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. Chemists use single-electron transfers to synthesize complex, ring-shaped molecular structures found in many drug candidates and advanced materials, but current techniques still have limitations. A new study, accepted for publication in Nature, describes a technique that could steer these chemical reactions in ways that were previously limited by the redox potentials of the involved molecules. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-driven-chemistry-electron-redox-limits.html Analytical Chemistry Mon, 20 Jul 2026 16:40:03 EDT news703772249 Brown University chemists have provided direct evidence that upends the textbook explanation of how triple chemical bonds work in heavy elements. In a study published in Science, the researchers show evidence that when atomic nuclei are sufficiently heavy, the principles described in Einstein's theory of relativity change the structure of triple bonds—blurring the lines between the two separate types of bonds involved in textbook triple bonding. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-carbonbismuth-bonds-reveal-blurs-textbook.html Materials Science Thu, 09 Jul 2026 18:20:07 EDT news702832022 For more than 150 years, scientists have debated when and how the Colorado River first carved its way through the Grand Canyon. Now, a new study led by researchers at the University of New Mexico offers evidence that the river developed gradually from north to south between 8 million and 4.8 million years ago. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-fish-dna-crystals-rewrite-colorado.html Earth Sciences Thu, 09 Jul 2026 11:20:05 EDT news702808308 Maize (corn) is a major dietary staple in Maya communities past and present because of its reliability, potential for surplus, and suitability as both food and fodder. It became so important to ancient Mesoamerican communities that it even became central to many of their religious beliefs, and arguably, they built their societies on it. Yet maize has a major nutritional limitation. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-maize-fed-animals-maya-farmers.html Ecology Wed, 08 Jul 2026 15:10:01 EDT news702741654 Tens of thousands of years ago, Homo sapiens coexisted with Neanderthals, Homo neanderthalensis. Many of us living today carry a small amount of Neanderthal DNA, indicating that the two species may have shared much more than just the same land. Now, a breakthrough archaeological discovery has revealed that the two species did not merely cross paths: they possibly shared a common culture that spanned more than 20,000 years. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-cave-reveal-modern-humans-neanderthals.html Archaeology Mon, 06 Jul 2026 15:00:14 EDT news702537862 Researchers have spent decades—and billions of dollars—sequencing animal and crop genomes, but fungi have historically been the forgotten middle child of genomics, only noticed when they're ruining bread or colonizing toes. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-fungal-genome-tool-fresh-paths.html Biotechnology Fri, 03 Jul 2026 09:40:03 EDT news702287408 A researcher at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), a part of The University of Alabama System, has published a new study in The Astrophysical Journal suggesting that tiny charged dust grains near the sun may significantly influence how energy moves through the solar corona, the outer atmosphere of the sun. The discovery potentially rewrites how scientists understand why the corona is millions of degrees hotter than the surface of the sun itself. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-cosmic-play-key-role-mystery.html Astronomy Wed, 01 Jul 2026 18:40:05 EDT news702142262 Organic molecular crystals can respond to external stimuli such as heat, light, and mechanical force, making them attractive candidates for next-generation functional materials. However, predicting how multiple intermolecular interactions cooperate or compete to govern crystal behavior remains a major challenge. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-crystal-principle-reveals-molecular-phase.html Analytical Chemistry Wed, 01 Jul 2026 13:20:10 EDT news702124982 Two diamonds formed 700 kilometers below the Earth's surface reveal a life-giving synchronicity between shifting continents and the cycling of phosphorus, a vital building block of DNA and cell membranes. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-super-deep-diamond-discovery-rewrite.html Earth Sciences Tue, 30 Jun 2026 16:40:04 EDT news702042162 Amid the peatlands of northern Sweden, billions of microbes are quietly rewriting their genetic playbooks—and doing so far more often than scientists realized. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-tiny-dna-hitchhikers-reshaping-life.html Ecology Mon, 29 Jun 2026 11:40:08 EDT news701950861 Color-changing mood rings, forehead fever strips and car-shade indicators all change hues as they warm and cool, thanks to a phenomenon called thermochromism. On a smaller scale, thermochromism is used in nanotechnologies like sensors, electronics and computing. These applications require smart materials that can be patterned into designs without losing structural integrity, which can be difficult. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-uv-patterns-thermochromic-crystals.html Analytical Chemistry Mon, 29 Jun 2026 10:20:03 EDT news701945222 Genome editing lets scientists rewrite DNA, the instruction manual inside every living cell, with a precision that was unthinkable a generation ago. Technologies such as CRISPR have made this almost routine, and its uses now reach far beyond medicine, from engineering hardier crops and more productive microbes to creating sustainable biomaterials. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-cleanfinder-browser-based-genome-analysis.html Biotechnology Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:20:09 EDT news701528761 Scientists have extracted and analyzed the first-ever ancient proteins from the fossils of Homo naledi, revealing a potential all-female burial site. The study, published in the journal Cell, raises the possibility that South Africa's famous Rising Star Cave system could represent the first known example of a sex-specific burial site by a non-Homo sapiens species. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-ancient-proteins-hint-female-homo.html Evolution Wed, 24 Jun 2026 13:00:06 EDT news701518295 This April, when the spring breeze carried the formal acceptance notice of our paper by the Journal of the American Chemical Society to my desk, my thoughts instantly drifted back to the late Phil Geissler. A legendary physical chemist and the original spark for this research, Geissler had once observed a baffling phenomenon: When the hairy, flexible ligands passivating a nanoparticle's surface spontaneously order themselves into crystalline patterns, a massive, seemingly magical attractive force suddenly erupts between the particles. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-liquid-ripples-rewrite-year-biological.html Nanophysics Tue, 23 Jun 2026 12:00:08 EDT news701427498 Using the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) and the Manchester Echelle Spectrograph (MES), astronomers from Turkey and Mexico have investigated a planetary nebula discovered two centuries ago, known as NGC 6563. Results of the observations, published June 15 in a special issue of Galaxies journal, yield important insights into the morphology and kinematics of this nebula. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-planetary-nebula-ear-lobes-rewrite.html Astronomy Sun, 21 Jun 2026 13:20:01 EDT news701085925 Mosses are survivors. They can dry into what looks like green dust, only to spring back to life minutes after rain. They can grow on rocks, in deserts, and there's talk of using them to terraform Mars someday. According to new research, mosses have also been hiding something. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-hidden-fungus-moss-rewrite-million.html Evolution Thu, 18 Jun 2026 16:40:03 EDT news701012881 Life on our planet began in the water. Eventually, one branch of the fish family tree developed legs and came up on land. These early four-legged animals, the tetrapods, were the forebears of today's mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-fossilized-babies-ancient-crocodile-predators.html Evolution Thu, 18 Jun 2026 14:00:04 EDT news700988881 An international study led by Curtin University has revealed new insights into how an ancient flying reptile was preserved in extraordinary detail for 113 million years, offering a rare glimpse into a vanished world. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-pterosaur-wing-rewrites-fossil-rulebook.html Paleontology & Fossils Thu, 18 Jun 2026 11:00:11 EDT news700897502 In a strong El Niño winter, normally dry regions can suddenly drown in rain. NASA notes that "typically dry regions can experience nearly two times as much rain during a strong El Niño." Indeed, the blockbuster El Niños of 1982–83 and 1997–98 unleashed record-breaking California storms and unusually mild Northeast winters. These far-reaching effects—atmospheric "teleconnections" linking the tropics to North America—arise because Pacific warming steers the jet stream south and east. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-super-el-nios-world.html Earth Sciences Tue, 16 Jun 2026 10:40:08 EDT news700822198 For more than a century, chemists have been building complex molecules step by step—bond by bond, atom by atom. But what if, instead of painstakingly reassembling molecules, they could be directly "rewritten"? This is exactly what a research team led by organic chemist Nuno Maulide from the University of Vienna has now achieved. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-chemists-reveal-alkyl-swap-rewrites.html Biochemistry Mon, 15 Jun 2026 11:40:04 EDT news700735977 Researchers have found evidence of a previously unknown branch of the marsupial family tree, a discovery that could reshape our understanding of how Australia's unique mammals evolved. Published in the Journal of Paleontology, the study describes three new species of small, insect-eating marsupials from Queensland's Riversleigh World Heritage Area. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-teeth-rewrite-story-marsupial-evolution.html Evolution Mon, 15 Jun 2026 10:20:04 EDT news700734181 Astronomers may have uncovered new details about one of the Milky Way's most important ancient collisions. Using data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) and a new clustering algorithm, researchers have found evidence suggesting the famous Gaia-Sausage/Enceladus structure (GSE) has a far more complicated origin than previously thought. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-cornerstone-milky-history-rewriting-evidence.html Astronomy Fri, 12 Jun 2026 11:00:09 EDT news700477904 At Kurd Qaburstan, an ancient site in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, archaeologists have uncovered the first substantial group of cuneiform administrative tablets found in the Erbil region, along with evidence of large-scale destruction, mass graves and citywide fortifications. Together, the discoveries are providing one of the clearest archaeological records yet uncovered of siege warfare and urban life during the Middle Bronze Age. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-archaeologists-uncover-year-evidence-siege.html Archaeology Wed, 10 Jun 2026 16:40:04 EDT news700317061 Human-caused sea-level rise has significantly increased the frequency of extreme coastal flooding worldwide, according to a new study led by a Tulane University researcher. The research, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, found that coastal flooding events expected only once every 100 years are now, on average, about 12 times more likely to occur. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-extreme-coastal-surges-worldwide-seas.html Earth Sciences Wed, 10 Jun 2026 14:00:09 EDT news700235461 A genomic study has reshaped our understanding of the evolutionary history of the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus), revealing the iconic Australian marsupial experienced a severe population decline around 100,000 years ago, before the arrival of humans on the continent. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-koala-population-humans-genomic-reveals.html Plants & Animals Tue, 09 Jun 2026 00:00:02 EDT news700128486 Bryozoans are tiny, filter-feeding colonial invertebrates that thrive in the world's oceans today, yet for decades their origins presented a puzzling gap in the fossil record. While nearly every other major animal group made its first appearance during the Cambrian explosion roughly 530 million years ago, the bryozoan fossil record remained stubbornly silent until the Ordovician period, some 50 million years later. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-extraordinary-fossils-million-year-mystery.html Evolution Wed, 03 Jun 2026 11:00:09 EDT news699636181 A collaborative study with the University of Cologne, recently published in Nature Communications, provides compelling evidence that the extreme aridity in the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert began over 40 million years ago—significantly earlier than previously assumed. The findings require a reconsideration of how deserts form and offer a new perspective on the long-term evolution of Earth's most extreme environments. Researchers from SUERC Centre for the Isotope Sciences are co-authors of a study which casts new light on the history of Earth's driest region, the Atacama Desert in Chile. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-atacama-extreme-aridity-million-years.html Earth Sciences Tue, 02 Jun 2026 12:00:06 EDT news699615121 Every summer, millions of people spray themselves with DEET to keep mosquitoes away. But new research suggests mosquitoes may be able to learn to associate the repellent with food—and even become attracted to it. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-deet-mosquitoes.html Plants & Animals Thu, 28 May 2026 11:00:10 EDT news699090361 New research published in BMC Biology helps to fill in questions about the so-called "Furongian gap" from about 497 million to 485 million years ago, when paleontologists previously thought there were far fewer fossils than periods before or after it. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-forgotten-museum-fossil-rewrite-animal.html Evolution Thu, 28 May 2026 09:00:02 EDT news699094381 A new study by the University of Turku and partners provides fresh insights into an individual buried near Lake Kitka in Kuusamo, Finland, at the turn of the 17th century (c. 1600 CE). DNA and isotope analyses show that the individual, whose grave has been linked to Sámi cultural heritage, had a genetic connection to present-day Sámi populations and spent part of his life outside Finland. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-ancient-dna-rewrites-story-historical.html Archaeology Tue, 26 May 2026 11:40:03 EDT news699005419