer and produce more chemicals, without needing antibiotics or complex engineering methods, paving the way for sustainable biotech that lasts. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-method-boosts-protein-production-cells.html Biotechnology Tue, 30 Sep 2025 13:14:04 EDT news678456841 The seemingly unpredictable, and thereby uncontrollable, dynamics of living organisms have perplexed and fascinated scientists for a long time. While these dynamics can be represented by reaction networks, which can model a variety of biological systems, taming and therefore controlling these dynamics can be challenging. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-secret-survival-strategy-life-revealed.html Mathematics Tue, 30 Sep 2025 09:17:03 EDT news678442621 One of the most fundamental processes in all of biology is the spontaneous organization of cells into clusters that divide and eventually turn into shapes—be they organs, wings or limbs. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-optimizing-cells-framework-genetic.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 21 Aug 2025 10:36:23 EDT news674991377 Scientists often seek new materials derived from polymers. Rather than starting a polymer search from scratch, they save time and money by blending existing polymers to achieve desired properties. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-automated-platform-discovery-high-polymer.html Polymers Mon, 28 Jul 2025 11:00:13 EDT news672903707 A way to greatly enhance the efficiency of a method for correcting errors in quantum computers has been realized by theoretical physicists at RIKEN. This advance could help to develop larger, more reliable quantum computers based on light. https://phys.org/news/2025-05-boosting-quantum-error-ai.html Quantum Physics Fri, 09 May 2025 11:09:14 EDT news666007743 A quantum computer can solve optimization problems faster than classical supercomputers, a process known as "quantum advantage" and demonstrated by a USC researcher in a paper recently published in Physical Review Letters. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-quantum-outperforms-supercomputers-approximate-optimization.html Quantum Physics Wed, 30 Apr 2025 15:40:08 EDT news665246401 In a major step toward more reliable AI-assisted molecular design, researchers from National Taiwan University have demonstrated that incorporating uncertainty quantification (UQ) into graph neural network (GNN) models significantly improves both the efficiency and robustness of molecular optimization. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-ai-molecular-uncertainty-quantification.html Analytical Chemistry Wed, 16 Apr 2025 10:25:07 EDT news664017896 Researchers at the University of Gothenburg have developed a novel Ising machine that utilizes surface acoustic waves as an effective carrier of dense information flow. This approach enables fast, energy-efficient solutions to complex optimization problems, offering a promising alternative to conventional computing methods based on von-Neumann architecture. The findings are published in the journal Communications Physics. https://phys.org/news/2025-03-acoustic-ising-machine-tackles-hard.html Condensed Matter Mon, 17 Mar 2025 13:09:05 EDT news661435741 What do albatrosses searching for food, stock market fluctuations, and the dispersal patterns of seeds in the wind have in common? https://phys.org/news/2025-03-soccer-teams-person-insights-behavior.html Mathematics Tue, 11 Mar 2025 14:21:04 EDT news660921662 Many physicists and engineers have recently been trying to demonstrate the potential of quantum computers for tackling some problems that are particularly demanding and are difficult to solve for classical computers. A task that has been found to be challenging for both quantum and classical computers is finding the ground state (i.e., lowest possible energy state) of systems with multiple interacting quantum particles, called quantum many-body systems. https://phys.org/news/2025-03-quantum-algorithm-excels-local-minima.html Quantum Physics Thu, 06 Mar 2025 06:30:01 EST news660395347 Forest restoration can benefit humans, boost biodiversity and help tackle climate change simultaneously, new research suggests. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-forest-boost-people-nature-climate.html Ecology Mon, 12 Aug 2024 15:00:01 EDT news642671761 When neuroscientists think about the strategy an animal might use to carry out a task—like finding food, hunting prey, or navigating a maze—they often propose a single model that lays out the best way for the animal to accomplish the job. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-dont-job.html Plants & Animals Mon, 24 Jun 2024 15:54:21 EDT news638463246 Data assimilation is a mathematical discipline that integrates observed data and numerical models to improve the interpretation and prediction of dynamical systems. It is a crucial component of Earth sciences, particularly in numerical weather prediction (NWP). https://phys.org/news/2024-06-quantum-assimilation-approach-weather.html General Physics Thu, 13 Jun 2024 12:10:16 EDT news637499410 Researchers at the University of Liverpool have built an AI-assistant to guide laboratory chemists to find new, cheaper ways to make organic molecules. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-ai-synthetic-chemists.html Analytical Chemistry Tue, 11 Jun 2024 10:12:04 EDT news637319522 Just as sat-nav did away with the need to argue over the best route home, scientists from the University of Surrey have developed a new method to find the optimal routes for future space missions without the need to waste fuel. The paper is published in the journal Astrodynamics. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-tube-planets-moons-theory.html Space Exploration Wed, 17 Apr 2024 13:35:57 EDT news632579754 The traveling salesman problem is considered a prime example of a combinatorial optimization problem. Now a Berlin team led by theoretical physicist Prof. Dr. Jens Eisert of Freie Universität Berlin and HZB has shown that a certain class of such problems can actually be solved better and much faster with quantum computers than with conventional methods. