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. As organisms develop from embryos, groups of cells migrate and reshape themselves to form all manner of complex tissues. There are no anatomical molds shaped like lungs, livers or other tissues for cells to grow into. Rather, these structures form through the coordinated activity of different types of cells as they move and multiply. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-spheroid-geometry-multicellular-orbiting-invasion.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 26 Jan 2026 16:35:27 EST news688667701 From medicine to electronics and optics, new materials developed by scientists at Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) can be applied in various fields where cleanliness, precision, and durability are essential. They stand out not only for their functionality but also for their sustainability: they are made from renewable raw materials, and no solvents are used during production. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-sustainable-polymers-antimicrobial-action-3d.html Biochemistry Tue, 02 Sep 2025 11:46:03 EDT news676032361 A multinational research team, including engineers from the University of Cambridge and Zhejiang University, has developed a breakthrough in miniaturized spectrometer technology that could dramatically expand the accessibility and functionality of spectral imaging in everyday devices. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-plastic-based-spectrometers-compact-solution.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 11 Jul 2025 09:15:51 EDT news671444135 Prions, mysterious shape-shifting proteins, can lead to brain disorders such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans and bovine spongiform encephalopathy, "mad cow disease" in cattle, yet they can also play essential roles in yeast survival and long-term memory formation in mice. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-mechanical-reveals-prions-trigger-domino.html Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 03 Jun 2025 16:22:03 EDT news668186519 Chronic stress can lead to increased blood pressure and cardiovascular disease, decreased immune function, depression, and anxiety. Unfortunately, the tools we use to monitor stress are often imprecise or expensive, relying on self-reporting questionnaires and psychiatric evaluations. https://phys.org/news/2025-05-dental-floss-stress.html Biochemistry Mon, 26 May 2025 08:49:50 EDT news667468185 Plastics, which are polymeric materials composed of long chains of small molecules called monomers, are widely used in everyday life and industry due to their lightweight, good strength and flexibility. However, with approximately 52 million tons of plastic waste generated annually, plastic pollution has become a major environmental concern. https://phys.org/news/2025-03-sustainable-smart-polymers.html Polymers Thu, 06 Mar 2025 11:57:04 EST news660484622 Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research IAP have developed a foil that changes into polyurethane foam (PU foam) when heated—entirely without health risks. The foil allows for isocyanate-free foaming, thus improving workplace safety. Additionally, it offers logistics advantages for storage and transportation. The material can be customized for various applications ranging from the automotive and construction industries to packaging. https://phys.org/news/2025-02-polyurethane-memory-foil-foam.html Polymers Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:16:04 EST news659276162 In a remarkable feat of chemistry, a Northwestern University-led research team has developed the first two-dimensional (2D) mechanically interlocked material. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-chainmail-material-future-armor.html Nanomaterials Thu, 16 Jan 2025 14:00:07 EST news656241542 Soft polymers with the combined properties of electrolytes and traditional polymers offer some unique and desirable properties that can be drastically changed on demand. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-materials-scientists-road-responsive-gels.html Polymers Thu, 22 Aug 2024 11:19:05 EDT news643544342 Molecular computer components could represent a new IT revolution and help us create cheaper, faster, smaller, and more powerful computers. Yet researchers struggle to find ways to assemble them more reliably and efficiently. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-combines-dna-origami-photolithography-closer.html Nanomaterials Wed, 24 Apr 2024 11:49:04 EDT news633178141 One of the primary goals in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine is the development of artificial scaffolds that can serve as substitutes for damaged tissue. These materials must ideally resemble natural tissue and must have the ability to support cell adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-advancing-tissue-memory-hydrogels.html Polymers Wed, 13 Mar 2024 10:36:43 EDT news629545000 Shape-memory polymers or shape-shifting materials are smart materials that have gained significant attention within materials science and biomedical engineering in recent years to build smart structures and devices. Digital light processing is a vat photopolymerization–based method with significantly faster technology to print a complete layer in a single step to create smart materials. