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. Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative brain disorder characterized by progressive memory loss and a decline in other mental functions. Past studies have consistently linked this disorder to the accumulation of the protein amyloid-β (Aβ) between brain cells, ultimately resulting in the formation of so-called amyloid plaques. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-gold-nanoclusters-alzheimer-amyloid-plaques.html Bio & Medicine Mon, 17 Aug 2026 10:00:01 EDT news706177996 A genetically engineered bacterium can rapidly break down one of Earth's most abundant minerals, opening a promising new pathway for simultaneously removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and recovering critical elements used in electric vehicle batteries, according to new Cornell research. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-microbe-capture-recovers-critical-metals.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 14 Aug 2026 17:40:01 EDT news705934681 Understanding how ions diffuse in solid materials is essential for technologies including batteries, electronics and chemical catalysts, but it has been hard for a simple reason: the materials are solids. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-tracer-exchange-reveals-ions-battery.html Nanophysics Thu, 13 Aug 2026 18:40:03 EDT news705850816 Scientists from the University of Manchester's Department of Chemistry, Centre for Radiochemistry Research and Photon Science Institute, led by Professor Steve Liddle, have uncovered why a rare class of metal clusters appears to behave differently in experiments and theoretical calculations, resolving a debate about the nature of chemical aromaticity and revealing a previously overlooked type of magnetic response. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-magnetic-mystery-thorium-clusters.html Analytical Chemistry Thu, 13 Aug 2026 15:40:05 EDT news705843396 Astronomers have captured an unprecedented image of a cosmic recycling project in progress—fragments of a dying star being busted up, stripped and absorbed into interstellar space. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-dying-star-rare-glimpse-universe.html Astronomy Wed, 12 Aug 2026 18:00:07 EDT news705759061 Signals ride on waves of one kind or another: light, sound, radio. But new carriers are needed to relay information in next-generation devices. Disturbances or waves in magnetic materials called magnons could be an efficient option—if scientists can tame them. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-spontaneous-magnons-synchronize-external-room.html Condensed Matter Wed, 12 Aug 2026 12:00:05 EDT news705746821 Researchers at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the University of Tennessee (UT), Knoxville, have made an advance by using a natural substance from fungi called chitin to create hydrogels that are significantly stronger and tougher. This new material could lead to safer medical devices, longer-lasting coatings and other innovations that improve everyday technology and health care. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-fungal-chitin-route-tougher-hydrogels.html Biotechnology Tue, 11 Aug 2026 17:00:05 EDT news705670982 A new study led by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign scientists reveals critically low genetic variation in one of the country's primary breeding stocks for corn. The finding relates specifically to grain yield in intermediate-maturity hybrids, which dominate commercial production in the U.S. and represent nearly a third of the world's corn production. The researchers say it's a crisis waiting to happen. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-major-genetic-weakness-threatens-future.html Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 11 Aug 2026 16:00:04 EDT news705670021 Using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, an international team of astronomers has discovered that dust and water can form and survive surprisingly close to the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. The observations reveal that the evolved star IRS 3 continues to enrich its surroundings with newly formed material despite the intense radiation environment around Sagittarius A*. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-webb-reveals-oxygen-rich-surviving.html Astronomy Tue, 11 Aug 2026 13:00:02 EDT news705665284 By rapidly twisting a microscopically small tip back and forth, researchers at the University of Maryland (UMD) have unlocked a new way to detect subtle changes on the surface of a material flexing in response to infrared light. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-high-res-view-2d-materials.html Nanomaterials Fri, 07 Aug 2026 18:00:03 EDT news705327588 An international team of researchers has succeeded in producing atomic quantum gas mixtures with an unprecedented particle flux. In the journal Nature Communications, the scientists report on experiments conducted with the MAIUS-B apparatus, in which Bose–Einstein condensates (BECs) consisting of two different atomic species—rubidium and potassium—were generated and studied under microgravity conditions in the Einstein Elevator at Leibniz University Hannover in Germany. