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. When living cells grow, divide or respond to drugs, they give off tiny amounts of heat that offer information about what the cells are doing. But because these heat signals are so vanishingly small, they have traditionally been impossible to measure directly. Researchers in the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have developed a calorimeter—a device that measures the heat transfer between a living system and its environment—that can detect metabolic heat signals on the order of 100 picowatts, or trillionths of a watt, in living cells. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-sensor-cells-views-cell-metabolism.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 16 Jun 2026 16:40:05 EDT news700830721 A research team in Japan has developed an efficient, minimally invasive cancer detection device that uses high-performance zinc oxide nanowires to selectively capture extracellular vesicles (EVs) from bodily fluids. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-nanowire-device-rapid-noninvasive-cancer.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 11 Jun 2026 12:20:05 EDT news700394683 Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have shown that bacteria can learn from past experiences, store memories across generations and adapt their behavior to changing environments, all without a brain or nervous system. The research could shape how scientists think about bacterial infections and antibiotic treatment. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-bacteria-memories-brain.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 08 Jun 2026 09:40:04 EDT news700129742 A research collaboration has developed a novel fluorescent nanosensor capable of rapidly detecting indole-3-propionic acid (IPA), an emerging biomarker linked to gut health and disease. The breakthrough is described in the team's paper, "Fluorescent Nanosensor for Indole-3-Propionic Acid Detection in Gut Health Monitoring," published in the journal Advanced Healthcare Materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-fluorescent-nanosensor-key-gut-biomarker.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 02 Jun 2026 15:00:04 EDT news699618901 Cells are typically studied outside the body under controlled laboratory conditions. However, conventional flat cell culture methods do not fully reproduce the complex three-dimensional environments that cells experience in living tissues. Tiny hydrogel capsules offer one way to culture cells in a confined three-dimensional space, allowing researchers to study how cells grow, organize and interact under more tissue-like conditions. Current methods to do this come with a high cost and a set of requirements that put such research out of reach to many. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-workflow-uniform-cell-capsules-standard.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 01 Jun 2026 16:20:07 EDT news699544861 The task of gently transporting a microscopic particle from one point to another along a winding path, and then bringing it back using nothing more than a single, compact chip is a challenge we set out to address in our new study, now published in Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-optical-metaconveyors-enable-programmable-nanomanipulation.html Nanophysics Wed, 13 May 2026 18:00:02 EDT news697800686 Researchers have recently found a new way to summon useful structures in magnetic materials using light, heat, and electric fields. This new method, described in a new study published in Physical Review Letters, may lead to more energy-efficient and flexible technologies for data storage and optical devices. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-liquid-crystal-demand-skyrmions-room.html Condensed Matter Wed, 13 May 2026 12:40:02 EDT news697890165 When inorganic nanoparticles come together, their optical, electronic, and magnetic properties depend strongly on how they are arranged. Being able to reorganize these arrangements in a controlled way could therefore provide a powerful method for tuning material properties. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-gold-nanoparticles-liquid-path-materials.html Nanophysics Wed, 13 May 2026 08:39:46 EDT news697880341 Using a new technique that can create vacancies at any site across a material and then shrink it to about 1/2,000 of its original volume, MIT researchers have designed nanotechnology devices that could be used for optical computing and other applications involving the manipulation of visible light. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-implosion-3d-photonic-devices-visible.html Nanophysics Tue, 12 May 2026 10:40:08 EDT news697796401 Researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) have developed a solid polymer coated with harmless viruses to detect the bacteria Salmonella enterica (S. enterica), an advance that could lead to new ways of finding contamination in the food supply. The work is published in the journal ACS Applied Bio Materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-harmless-viruses-salmonella-flexible-polymer.html Biochemistry Thu, 07 May 2026 18:20:01 EDT news697389961 Researchers at Tampere University have recently demonstrated that light can be used to precisely reshape soft materials without mechanical contact. They have developed light-responsive hydrogel thin films that enable programmable surfaces with high sensitivity, rapid response, precise spatial control and reversibility. The technology opens new possibilities for tunable devices in photonics, sensing and biomedicine. