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. New observations of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS include the first measurement of the abundance of deuterated water relative to ordinary water in an interstellar object. Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) discovered that the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is made of an astonishingly high ratio of semi-heavy water relative to water, indicating that its system of origin likely formed under conditions far colder than our own. The findings are published in Nature Astronomy. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-3iatlas-semi-heavy-comets-solar.html Astronomy Thu, 23 Apr 2026 13:26:02 EDT news696169452 The National Deuteration Facility has developed a capability to use a flow chemistry process to increase efficiency, increase production capacity and reduce decomposition in the synthesis of deuterated molecules. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-scalable-chemistry-deuteration-fatty-acids.html Biochemistry Wed, 25 Mar 2026 13:20:01 EDT news693655621 A collaboration between the groups of Professor Mónica H. Pérez-Temprano at the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ) and Professor Anat Milo at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has uncovered how the characteristics of specific substrates require certain reaction conditions that determine the course of a chemical reaction, in the context of C–H deuteration reactions. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-substrates-dictate-route-deuterium-source.html Analytical Chemistry Tue, 25 Nov 2025 14:52:04 EST news683304722 The discovery of ancient water in a planet-forming disk reveals that some of the water found in comets—and maybe even Earth—is older than the disk's star itself, offering breakthrough insights into the history of water in our solar system. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-heavy-planet-disk.html Astrobiology Wed, 15 Oct 2025 12:40:03 EDT news679750305 A team led by astronomers at Leiden University in the Netherlands and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Virginia (U.S.) have, for the first time, robustly detected semi-heavy water ice around a young sunlike star. The results strengthen the case that some of the water in our solar system formed before our sun and the planets. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-semi-heavy-ice-young-sunlike.html Astronomy Mon, 16 Jun 2025 05:00:01 EDT news668855402 A new study provides fresh insight into traditional acid-base chemistry by revealing that the mutual neutralization of isolated hydronium (H3O⁺) and hydroxide (OH⁻) ions is driven by electron transfer rather than the proton transfer that is expected in bulk liquid water. https://phys.org/news/2025-03-uncovers-key-pathways-hydronium-hydroxide.html Analytical Chemistry Tue, 25 Mar 2025 05:00:01 EDT news662047427 Researchers have made a discovery regarding the TRPV1 (transient receptor potential vanilloid 1) ion channel and its role in pain perception. The study reveals how solvent molecules can modulate pain signals, offering a potential pathway for a safer, non-addictive pain management approach. https://phys.org/news/2024-12-drug-free-pain-relief-solvent.html Bio & Medicine Wed, 11 Dec 2024 13:13:03 EST news653145172 Thanks to observations by the Solar Occultation in the Infrared (SOIR) instrument on the Venus Express space probe of the European Space Agency (ESA), researchers have discovered an unexpected increase in the abundances of two water molecule variants—H2O and HDO—and their ratio HDO/H2O in Venus's mesosphere. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-astronomers-spectacular-deuterium-hydrogen-ratio.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 20 Aug 2024 10:17:03 EDT news643367821 A low-cost, tin-based catalyst can selectively convert carbon dioxide to three widely produced chemicals—ethanol, acetic acid and formic acid. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-catalyst-carbon-dioxide-industrial-emissions.html Analytical Chemistry Tue, 21 May 2024 15:31:05 EDT news635524262 Advances in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) can allow cryo-imaging of biological and biochemical systems in liquid form, however, such approaches do not possess advanced analytical capabilities. In a new report now published on Science Advances, A. A. El-Zoka and an international team of researchers in Germany, Canada, France, and the U.K., used atom probe tomography to analyze frozen liquids in three-dimensions (3-D) with sub-nanometer scale resolution. In this work, the team first introduced a specimen preparation strategy using nano-porous gold and used ice formed from high-purity deuterated water (hard water) alongside a solution of sodium chloride (50 mM) dissolved in high-purity deuterated water. They then analyzed