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-quantum-combinatorial-optimization-problems-easily.html Quantum Physics Mon, 18 Mar 2024 14:49:03 EDT news629992141 Anoles are the scuba-diving champions of the lizard world, able to stay underwater for more than 16 minutes. For animals whose body temperature depends on the environment, time spent in a cool running stream can have some tradeoffs. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-explores-cooling-effects-scuba-lizards.html Plants & Animals Thu, 29 Feb 2024 16:29:03 EST news628446541 In our data-driven era, solving complex problems efficiently is crucial. However, traditional computers often struggle with this task when dealing with a large number of interacting variables, leading to inefficiencies such as the von Neumann bottleneck. A new type of collective state computing has emerged to address this issue by mapping these optimization problems onto something called the Ising problem in magnetism. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-array-vcsels-optical-feedback.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 23 Feb 2024 13:43:31 EST news627918205 Lead optimization in drug discovery is a challenging process that heavily relies on hypotheses and the experience of medicinal chemists. This often leads to uncertain outcomes and inefficiency. Furthermore, the process is time-consuming and requires significant resources. Therefore, the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) predictive tools to accelerate this process would be highly valuable in the field of drug discovery. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-tool-efficiently-ligand-affinity-drug.html Biochemistry Wed, 25 Oct 2023 10:09:00 EDT news617447338 Doubling food production, saving water, and increasing carbon storage capacity—this may sound paradoxical, but would be theoretically feasible considering the biophysical potential of the Earth. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-food-carbon.html Earth Sciences Fri, 20 Oct 2023 09:46:02 EDT news617013953 The amount of power a microswimmer needs to move can now be determined more easily. Scientists from the department Living Matter Physics at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS) developed a general theorem to calculate the minimal energy required for propulsion. These insights allow a profound understanding for practical applications, such as targeted transport of molecules and substrates. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-scientists-theorem-fuel-economy-microswimmer.html General Physics Thu, 12 Oct 2023 09:43:02 EDT news616322581 Quantum annealing (QA) is a cutting-edge algorithm that leverages the unique properties of quantum computing to tackle complex combinatorial optimization problems (a class of mathematical problems dealing with discrete-variable functions). https://phys.org/news/2023-10-optimizing-continuous-variable-functions-quantum-annealing.html Quantum Physics Tue, 03 Oct 2023 10:44:05 EDT news615548641 The number of molecules thought to exist is unfathomably large—somewhere between 1050 and 1060 (for comparison, there are only 1022 to 1024 stars in the observable universe). The chemical and pharmaceutical sciences have sought a comprehensive understanding of the fundamental relationships in this vast "chemical compound space" that connects the structure of a given molecule and its properties. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-molecular-properties-weakly.html Analytical Chemistry Tue, 19 Sep 2023 14:50:39 EDT news614353836 Richard Schwartz, a mathematician at Brown University has found a solution to the problem of how small a Möbius band can be made without intersecting itself—at least for a smooth piece of paper. The paper is published on the arXiv preprint server. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-mathematician-mbius-band-aspect-ratio.html Mathematics Wed, 13 Sep 2023 09:22:08 EDT news613815720 Researchers from the RIKEN Center for Quantum Computing have used machine learning to perform error correction for quantum computers—a crucial step for making these devices practical—using an autonomous correction system that despite being approximate, can efficiently determine how best to make the necessary corrections. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-machine-contributes-quantum-error.html Quantum Physics Thu, 07 Sep 2023 15:59:56 EDT news613321194 Quantum computers, technologies that perform computations leveraging quantum mechanical phenomena, could eventually outperform classical computers on many complex computational and optimization problems. While some quantum computers have attained remarkable results on some tasks, their advantage over classical computers is yet to be conclusively and consistently demonstrated. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-difficulty-simulating-random-quantum-circuits.html Quantum Physics Wed, 06 Sep 2023 06:30:01 EDT news613124221 Over the past decades, researchers and companies worldwide have been trying to develop increasingly advanced quantum computers. The key objective of their efforts is to create systems that will outperform classical computers on specific tasks, which is also known as realizing "quantum advantage." https://phys.org/news/2023-05-team-quantum-advantage-optimization-problems.html Quantum Physics Wed, 17 May 2023 10:11:16 EDT news603537062 Large numbers can only be factorized with a great deal of computational effort. Physicists at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, led by Wolfgang Lechner are now providing a blueprint for a new type of quantum computer to solve the factorization problem, which is a cornerstone of modern cryptography. The research was recently published in Communications Physics. https://phys.org/news/2023-05-blueprint-quantum-reverse-gear.html General Physics Thu, 04 May 2023 08:37:02 EDT news602408218