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-responsive-hydrogels-enable-fast-precise.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 29 Apr 2026 17:10:06 EDT news696696481 Under a microscope, a bouquet of lollipop-like structures, each smaller than a grain of sand, waves gently in a Petri dish of liquid. Suddenly, they snap together, like the jaws of a Venus flytrap, as a scientist waves a small magnet over the dish. What was previously an assemblage of tiny passive structures has transformed instantly into an active robotic gripper. The lollipop gripper is one demonstration of a new type of soft magnetic hydrogel developed by engineers at MIT and their collaborators at EPFL and the University of Cincinnati. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-swipe-magnet-microscopic-magno-bots.html Nanophysics Tue, 28 Apr 2026 11:00:03 EDT news696587647 Researchers from Brown University and their collaborators have developed a new way to measure the properties of cells—an important development, they say, because accurate measurements of changes in cell elasticity can be used to better understand diseases, diagnose patient symptoms and provide more accurate prognoses. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-microfluidic-device-tracks-cell-squishiness.html Cell & Microbiology Sat, 25 Apr 2026 18:40:01 EDT news696307587 A new tool makes it possible to screen millions of tiny protein fragments and select those that can be recognized by the immune system. The CIC biomaGUNE Center for Cooperative Research in Biomaterials has developed epiGPTope, a system that uses machine learning to generate and classify epitopes, in collaboration with the company Multiverse Computing. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-ai-epitope-library-vaccines-immunotherapy.html Biotechnology Tue, 07 Apr 2026 16:00:08 EDT news694786861 Materials that repel water are used in countless applications, including industrial separation processes, routine laboratory pipetting, and medical devices. When water touches these surfaces, the interface where they meet tends to acquire a small electrical charge—an effect that is ubiquitous, yet poorly understood. KAUST researchers have now studied this in detail and their findings could have broad implications. The findings are published in the journal Langmuir. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-repelling-surfaces-reveal-effects.html Soft Matter Mon, 06 Apr 2026 18:40:01 EDT news694699416 AI has designed candidate drugs for antibiotic-resistant infections and genetic diseases. But efforts to incorporate AI into the design of lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), the revolutionary delivery vehicles behind mRNA therapies like the COVID-19 vaccines, have been much more limited. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-robotic-microfluidic-platform-ai-lipid.html Bio & Medicine Mon, 09 Mar 2026 17:00:01 EDT news692285017 Environmental pollutant analysis typically requires complex sample pretreatment steps such as filtration, separation, and preconcentration. When solid materials such as sand, soil, or food residues are present in water samples, analytical accuracy often decreases, and filtration can unintentionally remove trace-level target pollutants along with the solids. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-microfluidic-chip-pfas-pollutants.html Analytical Chemistry Fri, 13 Feb 2026 14:40:03 EST news690210383 Watching proteins move as they drive the chemical reactions that sustain life is one of the grand challenges of modern biology. In recent years, X-ray free-electron lasers, or XFELs, have begun to meet that challenge, capturing ultrafast snapshots of molecules as they shift shape during a reaction—effectively creating molecular slow-motion movies. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-smarter-biology-microfluidic-droplet-injector.html Biotechnology Thu, 05 Feb 2026 16:59:39 EST news689533141 McGill researchers have developed a diagnostic system capable of identifying bacteria—and determining which antibiotics can stop them—in just 36 minutes, a major advance in the global effort to curb antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Current clinical testing methods typically take 48 to 72 hours, leaving physicians without timely guidance. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-quick-curb-antimicrobial-resistance-bacteria.html Bio & Medicine Wed, 04 Feb 2026 16:20:06 EST news689432516 Researchers have discovered how bacteria break through spaces barely larger than themselves, by wrapping their flagella around their bodies and moving forward. Using a microfluidic device that mimics insect gut channels, the team revealed a remarkable "flagellar wrapping" motion that lets symbiotic bacteria pass through 1-micrometer-wide tunnels. Genetic manipulation and mathematical calculation showed that the flexibility of a tiny joint in the flagellum, called the hook, is crucial for this screw-like movement and even determines whether the bacteria can successfully infect their insect hosts. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-bacteria-flagella-tunnel-microscopic-passages.html Cell & Microbiology Sun, 25 Jan 2026 12:30:01 EST news688303630 Just like every other creature, bacteria have evolved creative ways of getting around. Sometimes this is easy, like swimming in open water, but navigating more confined spaces poses different challenges. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-terrain-bacteria-complex-environments-playbook.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 15 Jan 2026 12:40:31 EST news687703201 A new technique which slashes the time taken to diagnose microbial infections from days to minutes could help save lives and open up a new front in the battle against antibiotic resistance, researchers say. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-infections-minutes-aiding-drug-resistance.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 09 Jan 2026 11:05:39 EST news687179102 PFAS are forever chemicals that do not degrade in the environment. They enter soil and water, accumulate in plants, animals and humans, and can be harmful to health. The problem: Until now, detecting them has been complicated, expensive, and only possible in a laboratory—too slow for a rapid response. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-pfas-minutes-sensor-rapid-site.html Analytical Chemistry Thu, 18 Dec 2025 08:40:01 EST news685269324 Materials Science and Engineering Department professor and UConn IMS resident faculty member, Xueju "Sophie" Wang's group has unveiled a simple but powerful way to control liquids: magnetically reconfigurable, multistable ribbons that switch shape on command and then hold that shape without any power. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-magnetically-reconfigurable-ribbons-scientists-liquids.html Materials Science Mon, 24 Nov 2025 15:37:03 EST news683221022 Viscous fingering occurs when a thinner fluid pushes a thicker, more viscous fluid in a porous medium, like underground rock, creating unpredictable, finger-like patterns. For decades, this intricate dance between fluids has been a major headache in critical sectors like enhanced oil recovery, CO2 sequestration, and groundwater remediation. Predicting and controlling these "fingers" has remained an elusive goal for scientists, largely due to the sheer complexity of the fluid dynamics involved. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-century-puzzle-ai-viscous-fingering.html Soft Matter Tue, 11 Nov 2025 11:36:18 EST news682083369 Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are the delivery vehicles of modern medicine, carrying cancer drugs, gene therapies and vaccines into cells. Until recently, many scientists assumed that all LNPs followed more or less the same blueprint, like a fleet of trucks built from the same design. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-nanoparticle-blueprints-reveal-path-smarter.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 23 Oct 2025 05:00:08 EDT news680340481 Researchers have discovered a novel criterion for sorting particles in microfluidic channels, paving the way for advancements in disease diagnostics and liquid biopsies. Using the supercomputer "Fugaku," a joint team from the University of Osaka, Kansai University and Okayama University revealed that soft particles, like biological cells, exhibit unique focusing patterns compared to rigid particles. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-supercomputer-unveils-cell-principle-microfluidic.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 22 Sep 2025 15:31:30 EDT news677773881 Researchers at Penn State demonstrate the first steps in the design of tiny particles that can perform specialized tasks, such as targeted delivery of drugs or other cargo. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-nanobots-play-leader-chemical-trails.html Bio & Medicine Wed, 10 Sep 2025 09:29:04 EDT news676715341 With pollution levels rising, the need to quickly check water quality has become more urgent than ever. Traditional monitoring systems often rely on expensive bulky equipment with operational difficulty, making them impractical in remote areas or in places with limited resources. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-powered-pollution-sensor-toxic-amines.html Analytical Chemistry Tue, 09 Sep 2025 13:26:03 EDT news676643161 Liquids can provide some especially tricky challenges for space travelers, but new research from the University of Mississippi could help engineer smarter, more efficient fluid control in zero- and low-gravity environments. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-tiny-big-impact-fluid-space.html Soft Matter Mon, 25 Aug 2025 14:40:01 EDT news675351028