the gold-ice interface to reveal increased solute concentrations across the interface. The scientists explored a range of experimental conditions to understand atom probe analyses of bulk aqueous specimens. Then they discussed the physical processes associated with the observed phenomena. The study showed the practicality of using frozen water as a carrier for near-atomic-scale analyses of objects in solution via atom probe tomography. https://phys.org/news/2020-12-near-atomic-scale-analysis-frozen.html General Physics Fri, 11 Dec 2020 10:10:01 EST news526903621 Biological membranes, such as the "walls" of most types of living cells, primarily consist of a double layer of lipids, or "lipid bilayer," that forms the structure, and a variety of embedded and attached proteins with highly specialized functions, including proteins that rapidly and selectively transport ions and molecules in and out of the cell. https://phys.org/news/2020-03-synthetic-proteins-rival-natural-counterparts.html Polymers Tue, 03 Mar 2020 07:35:35 EST news502443332 For the first time, researchers have captured neutron tomography images in about a second, nearly an order of magnitude faster than previously reported attempts. Until recently, long image acquisition times have been the major obstacle to using this non-invasive technique to study dynamic 3-D processes such as the water exchange between roots and soil. https://phys.org/news/2019-09-record-fast-neutron-tomography-tracks-pathways.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 24 Sep 2019 08:25:30 EDT news488532294 Through an experiment designed to create a super-cold state of water, scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory used neutron scattering to discover a pathway to the unexpected formation of dense, crystalline phases of ice thought to exist beyond Earth's limits. https://phys.org/news/2019-05-unexpected-ice-temperature-high-pressure.html Condensed Matter Wed, 22 May 2019 13:00:05 EDT news477724184 New evidence of the impact of the recent planet-encompassing dust storm on water in the atmosphere, and a surprising lack of methane, are among the scientific highlights of the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter's first year in orbit. https://phys.org/news/2019-04-martian-methane-mystery-results-exomars.html Space Exploration Thu, 11 Apr 2019 07:22:14 EDT news474186104 Hydrogen fuel cells offer an attractive source of continuous energy for remote applications, from spacecraft to remote weather stations. Fuel cell efficiency decreases as the Nafion membrane, used to separate the anode and cathode within a fuel cell, swells as it interacts with water. https://phys.org/news/2018-10-scientists-unravel-mysteries-polymer-strands.html Polymers Wed, 24 Oct 2018 11:04:09 EDT news459597834 Using the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, a team of researchers has detected the emission of deuterated formaldehyde (HDCO) from the hot inner region of the protostar HH 212. The finding, reported January 20 in a paper published on the arXiv.org pre-print repository, could be helpful in our understanding of chemical processes in this protostar and in similar objects. https://phys.org/news/2018-01-deuterated-formaldehyde-protostar-hh.html Astronomy Tue, 30 Jan 2018 09:00:03 EST news436516786 Radioactivity may have a bad rap, but it plays a critical role in medical research. A revolutionary new technique to create radioactive molecules, pioneered in the lab of Princeton chemistry professor David MacMillan, has the potential to bring new medicines to patients much faster than before. https://phys.org/news/2017-11-drug-therapies.html Materials Science Thu, 09 Nov 2017 14:00:03 EST news429436159 How do chemical reactions proceed at extremely low temperatures? The answer requires the investigation of molecular samples that are cold, dense, and slow at the same time. Scientists around Dr. Martin Zeppenfeld from the Quantum Dynamics Division of Prof. Gerhard Rempe at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching have now taken an important step in this direction by developing a new cooling method: the so-called "cryofuge" combines cryogenic buffer-gas cooling with a special kind of centrifuge in which rotating electric fields decelerate the pre-cooled molecules down to velocities of less than 20 metres per second. https://phys.org/news/2017-10-cold-molecules-collision.html General Physics Fri, 13 Oct 2017 07:17:37 EDT news427097715 Measurements on the Pelican time-of-flight spectrometer have contributed to a better understanding of the molecular geometry and magnetic properties of a prospective material for quantum computing. https://phys.org/news/2017-03-lathanoid-based-single-molecule-magnets.html Materials Science Wed, 01 Mar 2017 06:21:32 EST news407571681 A trip past the sun may have selectively altered the production of one form of water in a comet - an effect not