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. Researchers have discovered that atoms can be mixed, separated, and recombined within the same experiment, providing a pathway to a record-breaking catalyst for green hydrogen production. In their study, the team created nanoscale particles containing only a few dozen platinum and nickel atoms and observed unusual dynamic behavior in direct space and in real time. As the two metals separate from one another while maintaining an interface, they become highly active for electrochemical water splitting, leading to efficient hydrogen evolution. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-atomic-reshuffle-catalysts-hydrogen-production.html Nanomaterials Tue, 02 Jun 2026 19:10:01 EDT news699630241 From sizzling bacon in the kitchen to wildfire smoke in the sky, cooking and pollution release microscopic particles that affect humans' health, the air they breathe, and even weather and climate. New research from Virginia Tech is poised to upend how scientists think about the structure of these tiny airborne droplets and what that means for predictions around air quality, pollution spread, and climate models. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-environmental-reshape-airborne-pollution-particles.html Environment Tue, 02 Jun 2026 16:50:02 EDT news699635161 Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) have discovered a microscopic organism that can transform into a cannibalistic "supergiant" that drastically changes size, shape, and behavior, and abandons filter-feeding to hunt and consume their genetically identical relatives. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-cell-cannibalistic-supergiant-swallowing-clones.html Ecology Tue, 02 Jun 2026 15:30:02 EDT news699630541 Sometime between 5.5 and 5.6 million years ago, two shell crushers squared off in the languid currents of an ancient Florida river. The fossils they left behind, discovered by paleontologists at the Florida Museum of Natural History, reveal the identity of the combatants and the outcome of their encounter. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-ancient-altercations-musk-turtles-alligator.html Ecology Tue, 02 Jun 2026 13:40:03 EDT news699617204 The astronauts circling Earth on the Artemis mission sent back beautiful clear photos of the continents, clouds, and oceans. But we might be the exception. Many planets in the universe may be hazed in clouds of soot, according to a new study by University of Chicago scientists. Their analysis explains a curious trend seen by astronomers training telescopes on distant planets beyond our own solar system. Many of these worlds had atmospheres that returned strangely featureless readings. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-mini-neptune-exoplanets-smoggy-atmospheres.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 02 Jun 2026 12:20:04 EDT news699615422 The oldest cave art in Britain may have been discovered, or more likely rediscovered, in a cave on the Gower Peninsula in South Wales, possibly dating back around 17,000 years. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-britain-oldest-cave-art-rediscovered.html Archaeology Tue, 02 Jun 2026 11:40:01 EDT news699613540 Water deficit resistance in plants has long been a topic of interest for cultivating reliable crops. Some plants can alter their above-ground structure to lock in moisture, while others develop deep, industrious roots that find hard-to-reach water sources. While such responses are obvious to the naked eye, we know little about how responses to environmental stress occur at the microscopic, cellular level. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-tiny-membrane-tethers-revealed-key.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 02 Jun 2026 11:00:02 EDT news699608101 The ocean is full of invisible workers. Trillions of microbes quietly break down carbon-containing organic matter, which helps to regulate Earth's climate. But scientists have long struggled to understand how different microbes contribute to the process. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-metabolic-niches-reveal-ocean-microbes.html Ecology Mon, 01 Jun 2026 17:00:05 EDT news699545282 Applying an external magnetic field during the synthesis of CoFe2O4 electrocatalysts triples the ammonia yield during electrocatalytic conversion. The magnetic field alters the surface states of the spinel oxide thin films, making catalytically active sites more accessible. In the journal Advanced Functional Materials, a team led by Marcel Risch at HZB and Sanjay Mathur at University of Cologne demonstrates a scalable strategy for developing next-generation electrocatalysts for efficient and sustainable chemical production. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-magnetic-field-catalyst-synthesis-triples.html Analytical Chemistry Mon, 01 Jun 2026 15:40:02 EDT news699544081 Box jellyfish are often feared as dangerous animals, with some species capable of causing severe or even fatal stings. However, box jellyfish nematocysts—organelles responsible for this toxic sting—are theorized to also play an unexpected role in reproduction. While many studies focus on researching the range of toxicity levels exhibited by the more than 50 species of box jellyfish, their reproductive process is poorly understood. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-jellyfish-reveal-secret-life-implications.html Plants & Animals Mon, 01 Jun 2026 13:00:01 EDT news699533821 From household plastic packaging to the flexible frameworks that support wearable electronics, polymer materials form the invisible backbone of modern life. At a microscopic level, polymers consist of long, ribbon-like molecular chains that are entangled into a disorganized mass resembling a bowl of cooked noodles. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-precise-polymer-uncover-hidden-slack.html Polymers Mon, 01 Jun 2026 12:20:02 EDT news699533461 The planar Hall effect is a tabletop diagnostic tool for special quantum properties useful in basic research and technological applications. Or so it was thought, because careful calculation by Kobe University researchers clarifies the conditions under which this effect may also appear in classical materials. This makes the diagnostic more meaningful and enables more purposeful design. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-math-discriminates-exotic-classical-materials.html Condensed Matter Mon, 01 Jun 2026 11:00:07 EDT news699263693 Scientists have uncovered how the interplay between cell shape and mechanical stress influences the orientation of stomata (microscopic pores on the leaf surface) during early plant development. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-leaf-stomata-young-reveal.html Cell & Microbiology Sun, 31 May 2026 15:00:02 EDT news699190902 Few creatures inspire as much universal dislike as ticks. Though small, these parasites have an enormous impact on human and animal health. Each year, ticks spread viruses and bacteria that infect people, livestock, wildlife, and pets around the world. Scientists at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine are working to better understand how ticks transmit these diseases—and how to stop them. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-hidden-saliva-protein-disease-source.html Molecular & Computational biology Sun, 31 May 2026 08:00:03 EDT news699432354 Topological phases are unusual states of matter that give rise to properties protected by a material's overall structure (i.e., "topology"), as opposed to microscopic details. These phases are of great interest for the development of quantum technologies, as they can yield desirable electronic properties that are robust against defects and disturbances. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-topological-states-emerge-quantum-hall.html Superconductivity Fri, 29 May 2026 07:00:01 EDT news698933871 A research group led by Assistant Professor Takafumi Tomita and Professor Kenji Ohmori at the Institute for Molecular Science, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, has developed a new microscopy technique called the Atom Camera, which uses a single ultracold atom at near absolute zero temperature trapped in an optical tweezer as a camera to visualize the intensity and polarization distributions of light at the nanometer (one-millionth of a millimeter) scale. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-atom-camera-laser-nanoscale-ultracold.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 29 May 2026 05:00:02 EDT news699205861 Researchers in Leiden have, for the first time, observed how a specialized enzyme helps bacteria stay alive when oxygen levels are low, and how that process can be blocked. The study, published in Science Advances, opens up new possibilities for targeted antibiotics. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-bacteria-survive-oxygen-blocking-enzyme.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 28 May 2026 19:40:03 EDT news699198241 An extremely fast microscopy method to research the interaction of light and matter makes it possible to study optical processes on very short timescales. To this end, a German–Italian research team is combining holographic imaging with ultrafast spectroscopy in an innovative way. In this manner, even extremely short-lived electronic and magnetic phenomena—which play a major role in the development and application of novel energy materials—can be observed. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-ultrafast-holographic-imaging-reveals-electron.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 28 May 2026 19:10:02 EDT news699206941 Chemical bonding is one of the central organizing principles of the microscopic world. It determines how atoms combine and thereby governs a wide range of physical and chemical properties of quantum systems across many length scales, ranging from small molecules and biomolecules to macroscopically large solid materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-quantum-entanglement-framework-chemical-bonding.html Analytical Chemistry Thu, 28 May 2026 18:50:01 EDT news699206701 Physicists from Emory University have led work to develop a microscopic, nonlinear light source that can be switched on, off or tuned to a particular intensity by an electrical "knob." The paper is published in the journal Optica, and could aid in the design of smaller, more flexible technologies for communications, sensing and quantum computing. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-electrical-knob-tune-intensity-nanoscale.