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-swift-d-shape-memory-polymers.html Polymers Fri, 22 Dec 2023 09:19:20 EST news622458888 Every cell in the human body contains the same genetic instructions, encoded in its DNA. However, out of about 30,000 genes, each cell expresses only those genes that it needs to become a nerve cell, immune cell, or any of the other hundreds of cell types in the body. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-3d-genome-theoretical-cell-identity.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 16 Nov 2023 14:00:02 EST news619347627 We often crumple a scrap piece of paper into a ball before throwing it. This mundane action, however, creates a unique complex system with surprising mechanical properties. Take a thin plastic sheet such as cellophane and try it yourself. While a regular flat sheet will simply bend under the influence of gravity, a crumpled sheet is stiffer and can hold its own weight. It also has shape memory—it has many stable configurations and thus will tend to keep the shape it is deformed to. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-crumpled-sheets-reveal-mechanism-glassy.html General Physics Wed, 08 Nov 2023 10:52:30 EST news618663147 Whether you are familiar with the term "Magnus effect" or not, you have certainly seen it in action. It is when a spinning ball—for instance in football, cricket or baseball—bends away from its expected trajectory, often to the surprise of the opposing team. The principle also has engineering uses, for example to propel certain types of ships or aircraft using a "Flettner rotor." https://phys.org/news/2023-09-memory-induced-magnus-effect-unexpected-curveball.html General Physics Tue, 26 Sep 2023 12:58:54 EDT news614951931 Researchers from Japan have unlocked the potential of tannic acid and ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene oxide by using them to synthesize strong and smart supramolecular gels in a zero-waste process. These gels exhibit remarkable characteristics, such as high elongation, strong adhesion, resistance to swelling, shape memory, self-healing property, and biocompatibility. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-zero-waste-synthesis-supramolecular-materials-remarkable.html Polymers Tue, 19 Sep 2023 10:39:50 EDT news614338787 Scientists aren't entirely sure how life began on Earth, but one prevailing theory posits that persistent cycles of wet and dry conditions on land helped assemble the complex chemical building blocks necessary for microbial life. This is why a patchwork of well-preserved ancient mud cracks found by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover is so exciting to the mission's team. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-seasonal-climate-patterns-early-mars.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 09 Aug 2023 13:04:38 EDT news610805073 In the age of COVID-19, the word "virus" stirs up thoughts of contagion, sickness, and even death. But what if there were a virus—a very tiny virus capable of replicating itself hundreds of times every half hour—that could cure a severe bacterial infection resistant to all known antibiotics? It is this hope that motivates Bil Clemons, the Arthur and Marian Hanisch Memorial Professor of Biochemistry, to research the virus named φX174. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-phage-x174-mechanism.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 13 Jul 2023 15:21:05 EDT news608480462 A new smart material developed by researchers at the University of Waterloo is activated by both heat and electricity, making it the first ever to respond to two different stimuli. https://phys.org/news/2023-04-programmable-smart-fabric-temperature-electricity.html Nanomaterials Mon, 24 Apr 2023 02:18:59 EDT news601521532 Integrative actuators and sensors within a single active device offer compelling capabilities for developing robotics, prosthetic limbs, and minimally invasive surgical tools. But instrumenting these devices at the microscale is constrained by current manufacturing technologies. https://phys.org/news/2023-02-complex-biological-smart-fibers.html Biochemistry Thu, 09 Feb 2023 10:17:10 EST news595160227 Three scientists were jointly awarded this year's Nobel Prize in chemistry on Wednesday for developing a way of "snapping molecules together" that can be used to explore cells, map DNA and design drugs that can target diseases such as cancer more precisely. https://phys.org/news/2022-10-nobel-prize-chemists-molecules-click.html Materials Science