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. Heavy polar molecules are some of the most sensitive tools physicists have for probing what lies beyond the Standard Model, the theory that describes the particles and forces we know about. But turning that sensitivity into precise, trustworthy measurements has long been held back by one stubborn problem: Stray electric and magnetic fields drown out the tiny signals researchers are actually looking for. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-molecular-clock-transitions-tune-noise.html General Physics Thu, 23 Jul 2026 10:00:07 EDT news703934328 Quantum information is notoriously fragile. Internet traffic is anything but. Yet Northwestern University scientists have demonstrated they can peacefully coexist inside the same fiber-optic cable. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-quantum-internet-lab-real-world.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 22 Jul 2026 18:40:01 EDT news703948921 A research team led by UCLA and the University of Rochester has demonstrated a promising evolution of an imaging system designed to capture details within "complex media," which scatter light, from depicting structures inside body tissue to seeing obstacles through heavy fog. The system uses physics-based machine learning to improve an existing imaging technique. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-physics-based-ai-boost-biomedical.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 22 Jul 2026 15:00:08 EDT news703945682 Scientists at the University of California, Riverside, have developed a new way to help gravitational-wave observatories see farther into the universe by solving one of their biggest challenges: tiny heat-induced distortions in the massive mirrors at the heart of the detectors. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-technique-enables-ligo-peer-distant.html Astronomy Tue, 21 Jul 2026 18:30:07 EDT news703868521 One of the deepest ambitions in modern physics is understanding how the fabric of space and time could emerge from fundamental quantum degrees of freedom to establish a quantum theory of gravity. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-quantum-error-emergent-gravity-probing.html General Physics Tue, 21 Jul 2026 11:10:02 EDT news703850636 The inevitable leakage of energy and information from a quantum system into its surrounding environment is the enemy of quantum technology. Now, researchers have demonstrated that it can be exploited to generate entanglement—the "resource" that quantum technologies use to perform tasks inaccessible to standard classical technologies. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-quantum-entanglement-leaky-qubits-route.html Quantum Physics Sun, 19 Jul 2026 14:20:01 EDT news703687891 Electrical interconnects may very well be the unsung heroes of modern microchips. These tiny wires—typically made of copper due to its high conductivity—string together the billions of transistors that drive our computers and electronic devices. But as the technology advances and additional transistors are piled on, the components must shrink to the nanoscale. And that's when copper begins to fail. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-thinner-wires-faster-electrons-quantum.html Nanomaterials Fri, 17 Jul 2026 11:40:01 EDT news703497286 For the first time, researchers have developed a way to create chilled molecules containing the radioactive element radium. The resulting laboratory concoctions, generated in part through steps similar to those used to make candy, are poised to help researchers solve one of the biggest mysteries of our universe: How did matter in the early universe come to dominate over its antimatter counterpart? https://phys.org/news/2026-07-cold-radioactive-molecules-prepped-readied.html General Physics Thu, 16 Jul 2026 14:00:14 EDT news703345902 Researchers have shown that it's possible to take clear, high-resolution X-ray images using very little radiation. With more development, the new approach could eventually make medical X-ray diagnostics less risky and more accessible. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-imaging-method-ray-dose-high.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 16 Jul 2026 10:00:09 EDT news703318227 The secret of how seals can hear in air and water has been revealed, thanks to pioneering research led by Natural History Museum scientists. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-filter-blood-tissue-underwater-reveals.html Plants & Animals Wed, 15 Jul 2026 10:10:03 EDT news703328977 The age-old question asks, "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" While philosophers and scientists alike have pondered this question for centuries, the more relevant question for today's recreation and wildlife managers is: Does it matter what makes the sound? https://phys.org/news/2026-07-human-noise-alaska-predators-night.html Ecology Tue, 14 Jul 2026 14:40:05 EDT news703246996 Cornstarch can thicken soup or serve as a base for a DIY shampoo, but there's more to the humble pantry staple. Given the right conditions, it seems to defy the laws of physics. Mixing cornstarch with water creates "oobleck"—a shape-shifting substance classified as a non-Newtonian fluid that changes states when subjected to a force. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-oobleck-droplets-reveal-ways-cornstarch.html Soft Matter Mon, 13 Jul 2026 09:00:07 EDT news703149113 The mysterious substance that binds galaxies together could naturally be "in tune" with a hidden fifth dimension, according to a new University of Sheffield theory aiming to shed light on one of science's biggest enigmas: dark matter. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-hidden-dimension-tune-dark-resonance.html General Physics Mon, 13 Jul 2026 08:30:02 EDT news703149689 Recent improvements in our understanding of how the principles of thermodynamics apply in the quantum realm could give a boost to quantum technology, and a clearer picture of quantum thermodynamics could in turn enhance our understanding of classical thermodynamics. Now, Aalto University researchers have demonstrated the first cyclic quantum heat engine inside a superconducting circuit. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-world-superconducting-quantum-path-larger.html Quantum Physics Mon, 13 Jul 2026 05:00:01 EDT news702907773 When people think about geological faults, they usually think about earthquakes. Yet faults do not move only during earthquakes. Sometimes they slip silently, without generating noticeable shaking, releasing stress over hours or days through slow fault movements that remain largely hidden from conventional monitoring systems. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ai-reveals-hidden-san-andreas.html Earth Sciences Thu, 09 Jul 2026 19:00:05 EDT news702833771 In a new study, published in the Journal of the Astronautical Sciences, Warwick researchers led an international effort to uncover some of the faintest debris in geosynchronous orbit ever observed, finding fragments as small as 5 centimeters (2 inches) and obtaining valuable data to characterize their behavior. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-astronomers-deep-tiny-dangerous-space.html Space Exploration Wed, 08 Jul 2026 16:30:01 EDT news702737741 The explosive growth of data generated by artificial intelligence, cloud computing and modern digital infrastructure is placing increasing pressure on existing information storage technologies. Although magnetic storage systems such as hard disk drives remain the dominant platform for digital storage, they face challenges including rising costs, limited lifespan and relatively slow information retrieval. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-wavelength-multiplexed-diffractive-optical-storage.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 08 Jul 2026 11:40:05 EDT news702721575 Quantum computers, devices that store and process information leveraging the principles of quantum mechanics, have been found to be promising for tackling some problems that cannot be solved by classical computers. Quantum computers store data in the form of qubits (i.e., quantum bits), units of information that can exist in combinations of different states, instead of being limited to a binary value (i.e., 0 or 1), like classical bits. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-theorized-electron-helium-qubit-strong.html General Physics Wed, 08 Jul 2026 10:20:02 EDT news702711987 Quantum states can be precisely controlled with the help of tiny carbon rings measuring only a few nanometers in size. This is made possible by a class of rarely used electromagnetic dipoles called toroidal moments. Using computer simulations, physicists at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) have now found a way to generate and control these nanostructures without any loss. The findings are published in npj Computational Materials and create new opportunities for quantum computer technology. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-tiny-carbon-enable-quantum.html Analytical Chemistry Tue, 07 Jul 2026 13:00:08 EDT news702638994 Everyone's perception of time is unique. It is a subjective experience shaped by factors such as age, emotions, memory and environmental contexts. And it may also be influenced by background noise, as scientists have demonstrated in a paper published in the journal Scientific Reports. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-approaching-warp-perception.html Other Tue, 07 Jul 2026 10:26:26 EDT news702638685 Zoraptera, also known as angel insects or ground lice, are tiny termite-like insects generally found underneath bark or in decaying wood. The Zoraptera group includes a few dozen known insect species that closely resemble each other. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-phylogenomics-reveals-angel-insects-ancestry.html Evolution Mon, 06 Jul 2026 07:20:05 EDT news702209723 Neutrinos: They have no electric charge, pass through matter like a ghost and are so light they were initially thought to have zero mass. These are just some of the traits that make them so difficult to detect. Research on neutrinos requires massive underground observatories far from potential confounders that drown out their weak signals. One of the largest in the world, located 1,000 meters (3,281 feet) underground in Gifu Prefecture, Japan, is called Super-Kamiokande. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-cosmic-neutrino-surface-day-super.html Astronomy Fri, 03 Jul 2026 09:00:06 EDT news702287361 Bottlenose dolphins in the Adriatic Sea are spending much of their time following trawlers to scavenge for food, scientists say. The Adriatic seabed has been plowed by bottom trawlers for decades, resulting in ecosystem damage. Many apex predators are no longer present there. Only bottlenose dolphins are left, and the frequency of their presence around fishing trawlers—up to 76% of the trawlers inspected by scientists off Marche, Italy, were followed by dolphins—suggests they may be struggling to hunt normally. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-bottlenose-dolphins-adriatic-sea-heavily.html Plants & Animals Fri, 03 Jul 2026 00:00:01 EDT news702201181 Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a method that uses a single ion to detect electromagnetic fields above a surface and to create a three-dimensional map of them. In the future, this approach can be used to improve chips for quantum computers and quantum sensors. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ion-3d-electromagnetic-fields-chips.html Condensed Matter Thu, 02 Jul 2026 18:20:04 EDT news702223023 Quantum properties of light are extremely delicate. When researchers attempt to measure them, even small losses on the way to a detector can make them invisible, limiting their use outside carefully controlled environments. A collaborative team of researchers involving scientists at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL) has shown a new way to measure several quantum channels of light at the same time and reveal their entanglement, even when almost all of the light is lost before reaching the detector. The results, recently published in Nature Communications, open new possibilities for scalable quantum technologies. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-quantum-properties-multimode-extreme-losses.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 02 Jul 2026 14:20:04 EDT news702215161 Scientists have engineered a nanoscale switch using DNA "origami." Inspired by macroscale mechanical switches, the device achieves long-term functionality without the continuous forcing mechanism that past versions required while remaining capable of fast switching. The paper is published in the journal Science Robotics. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-dna-based-nanoswitch-flip-milliseconds.html Bio & Medicine Wed, 01 Jul 2026 14:40:09 EDT news702132276 The same family of artificial intelligence that powers today's image generators is now being aimed at one of biology's hardest puzzles: the ever-changing, three-dimensional shapes of RNA. These are the molecules behind mRNA vaccines like the ones that prevent serious COVID-19 cases. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-scientists-ai-tool-rivals-alphafold.html Biotechnology Tue, 30 Jun 2026 14:40:03 EDT news702035677 In a new study published in Nature Physics, researchers have demonstrated the Hong–Ou–Mandel (HOM) effect with up to 12 indistinguishable neutral atoms—an effect that has been predominantly observed in photonic systems. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-physicists-hongoumandel-atoms.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 30 Jun 2026 12:00:01 EDT news702035661 Over 70 million people in the U.S. are impacted by hearing loss, and age-related hearing loss is the second most common health problem in older adults, according to the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health. However, scientists still do not fully understand how the cochlea—a delicate, spiral-shaped cavity in the inner ear lined with thousands of specialized sensory cells—performs the signal processing needed to separate meaningful sounds from background noise. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-cochlea-network-reveals-ear-noise.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 29 Jun 2026 19:10:01 EDT news701969401 The Antarctic ozone hole was discovered in 1985, when scientists observed a severe depletion in Earth's protective layer of stratospheric ozone. Industrial chemicals known as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), then widely used as refrigerants, propellants, foam-blowing agents and solvents, were at the root of the ozone depletion. After a concerted global effort to phase out the use of CFCs, ozone today is recovering, especially in the Antarctic. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-ozone-depletion-began-decades-discovery.html Earth Sciences Mon, 29 Jun 2026 15:00:11 EDT news701949361