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 and simulations by a team of researchers led by MPE reveal that a massive binary star near our galaxy's center is responsible for creating a series of enigmatic gas clouds—compact gas clumps that help feed the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*. The study is published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-mysterious-gas-clouds-milky-black.html Astronomy Thu, 23 Apr 2026 12:00:08 EDT news696159422 Mud-rich coastlines could face a greater tsunami risk, at least that may have been the case for the 2011 Tōhoku-oki tsunami that killed more than 19,000 people and led to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. According to a new study published in the Journal of the Geological Society, mud may have made the catastrophic ocean waves more destructive than they might otherwise have been. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-wasnt-hidden-japan-tsunami.html Earth Sciences Wed, 22 Apr 2026 11:40:02 EDT news696072077 Have you ever wondered how mussels instantly glue themselves to rocks, allowing them to survive the crushing force of ocean waves? They complete this process in under 30 seconds. Yet, in a laboratory, replicating this process of molecular self-assembly, known as liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS), typically takes dozens of minutes, if not hours. A research team of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has recently solved this long-standing puzzle using large-scale molecular dynamics simulation and theoretical analysis, revealing the secret to nature's incredible speed and providing implications for instant biocompatible surgical glues. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-flux-pathway-reveals-mussel-liquid.html Polymers Sat, 11 Apr 2026 17:00:03 EDT news694882655 At the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), Jérémie Palacci's research group is venturing into metallurgy—albeit with a twist. Instead of traditional tools, the scientists use E. coli bacteria, often associated with infection linked to contaminated food. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-microbial-hockey-scientists-bacteria-rotate.html Cell & Microbiology Sat, 11 Apr 2026 10:00:03 EDT news694774202 Oyster reef living shorelines have been found to provide a resilient and adaptive alternative to conventional hard coastal protection, reducing wave energy while supporting oyster colonization. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-oyster-reefs-stack-shoreline.html Plants & Animals Tue, 07 Apr 2026 09:40:02 EDT news694770841 Mangrove forests are natural wonders that protect coastal areas, particularly in tropical and subtropical regions. They are able to dissipate wave energy and limit flooding, which can even mitigate tsunamis and coastal inundations during tropical cyclones. For this reason, mangroves are attracting attention as Nature-based Solutions, or NbS: natural infrastructure with the potential to enhance coastal resilience in an environmentally friendly way. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-3d-root-captures-mangroves-capacity.html Earth Sciences Fri, 03 Apr 2026 12:20:03 EDT news694434541 Soil is often perceived simply as "dirt," but in reality, it is a dynamic, living system that acts as Earth's natural sponge. Unfortunately, common agricultural practices—including deep plowing and the use of heavy machinery—can severely disrupt this natural system, according to a new study led by Dr. Shi Qibin from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with international partners. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-fiber-optic-sensors-reveal-farming.html Ecology Sun, 22 Mar 2026 16:00:03 EDT news693128342 How does fine dust aggregate into building blocks that ultimately form entire planets like our Earth? A research team led by the University of Bern, with the participation of ETH Zurich, the University of Zurich and the National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS has provided the first experimental evidence—obtained during parabolic flights in zero gravity—that a key physical process, known as shear-flow instability, actually occurs under conditions similar to those in planet formation regions. The study thus addresses an important gap in our understanding of the very first steps of planet formation. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-planets-parabolic-flight-reveal-turbulent.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 17 Mar 2026 17:40:01 EDT news692972401 Neural crest cells are a population of stem cells that invade the embryo in early development. They play a big role in what you look like: the pigments of your eyes, of your skin, and the bone structure of your face are all neural crests. Inside your body, the neural crest will form the myelin sheath of your peripheral nervous system and the entire nervous system of your intestine, the so-called "second brain." https://phys.org/news/2026-02-neural-crest-cells-miniature-electric.