seen by astronomers before, a new NASA study suggests. https://phys.org/news/2017-02-hints-fingerprint-comet.html Space Exploration Tue, 28 Feb 2017 15:52:06 EST news407519515 Research at ANSTO has helped to reveal insights into a molecular mechanism for harvesting light in extreme conditions. These insights may ultimately lead to previously inaccessible regions of the electromagnetic spectrum becoming available for agricultural production or splitting of water into hydrogen in technological applications of photosynthetic machinery. https://phys.org/news/2016-08-harvesting-benefit-agriculture.html Biochemistry Fri, 05 Aug 2016 07:52:43 EDT news389602346 (Phys.org)—The market value for deuterated drugs has recently been estimated at over a billion dollars. Such drugs are simply molecules in which one or more hydrogen atoms are replaced with deuterium. While these kinds of manipulations are known to work wonders as far as breathing new life into aging patents, the overall therapeutic value of this medical manna can be contentious. A recent paper published in PLoS ONE seeks to explain the 'quantum nature of drug-receptor interactions' under deuteration using a combined experimental and computational approach. Although a tall order, a more comprehensive and predictive theory of receptor interactions is sorely needed. Perhaps a theory in which the molecular character of drug effects are written less into the receptor and more into the drug itself. https://phys.org/news/2016-06-deuterium-receptors.html Biochemistry Tue, 07 Jun 2016 09:10:04 EDT news384500833 An ANSTO Planetary Materials scientist has used the Australian Synchrotron to identify the structure of a new material that could be crucial in understanding the hydrological cycle on Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, and important in assessing its potential habitability. https://phys.org/news/2016-03-synchrotron-material-surface-saturn-moon.html Materials Science Thu, 31 Mar 2016 05:42:58 EDT news378621768 The efficiency of solar cells depends on precise engineering of polymers that assemble into films 1,000 times thinner than a human hair. https://phys.org/news/2015-10-greener-materials-solar-applications.html Nanomaterials Mon, 05 Oct 2015 16:14:08 EDT news363280394 We already knew about Venus. We had our suspicions about Mars. Now we're sure. https://phys.org/news/2015-06-planetary-neighbors-lots-waterwhat-imply.html Space Exploration Mon, 29 Jun 2015 08:09:45 EDT news354784174 (Phys.org)—One of the biggest difficulties in treating nail disease is finding a topical drug that adequately penetrates through the nail. While some improvements in nail drug delivery have been made, they have been slow-going and still pose difficulties in treatment. A better understanding of drug delivery and solvent diffusion is needed. https://phys.org/news/2015-06-insight-pharmaceutical-solvents-diffuse-human.html Other Fri, 19 Jun 2015 09:00:02 EDT news353896590 Los Alamos Lab researchers have made the first simultaneous measurements of Ultra-Low-Field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (ULF-NMR) and neutron imaging to visualize the movement of water in trees. Water use by trees is a key part of the hydrological process linking soil to climate and local weather. Despite decades of research and method development, non-destructive, in vivo measurements of water uptake and flow in trees are unavailable for field-based measurement. The lack of measurements limits progress towards understanding this important climate factor. https://phys.org/news/2015-05-trees-key-hydrological-linking-soil.html Analytical Chemistry Tue, 12 May 2015 08:27:23 EDT news350638035 Earth's water has a mysterious past stretching back to the primordial clouds of gas that birthed the Sun and other stars. By using telescopes and computer simulations to study such star nurseries, researchers can better understand the cosmic chemistry that has influenced the distribution of water in star systems across the Universe. https://phys.org/news/2015-01-cosmic-chemistry-gave.html Astronomy Thu, 22 Jan 2015 09:30:02 EST news341138726 Plants use photosynthesis to convert carbon dioxide and water into sugars and oxygen. The process starts in a cluster of manganese, calcium and oxygen atoms at the heart of a protein complex called photosystem II, which splits water to form oxygen gas, protons and electrons. https://phys.org/news/2014-08-bioinspired-catalyst.html Materials Science Fri, 08 Aug 2014 13:36:06 EDT news326723754 A research team from Birkbeck, University of London, Royal Holloway University and Uppsala University in Sweden, have helped explain how ozone causes severe respiratory problems and thousands of cases of premature death each year by attacking the fatty lining of our lungs. https://phys.org/news/2013-04-neutrons-ozone-poisoning-links-thousands.html Materials Science Tue, 16 Apr 2013 19:20:01 EDT news284753855