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. For the first time, researchers have determined the shape of the actinide nucleus of fermium-255 and measured its structure with high precision and resolution. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-laser-spectroscopy-reveal-hidden-nuclear.html General Physics Fri, 07 Aug 2026 17:20:01 EDT news705325561 Scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have created a platform that pinpoints genetic triggers that turn microbes into efficient factories for new chemicals and materials. The method enables rapid, precise reprogramming of bacteria as biotechnology tools, supporting domestic production of valuable products and recovery of critical minerals and materials to enhance the nation's supply chains and global competitiveness. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-platform-bacterial-gene-biotech.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 07 Aug 2026 15:00:01 EDT news705323281 Magnetic storage technologies, which store information in the direction of magnetization, play an essential role in modern data storage. Hard disk drives (HDDs) are widely used for long-term storage, while nonvolatile magnetic random-access memory (MRAM) is emerging as a promising alternative to flash memory. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-50c-ultrathin-magnetic-stays-flat.html Nanomaterials Fri, 07 Aug 2026 12:40:07 EDT news705316862 A tall glass of ice water isn't just a thirst quencher; it's also an everyday example of coexisting phases. Water can exist simultaneously in both liquid and solid phases. As it turns out, this phase duality can also exist in more exotic quantum materials, in ways that are far more complicated to tease apart. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-physicists-material-electrons-reassemble-coexisting.html Condensed Matter Fri, 07 Aug 2026 12:00:01 EDT news705315901 The cuts of meat in a supermarket case can look perfectly fresh even as bacteria are already multiplying inside the package. Is there a way to know before you open it? https://phys.org/news/2026-08-smart-hydrogel-packaging-food-fresh.html Biochemistry Thu, 06 Aug 2026 18:40:02 EDT news705252001 Researchers have demonstrated a solid-state organic laser microcavity fabricated entirely by solution processing. The device operates in the strong light–matter coupling regime, where light and matter form hybrid states called polaritons. This makes the platform not only a new type of solution-processed laser but also a powerful way to study nonlinear polariton interactions. The paper is published in the journal Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-fully-solution-solid-state-polariton.html Condensed Matter Thu, 06 Aug 2026 18:00:06 EDT news705251523 The explosion of new data centers being proposed and built around the U.S. has increased demand for energy to keep them powered and cooled. The Electric Power Research Institute estimates that data centers could consume up to 9% of U.S. electricity generation annually by 2030, up from 4% of total load in 2023. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-carbon-nanostructure-fuel-cell-catalyst.html Nanomaterials Thu, 06 Aug 2026 13:20:07 EDT news705234001 Cells are enclosed by a cell membrane, a sophisticated structure mainly made of lipids that is vital for fundamental biological processes. Artificial lipid membranes have many practical applications, such as drug delivery, but engineering their properties is a huge challenge. Now, a team in Japan has found a new way to control membrane structure. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-interlocking-molecular-propellers-stable-islands.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 06 Aug 2026 12:20:07 EDT news705230522 Glioblastoma is the most aggressive form of brain cancer. It's difficult to treat because tumor cells infiltrate the surrounding brain tissue, making it hard for surgeons to remove the cancer completely without damaging healthy tissue. Treatment is further complicated by the blood-brain barrier, which limits how well drugs and radiation therapy reach the brain. All these factors contribute to a five-year survival rate of only around 7%. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-nanoparticles-surgeons-destroy-brain-cancer.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 06 Aug 2026 11:20:03 EDT news705229622 A protein known as interleukin 10 (IL-10) is the lynchpin of a new method to protect transplanted cells from host immune system attacks. Rice University researchers engineered a living factory to produce a localized biochemical halo of IL-10 to suppress immune rejection of pancreatic beta cells. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-bioengineers-biochemical-halo-cloak-insulin.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 06 Aug 2026 10:31:17 EDT news705231049 Nanoscience, which studies small objects, has a big problem. According to a team of scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the field confronts a pervasive data analysis error that can give misleading insights into how these tiny objects' properties depend on their size. The team also offers a practical solution—a mathematical correction that can reveal how these materials truly behave. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-sizing-errors-true-nanoparticle-behavior.html Nanomaterials Thu, 06 Aug 2026 03:00:02 EDT news705141061 Super-thin superconducting materials, which are only one or a few atoms thick, have unique properties scientists can leverage to produce more compact, scalable, and efficient quantum devices. But these fragile materials degrade so rapidly in air that they are difficult to study or manufacture. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-air-stable-ultrathin-superconductors-scalable.html Superconductivity Wed, 05 Aug 2026 19:00:01 EDT news705161101 Lasers have become indispensable in everyday life and research, with applications ranging from data transmission and metrology to manufacturing. Masers, by contrast, have so far found hardly any practical applications. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-semiconductor-maser-room-temperature.html Condensed Matter Wed, 05 Aug 2026 16:00:06 EDT news705154441 Chiral phonons are groups of atoms that move in a circular direction when excited by an energy source, such as heat. As the phonons move through a material, they propagate that circular motion, or angular momentum, through the material. The angular momentum serves as the source of spin, and the chirality dictates the direction of the spin, enabling spin control in spintronics. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-electric-field-reverses-phonon-chirality.html Condensed Matter Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:00:06 EDT news705151382 Astronomers have speculated about the mysterious "little red dots" seen through the James Webb Space Telescope's images of the early universe: They could be galaxies, black holes, quasi-stars, starbursts ... or something else entirely. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-red-dots-pulsating-monster-stars.html Astronomy Wed, 05 Aug 2026 14:40:01 EDT news705151083 Inspired by naturally occurring mats and balls of seaweed, researchers have created highly porous, superadhesive meshes capable of capturing both large and small microplastic particles—a longstanding challenge in the field. The mesh can clean microplastics from both saltwater and freshwater and is made from sustainable, widely available biopolymers. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-tangled-seaweed-size-cleaners-ocean.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 05 Aug 2026 14:00:11 EDT news705069181 Can a crack be supersonic? Can the fracture that triggers an avalanche propagate faster than the limiting velocity predicted by classical fracture mechanics? The question remains the subject of debate within the scientific community. While some numerical and experimental studies suggest that avalanche cracks may propagate at supersonic speeds, others offer a different interpretation. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-avalanche-globally-supersonic-locally-subsonic.html Earth Sciences Wed, 05 Aug 2026 11:00:13 EDT news705066841 Virginia Tech chemist and chemical engineer Guoliang "Greg" Liu and his lab have developed a process that converts the plastic polyvinyl chloride (PVC) into polyalphaolefin, a key component in lubricants such as engine oil. Published Aug. 5 in the journal Nature, the research could help address two environmental challenges: recycling one of the world's most difficult plastics and producing a valuable industrial material. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-world-difficult-plastics-premium-lubricant.html Polymers Wed, 05 Aug 2026 11:00:07 EDT news705067441 A research team led by professor Yousung Jung from the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Seoul National University College of Engineering has developed a new catalyst design principle that suppresses the hydrogen evolution reaction, which interferes with ammonia production, while maintaining the nitrogen reduction reaction that produces ammonia. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-catalyst-suppresses-hydrogen-reaction-ammonia.html Analytical Chemistry Tue, 04 Aug 2026 18:40:03 EDT news705083041 Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) are often described as a "fifth state of matter": a quantum state in which many particles lose their individual identities and behave as one collective object. For more than 60 years, researchers have sought to create such condensates from excitons—electron-hole pairs—as a solid-state route to macroscopic quantum coherence, which is useful for quantum technologies. This has been difficult to realize in controllable semiconductor devices because optically generated excitons have very short lifetimes of around a billionth of a second, and BECs are normally attained with ultracold gases in a vacuum. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-quantum-fluid-reveals-hidden-states.html Condensed Matter Tue, 04 Aug 2026 17:40:02 EDT news705076621 Scientists from Rice University in the U.S. have developed a way to precisely tune the temperature inside a trapped-ion simulator. The breakthrough means they will be able to run quantum simulations at precise temperatures that better reflect real-world conditions. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-temperature-dial-realistic-quantum-simulations.html Quantum Physics Tue, 04 Aug 2026 17:00:01 EDT news705070203 A diamond-based quantum sensor inserted into a living cell can provide previously unseen levels of detail about how life works and how diseases form. "Think of it as an EKG for a single cell—a way to capture everything happening inside at once, in real time," said University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering professor Aaron Esser-Kahn. "We routinely monitor vital signs in people—heart rate, breathing, temperature—but until now, there simply hasn't been an equivalent way to take a cell's vitals." https://phys.org/news/2026-08-method-sharpen-diamond-quantum-sensors.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 04 Aug 2026 14:20:01 EDT news705065822 Modern photonic chips can pack sophisticated optical functions onto devices smaller than a fingernail. They are increasingly used to generate, manipulate and measure light for applications ranging from communications to sensing. But most of these chips rely on a single material to do the heavy lifting, limiting the range of optical effects they can produce. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-materials-photonic-chip-generate-frequencies.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 04 Aug 2026 12:00:05 EDT news705061201 The dancing lights of fireflies and the eerie blue sparkle in crashing waves get their glow when a molecular square of carbon and oxygen atoms breaks. New research from Stanford University has shown that mechanical force can cause that break to happen in a way different from what was previously known. The study, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, has implications for developing light sensors and understanding luminescence in nature. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-unexpected-bond-reveals-path-bioluminescence.html Biochemistry Tue, 04 Aug 2026 11:20:06 EDT news705060412 A research team at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has successfully demonstrated an AI modeling approach that accurately and rapidly predicts how reactions between solid materials unfold over time. It is the first predictive model that accounts for how atoms travel through materials during solid-state reactions. Importantly, its predictions provide practical insights into the best recipes for making advanced materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-ai-atom-movement-solid-state.html Analytical Chemistry Mon, 03 Aug 2026 18:00:06 EDT news704987485 Researchers at Flinders University have discovered an unexpected way light can control tiny electronic structures inside advanced materials, a development that could help pave the way for more energy-efficient memory devices, sensors and future computing technologies. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-nanoscale-domains-ferroelectric-crystal.html Condensed Matter Mon, 03 Aug 2026 16:50:01 EDT news704993701 Researchers at the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering have developed a new approach to nanoscale 3D printing that improves both speed and fidelity, overcoming a challenge that has limited the technology's broader use in manufacturing. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-pixel-patterns-harness-diffraction-faster.html Nanophysics Mon, 03 Aug 2026 16:20:02 EDT news704985845 Researchers in the lab of Sam Peng, the Pfizer Inc.–Gerald Laubach Career Development Assistant Professor of Chemistry at MIT and a core institute member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, have developed a super-resolution imaging technology. It allows scientists to visualize molecular structures with angstrom-level localization precision—three orders of magnitude beyond the nanometer-scale limits of standard fluorescent dyes—while simplifying the imaging process. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-microscopy-method-angstrom-scale-localization.html Nanophysics Sun, 02 Aug 2026 14:00:05 EDT news704556380 Ruthenium dioxide (RuO2) is a metal oxide that commonly serves as an important metallic conductor, quantum material and industrial electrocatalyst. While there have been debates surrounding the magnetic properties of RuO2, it is generally thought to be nonmagnetic in its bulk form. But now, a new study, published in Science Advances, has found that very thin layers of RuO2 can become magnetic when its lattice is placed under strain. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-unusual-metal-oxide-magnetism-lattice.html Condensed Matter Sat, 01 Aug 2026 14:40:01 EDT news704715788 Researchers at the University of Tartu have discovered a mechanism in bacteria that helps them adapt to fluoride, which is toxic to most organisms above relatively low threshold concentrations. Their discovery may represent a significant milestone in bioindustry, as it could help reduce the use of petrochemical products. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-backup-fluoride-defense-soil-bacteria.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 31 Jul 2026 15:20:03 EDT news704720281