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 10 Feb 2026 16:40:04 EST news689937257 When we think about heat traveling through a material, we typically picture diffusive transport, a process that transfers heat from high-temperature to low-temperature as particles and molecules bump into each other, losing kinetic energy in the process. But in some materials, heat can travel in a different way, flowing like water in a pipeline that—at least in principle—can be forced to move in a direction of choice. This second regime is called hydrodynamic heat transport. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-neat-solution-hydrodynamic.html General Physics Tue, 10 Feb 2026 10:07:26 EST news689940421 Knots are everywhere—from tangled headphones to DNA strands packed inside viruses—but how an isolated filament can knot itself without collisions or external agitation has remained a longstanding puzzle in soft-matter physics. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-hidden-physics-formation-fluids.html General Physics Mon, 15 Dec 2025 16:49:16 EST news685039741 A collaboration between the University of Konstanz and Forschungszentrum Jülich has achieved the first fully tunable experimental realization of a long predicted "swarmalator" system. The study, published in Nature Communications, shows how tiny, self-propelled particles can simultaneously coordinate their motion and synchronize their internal rhythms—a behavior reminiscent of flashing fireflies, Japanese tree frogs or schooling fish. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-rhythm-swarms-tunable-particles-synchronize.html General Physics Wed, 10 Dec 2025 12:19:25 EST news684591541 When hurricanes or strong storms sweep up the United States' East Coast and meet the shores of the country's largest estuary, Chesapeake Bay, the familiar pattern of storm activity gets a little more complicated. A new study, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, shows that water levels inside the bay can spike far more dramatically than along the open ocean, raising flood risks for coastal and inland communities. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-chesapeake-bay-storm-surge-tides.html Earth Sciences Tue, 02 Dec 2025 08:00:01 EST news683822642 Scientists at Feinberg are reshaping scientific understanding of the cell's tiniest components—structures once thought to be static, now revealed to be dynamic engines of cellular life. As they probe the inner workings of cells, they are not only expanding understanding of cellular processes but also paving the way for novel therapies and diagnostics. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-scientists-reveal-hidden-dynamics-cell.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 16 Sep 2025 15:00:03 EDT news677253204 Rising temperatures of the world's oceans threaten to accelerate the melting and splintering of glaciers—thereby potentially increasing the number of icebergs and, with it, the need to better understand more about their movement and impact. Through a series of experiments, a team of scientists has pinpointed some of the factors that cause icebergs to capsize, offering insights into how climate change may affect Earth's waters. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-ice-capsize-unearths-mechanisms.html Earth Sciences Mon, 15 Sep 2025 09:50:22 EDT news677148614 Scientists have long assumed that anemonefish's tight-knit relationship with sea anemones, their protective hosts, was the main engine behind their evolutionary diversification. But the team wondered if other ecological factors could also have played a critical role. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-adventurous-homebody-anemonefish-reveals-key.html Plants & Animals Wed, 16 Jul 2025 07:03:50 EDT news671868224 Understanding the origin of heavy elements on the periodic table is one of the most challenging open problems in all of physics. In the search for conditions suitable for these elements via "nucleosynthesis," a Los Alamos National Laboratory-led team is going where no researchers have gone before: the gamma-ray burst jet and surrounding cocoon emerging from collapsed stars. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-framework-stars-dissolve-neutrons-forge.html Astronomy Fri, 25 Apr 2025 09:17:04 EDT news664791421 On a wave-battered rock in the northern Pacific Ocean, a fish called the sculpin grips the surface firmly to maintain stability in its harsh environment. Unlike sea urchins, which use their glue-secreting tube feet to adhere to their surroundings, sculpins manage to grip without a specialized adhesive organ like tube feet or the suction cups of octopuses. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-microscopic-fin-features-sculpins-turbulent.html Plants & Animals Wed, 23 Apr 2025 15:41:04 EDT news664641661 Humans like to think that being multicellular (and bigger) is a definite advantage, even though 80% of life on Earth consists of single-celled organisms—some thriving in conditions lethal to any beast. https://phys.org/news/2025-03-physical-evolution-multicellular-life-scientists.html Evolution Mon, 31 Mar 2025 05:00:03 EDT news662374567 Throughout human evolution, body and facial hair have notably diminished, yet eyelashes have remained a distinguishing feature. The physiological or functional purpose of eyelashes—traditionally thought to be for catching dust or filtering air—has long been debated. https://phys.org/news/2024-12-analysis-reveals-human-eyelashes-drainage.html Analytical Chemistry Fri, 20 Dec 2024 14:00:01 EST news653907241 It was a good year for space science as Sumner Starrfield, an astronomer at Arizona State University, described what was to appear as a huge star exploding in the night sky, in a once-in-a-lifetime event this past fall. A binary star system in the constellation Corona Borealis, normally too dim to see with the naked eye, was set to carry on exchanges that would spark a runaway nuclear explosion, appearing as bright as the North Star. https://phys.org/news/2024-12-year-articles.html Other Wed, 04 Dec 2024 07:30:01 EST news652459927 Researchers at TU Delft have discovered that E. coli bacteria can synchronize their movements, creating order in seemingly random biological systems. By trapping individual bacteria in micro-engineered circular cavities and coupling these cavities through narrow channels, the team observed coordinated bacterial motion. Their findings, which have potential applications in engineering controllable biological oscillator networks, were recently published in Small. https://phys.org/news/2024-12-tiny-dancers-scientists-synchronize-bacterial.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 03 Dec 2024 16:41:18 EST news652466465 The universe just got a whole lot bigger—or at least in the world of computer simulations, that is. In early November, researchers at the Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory used the fastest supercomputer on the planet to run the largest astrophysical simulation of the universe ever conducted. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-frontier-bar-simulating-universe-exascale.html Astronomy Mon, 25 Nov 2024 13:56:03 EST news651765361 Researchers from the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, have developed a method to control the direction of heat flow in crystals. This miniature device could eventually be used to create advanced thermal-management systems in electronic devices to prevent overheating. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-tesla-method-graphite-crystals.html Condensed Matter Wed, 16 Oct 2024 11:00:02 EDT news648292696 Astronomers have observed Jupiter's legendary Great Red Spot (GRS), an anticyclone large enough to swallow Earth, for at least 150 years. But there are always new surprises—especially when NASA's Hubble Space Telescope takes a close-up look at it. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-jupiter-great-red-unexpected-size.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 09 Oct 2024 16:26:56 EDT news647710010 A new study in Physical Review Letters offers the first detection of the cross-correlation between cosmic shear and diffuse X-ray background, helping to understand the distribution of baryonic matter in the universe. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-cosmic-ray-background-baryonic.html General Physics Thu, 05 Sep 2024 09:50:02 EDT news644748214 Monash University astronomers have contributed to a breakthrough in understanding the dramatic fate of stars that wander too close to supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-simulations-stellar-destruction-supermassive-black.html Astronomy Tue, 20 Aug 2024 10:23:03 EDT news643368181 Cilia are sensory structures extending from the surface of some cells. These hair-like structures are known to contribute to the sensorimotor capabilities of various living organisms, including humans. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-robotic-platform-complex-ciliary-behavior.html Soft Matter Tue, 13 Aug 2024 08:10:01 EDT news642683025 In the aftermath of a collision of neutron stars, a new celestial object called a remnant emerges, shrouded in mystery. Scientists are still unraveling its secrets, including whether it collapses into a black hole and how quickly this might happen. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-neutron-star-mergers.html Astronomy Wed, 07 Aug 2024 07:30:01 EDT news642234053 When an object hits a body of water vertically, it is accompanied by a strong hydrodynamic force fueled by the flow of water around it, which propels it forward. The magnitude of this force is known to vary depending on the mass of the object hitting the water. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-exploring-spherical.html Soft Matter Fri, 26 Jul 2024 09:40:01 EDT news641203717