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-miniaturized-laser-technology-paves-fundamental.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 05 Aug 2026 19:40:04 EDT news705162354 The signals that cells use to switch genes on have remained almost unchanged across 2 billion years of evolution, but the ones used to switch genes off vary dramatically from one branch of life to another, according to a new study from the Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-life-universal-language-genes-silence.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 03 Aug 2026 05:00:01 EDT news704706301 A team of Brazilian researchers discovered the first direct evidence that goethite—the mineral responsible for the brown color of soils—can withstand extreme pressures and temperatures all the way to the planet's interior inside a diamond just 3 millimeters (0.1 inch) long, within a microscopic impurity. Goethite forms in soil and on the ocean floor from iron-rich minerals in the presence of water. It incorporates some of these water molecules into its mineral structure. The study suggests that goethite may transport and release water into a region known as the lower mantle. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-ancient-diamond-evidence-mineral-deep.html Earth Sciences Sat, 01 Aug 2026 07:20:01 EDT news704769346 Two organisms inhabiting a common environment can sometimes mutually influence each other, either benefiting or, in some cases, damaging one another. This mutually beneficial or ambivalent biological relationship is known as symbiosis. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-lichen-life-million-years-fungal.html Evolution Fri, 31 Jul 2026 15:40:05 EDT news704709354 Scientists have discovered a remarkably well-preserved 100-million-year-old beetle fossil that provides a rare glimpse into the evolution of the intricate sensory and communication systems used by fireflies and their relatives today. Fireflies belong to the order Coleoptera, which includes all beetles. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-cretaceous-beetle-fossil-reveals-early.html Evolution Fri, 31 Jul 2026 14:40:04 EDT news704718424 Adorning the walls of San Ildefonso College in Mexico City is artist Diego Rivera's masterpiece, rendered in fresco and gold leaf, The Creation, or La Creacioń. It depicts a man standing with his arms outstretched beneath a deep blue celestial disk studded with stars and constellations, while figures seated on clouds watch from either side. The work catalyzed the revival of the encaustic painting technique in the 1920s. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-diego-rivera-mural-creation-wax.html Analytical Chemistry Fri, 31 Jul 2026 13:40:07 EDT news704709331 The energy system of the future will require sustainable catalysts that, for example, enable the efficient production of green hydrogen. Materials consisting of mixtures of five chemical elements show great promise for enabling ideal catalysts in the future. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-randomly-atoms-rows-columns-sustainable.html Nanomaterials Fri, 31 Jul 2026 11:00:05 EDT news704710261 How did the first solids that made up planets, moons and asteroids form from the "hot soup" that characterized our solar system's earliest years? New research from Caltech analyzing pieces of a meteorite has found that, just as snowflakes crystallize around grains of dust, ancient stardust grains left over from long-gone suns may have been the seeds of our solar system's earliest solids. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ancient-stardust-grains-seeds-earliest.html Astronomy Thu, 30 Jul 2026 14:40:01 EDT news704631661 "Dead stars" known as white dwarfs have already shown the potential to help us better understand how planetary systems, including our own solar system, take shape and evolve. Now, research from the University of Michigan and the University of Colorado Boulder suggests that potential could be even greater than anticipated. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-dead-stars-healthy-appetites.html Astronomy Mon, 27 Jul 2026 15:40:03 EDT news704380621 Photographs can reveal things that are otherwise impossible for the naked eye to see, be they distant galaxies or microscopic cells. Researchers at Osaka Metropolitan University have developed a practical and versatile imaging technique that makes another usually invisible phenomenon visible: surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs), light waves that travel along metal surfaces. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-quantum-dots-reveal-hidden-metal.html Nanophysics Fri, 24 Jul 2026 14:40:07 EDT news704113602 Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) have become a standard in modern devices with incredible contrast and sleek designs. While initially an expensive luxury, OLEDs are gradually becoming more financially accessible as the technology improves. Now, researchers at the Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (WPI-ITbM) at Nagoya University and the Institute for Advanced Study at Kyushu University have combined quantum chemistry with machine learning to identify new materials for blue OLEDs for incorporation in next-generation ultra-high-definition displays. Their research was published in Angewandte Chemie on July 21, 2026. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ai-quantum-chemistry-combine-efficient.html Analytical Chemistry Wed, 22 Jul 2026 16:20:01 EDT news703945861 NASA's Juno mission has provided the first measurements of the temperature below the surface of Jupiter's moon Io, revealing significant heating within the shallow subsurface of the most volcanically active world in the solar system. Collected during two close flybys, the data also show that most of Io's surface is remarkably smooth and composed of material with very low density. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-juno-temperature-jupiter-fiery-moon.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 22 Jul 2026 13:07:19 EDT news703943161 Artificial intelligence faces an energy crisis stemming from a physical traffic jam inside modern computer chips. Processors must continually shuffle data, such as the billions of parameters in complex models, between separate computing and memory nodes. This traffic jam, known as the "von Neumann bottleneck," hinders the speed and energy efficiency of advanced processors. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-quantum-microscope-illuminates-transistor.html Condensed Matter Tue, 21 Jul 2026 16:20:11 EDT news703858561 An international team of astronomers has performed follow-up observations of a peculiar Type Ia supernova designated SN 2023vjh. Results of the observational campaign, published July 9 on the preprint server arXiv, deliver important insights into the nature of this explosion. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-nature-peculiar-supernova.html Astronomy Sun, 19 Jul 2026 07:00:01 EDT news703498266 The spacecraft aced its encounter with Mars. Now, mission scientists are studying a trove of data from the flyby in preparation for its arrival at asteroid Psyche in 2029. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-nasa-psyche-mission-mars-flyby.html Planetary Sciences Sat, 18 Jul 2026 14:51:26 EDT news703605061 Researchers in Thailand have developed a prototype high-performance bicycle tire that replaces conventional nylon fabric reinforcement with natural silk. The team combined laboratory-scale material testing with pilot-scale tire manufacturing. Natural rubber composites were produced by placing a layer of silk or nylon fabric between rubber sheets and bonding the layers using a resorcinol-formaldehyde-latex coating. The selected composite formulation was then used to manufacture full bicycle tires. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-prototype-bicycle-silk-outperform-nylon.html Materials Science Fri, 17 Jul 2026 13:40:01 EDT news703500275 Nanocrystals are so useful that they formed the basis of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. But despite their usefulness, scientists have so far been able to make these microscopic crystals from only a limited palette of materials. A group of chemists at the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory has announced a way to make nanocrystals from a useful class of materials known as metal nitrides—a previously impossible task. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-chemists-gallium-nitride-material-nanocrystals.html Nanomaterials Thu, 16 Jul 2026 10:20:07 EDT news703405455 Fabrics are made by repeatedly intertwining yarns into characteristic patterns. Many of their properties, such as stretchiness, arise not only from the material itself but also from how the yarns are arranged and entangled. Such properties illustrate how topology—the underlying patterns of connectivity and entanglement within a structure—can shape a material's overall behavior. Understanding these relationships could help researchers design materials with tailored properties through the design of their topology. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-doughnutshaped-topology-reveals-crochet-textiles.html General Physics Wed, 15 Jul 2026 20:40:01 EDT news703340713 Researchers at RPTU University Kaiserslautern-Landau have achieved a key experimental breakthrough: For the first time, the spontaneous macroscopic coherence of magnons—the quantized excitations of magnetic materials—has been directly observed. These experiments confirm a central prediction of the theory of magnon Bose-Einstein condensates. Eventually, these findings could open new avenues for signal processing, sensing technologies and information processing. The study has been published in Nature Physics. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-spontaneous-magnon-coherence-room-temperature.html Quantum Physics Tue, 14 Jul 2026 11:40:11 EDT news703241755 The properties of ultrathin magnets can be specifically altered by a slight twist between two atomic monolayers. This is the conclusion reached by an international research team led by TU Darmstadt in a study published in Nature Communications. The findings open new prospects for future memory devices. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ultrathin-magnet-retains-magnetization-field.html Condensed Matter Tue, 14 Jul 2026 09:20:01 EDT news703232989