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 28 May 2026 17:50:01 EDT news699207961 Living cells cool much slower than our current understanding of heat conduction can explain, according to new research from the University of Tokyo. Researchers have used two techniques—high-speed temperature mapping and artificial heating—to observe how heat dissipates from living cells and similar-sized artificial, fluid-filled sacs (liposomes). While heat dispersed quickly from the artificial liposomes as expected, cells cooled significantly more slowly due to other biomolecules within the cell. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-cells-ways-standard-fluid-physics.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 28 May 2026 05:00:03 EDT news699117362 Researchers at TU/e have demonstrated that energy transfer without loss via light or heat can occur over much greater distances than previously thought possible thanks to vibrations in microscopic gold rods. They succeeded in making energy jump from one particle to another over a distance of several millimeters without "spilling" energy along the way. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-fundamental-limit-energy-particles.html General Physics Wed, 27 May 2026 18:00:06 EDT news699117002 Heat behaves in predictable ways: a hot cup of coffee cools, a laptop warms your hands, the sun heats Earth. But at scales thousands of times smaller than a human hair, those rules begin to break down, and scientists are learning how to take advantage of that. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-metamaterials-enable-nanoscale-potentially-energy.html Nanophysics Wed, 27 May 2026 17:40:05 EDT news699116822 Many medically important drugs originate from natural sources. Microorganisms produce these compounds using highly sophisticated and remarkably precise enzymatic assembly lines. Many natural microbial products belong to a class known as nonribosomal peptides—short chains of amino acids that often possess pharmacologically relevant biological activities, including antibiotic effects. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-biosynthesis-platform-enable-bioactive-compounds.html Biochemistry Wed, 27 May 2026 15:20:13 EDT news699111421 Well-preserved archaeological bone samples have different microbial communities than heavily degraded bone samples, providing a new understanding of how microbes contribute to bone degradation, according to a study published in PLOS One by Damla Kaptan from the University of Stavanger, Norway, and colleagues. This study combines detailed analyses of archaeological bone degradation with analyses of microbiome diversity, providing new insights into how microbes may contribute to long-term bone preservation and decay. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-link-specific-microbiomes-archaeological-bone.html Archaeology Wed, 27 May 2026 14:00:19 EDT news699026160 During animal cell division, a highly synchronized and tightly regulated dance of chromosomes takes place, ensuring the chromosomes split correctly into the two cells. Spindle fibers—complex machinery responsible for choreographing this dance—form from each end of the cell and push and pull the chromosomes through the process. But scientists still do not fully understand how cells control where and when the spindle fibers themselves form. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-scientists-reveal-cells-precisely-trigger.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 27 May 2026 14:00:01 EDT news699102901 Fermentation is one of the oldest methods of preserving food. Long before refrigerators existed, people relied on microorganisms to keep food—including meat—safe to eat. Ph.D. research by VUB researcher Ana Sosa Fajardo (VUB Research Group of Industrial Microbiology and Food Biotechnology) now sheds light on why a fermented sausage, for instance, is not only safe to eat but also enjoyable in terms of flavor. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-invisible-bacteria-flavor-safety-salami.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 27 May 2026 13:00:08 EDT news699098703 A University of Texas at Austin-led team has reconstructed the most detailed map to date of the molecular machines that carried out the functions of life in an ancient ancestor that gave rise to all complex life on Earth, including us, shedding new light on genetic causes of human diseases. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-reconstructed-15billionyearold-protein-network-reveals.html Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 27 May 2026 11:00:01 EDT news699029585 Researchers have discovered how acids on the surface of bacteria give these microscopic organisms their characteristic "rod" shape—by keeping an enzyme at bay that would otherwise turn the cylindrical cells into shape-shifting blobs. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-mysterious-acids-bacteria-rod-restraining.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 27 May 2026 10:20:05 EDT news699093602 In a study published in ACS Nano, researchers from National Taiwan University report a new expansion microscopy strategy termed high-fold homogeneous expansion microscopy (hiHomoExM), capable of achieving approximately 8–9× isotropic expansion in a single expansion step while preserving delicate ultrastructural organization. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-9x-expansion-reveals-nanoscale-centrioles.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 26 May 2026 14:40:01 EDT news699016621