Wed, 05 Oct 2022 06:54:56 EDT news584171690 Although just cute little creatures at first glance, the microscopic geckos and octopuses fabricated by 3D laser printing in the molecular engineering labs at Heidelberg University could open up new opportunities in fields such as microrobotics or biomedicine. https://phys.org/news/2022-10-microscopic-octopuses-3d-printer.html Polymers Tue, 04 Oct 2022 14:23:16 EDT news584112193 Laser powder bed fusion, a 3D-printing technique, offers potential in the manufacturing industry, particularly when fabricating nickel-titanium shape memory alloys with complex geometries. Although this manufacturing technique is attractive for applications in the biomedical and aerospace fields, it has rarely showcased the superelasticity required for specific applications using nickel-titanium shape memory alloys. Defects generated and changes imposed onto the material during the 3D-printing process prevented the superelasticity from appearing in 3D-printed nickel-titanium. https://phys.org/news/2022-05-3d-printed-memory-alloy-superior-superelasticity.html Materials Science Fri, 13 May 2022 16:26:39 EDT news571677891 Researchers have created new materials that are very stretchable and extremely tough. https://phys.org/news/2022-02-material-remarkable-combo-toughness-stretchiness.html Materials Science Mon, 21 Feb 2022 11:00:03 EST news564646356 A new technology solution which will provide low-power systems for use in bionic eyes, has been jointly developed by academics from the Harbin Institute of Technology in China and Northumbria University. https://phys.org/news/2021-12-artificial-vision-aids.html Bio & Medicine Wed, 22 Dec 2021 07:44:06 EST news559381440 Natural wood already boasts an inherently lower life cycle cost than other materials and is a naturally strong, lightweight, and durable composite material that could offer an attractive alternative to commonly used polymers, metals and alloys, if its properties and functionality could be improved. https://phys.org/news/2021-10-versatile-moldable-wood.html Materials Science Fri, 22 Oct 2021 12:01:27 EDT news554122883 When stretched or deformed, shape memory polymers return to their original shapes after heat or light is applied. These materials show great promise for soft robotics, smart biomedical devices and deployable space structures, but until now they haven't been able to store enough energy. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Central Science have developed a shape memory polymer that stores almost six times more energy than previous versions. https://phys.org/news/2021-09-high-energy-memory-polymer-robots-flex.html Polymers Wed, 08 Sep 2021 08:00:02 EDT news550300574 A new rubber band stretches, but then snaps back into its original shape and size. Stretched again, it does the same. But what if the rubber band was made of a material that remembered how it had been stretched? Just as our bones strengthen in response to impact, medical implants or prosthetics composed of such a material could adjust to environmental pressures such as those encountered in strenuous exercise. https://phys.org/news/2021-06-scientists-properties-proteins-pressure.html Soft Matter Wed, 16 Jun 2021 14:14:33 EDT news543071670 Since the beginning of civilization, humans have exploited new materials to improve their lives, from the prehistoric Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age to the modern Silicon Age. With each period came technological breakthroughs that transformed the way we live. Consider the 1961 invention of the silicon chip, which paved the way for the digital revolution. Without this tiny electronic component, we'd have no laptops or cell phones. https://phys.org/news/2021-04-synthesis-method-material-possibilities.html Analytical Chemistry Fri, 23 Apr 2021 10:48:13 EDT news538393637 Pen drawings can allow simple, inexpensive and intuitive two-dimensional (2D) fabrication. Materials scientists aim to integrate such pen drawings to develop 3D objects. In a new report now published on Science Advances, See Woo Song et al. developed a new 3D fabrication method to directly transform pen-drawn 2D precursors into 3D geometries. The team facilitated the 2D-to-3D transformation of pen drawings using surface tension driven capillary peeling and floating of the dried ink film after dipping the drawing into an aqueous monomer solution. By selectively controlling and anchoring the parts of a 2D precursor, Song et al. transformed a 2D drawing into the designed 3D structure. They then fixed the transformed 3D geometry using structural reinforcement using surface-initiated polymerization. The scientists transformed simple pen-drawn 2D structures into complex 3D architectures to accomplish freestyle rapid prototyping with pen drawings including the mass production of 3D objects through roll-to-roll processing. https://phys.org/news/2021-04-2d-to-3d-pen.html General Physics Thu, 01 Apr 2021 09:30:01 EDT news536482096