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. Liquid crystals are an integral part of modern technology, ranging from displays to advanced sensory systems. In a study published in Scientific Reports, researchers from the Institute of Experimental Physics of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (IEP SAS) in Košice, in collaboration with international partners, have demonstrated how minute changes in material composition can achieve precise control over behavior in electric and magnetic fields. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-hidden-threshold-enables-tunable-liquid.html Soft Matter Fri, 15 May 2026 15:00:04 EDT news698072581 From space, Earth's populated areas glow on the otherwise "black marble" of the planet at night. For decades, scientists assumed this glow was steadily increasing as the world developed. However, a new study published in Nature flips this narrative. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-satellites-capture-volatile-humanluminescence-relationship.html Environment Wed, 08 Apr 2026 18:40:01 EDT news694880162 At a potluck, you ate the best chocolate chip cookie—golden-brown, thick and chewy. Unfortunately, you don't know who made the cookie to get the recipe from, so you decide to recreate it. Using forward design principles, you might randomly choose a recipe from dozens of options, bake and observe the resulting cookies. If they are too thin, you might start over with a new recipe, add more flour or chill the dough longer and make a new batch. An alternative method is to start from the cookie characteristics you want and ask: What recipe and baking settings will produce that type of cookie? This method is called inverse design. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-inverse-pathway-custom-functional-polymers.html Polymers Tue, 17 Mar 2026 09:00:07 EDT news692956417 Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN), in collaboration with international partners, have shown that ocean temperature patterns help limit the global spread of droughts. Published in Communications Earth & Environment, the study analyzed climate data from 1901–2020 and found that synchronized droughts affected between 1.8% and 6.5% of global land, far lower than earlier claims that one-sixth of the planet could dry out at once. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-planet-doesnt-dry-scientists-global.html Environment Mon, 23 Feb 2026 17:30:01 EST news691085581 Across the physical world, many intricate structures form via symmetry breaking. When a system with inherent symmetry transitions into an ordered state, it can form stable imperfections known as topological defects. Such defects are found everywhere, from the large-scale structure of the universe to everyday materials, making them a powerful way to study how order emerges in complex systems. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-ai-defect-based-material.html Nanomaterials Tue, 27 Jan 2026 09:21:53 EST news688728061 A new Danish research breakthrough could make buildings far more energy-efficient in the future. Researchers from Aarhus University's Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO) have developed a light-responsive hybrid material based on so-called silver nanorings that automatically responds to solar intensity and regulates how much heat penetrates through windows. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-silver-nanoring-coating-smart-windows.html Nanomaterials Thu, 02 Oct 2025 14:29:02 EDT news678634141 Half of the sun's radiant energy falls outside of the visible spectrum. On a cold day, this extra infrared light provides additional warmth to residential and commercial buildings. On a warm day, it leads to unwanted heating that must be dealt with through energy-intensive climate control methods such as air-conditioning. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-carbon-nanotube-smart-windows-energy.html Nanophysics Mon, 18 Aug 2025 14:50:02 EDT news674747401 A team of scientists from Korea and Japan has discovered a new type of crystal that can "breathe"—releasing and absorbing oxygen repeatedly at relatively low temperatures. This unique ability could transform the way we develop clean energy technologies, including fuel cells, energy-saving windows, and smart thermal devices. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-crystal-oxygen-possibilities-energy-electronics.html Condensed Matter Fri, 15 Aug 2025 14:12:48 EDT news674485958 The accumulation of misfolded proteins in the brain is central to the progression of neurodegenerative diseases like Huntington's, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. But to the human eye, proteins that are destined to form harmful aggregates don't look any different than normal proteins. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-ai-powered-microscope-tracks-protein.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 24 Jul 2025 05:00:01 EDT news672467779 Cornell researchers have developed a two-phase liquid crystal system that can rapidly change—and hold—its shape, transforming from a transparent thin liquid film to an opaque emulsion, and then back again, all with a brief jolt of a high-frequency electric field. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-shapeshifting-liquid-crystal-emulsions.html Biochemistry Wed, 16 Jul 2025 13:20:12 EDT news671889700 A new coating for glass developed by Rice University researchers and collaborators could help reduce energy bills, especially during the cold season, by preventing heat-loss from leaky windows. The material—a transparent film made by weaving carbon into the atomic lattice of boron nitride—forms a thin, tough layer that reflects heat, resists scratches and shrugs off moisture, UV light and temperature swings. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-boron-nitride-coating-glass-loss.html Materials Science Thu, 10 Jul 2025 16:37:19 EDT news671384233 A University of Tennessee researcher documented an immature Cooper's hawk using vehicle traffic and pedestrian signal patterns as concealment during hunting behavior at a suburban intersection. https://phys.org/news/2025-05-street-smarts-cooper-hawk-pedestrian.html Plants & Animals Mon, 26 May 2025 10:30:01 EDT news667471295 The chameleon, a lizard known for its color-changing skin, is the inspiration behind a new electromagnetic material that could someday make vehicles and aircraft "invisible" to radar. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-electromagnetic-material-shifting-chameleon.html Condensed Matter Wed, 22 Jan 2025 10:27:19 EST news656764027 Researchers at Università Cattolica, Brescia campus, have discovered that the transition from insulating to conductive behavior in certain materials is driven by topological defects in the structure. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-topological-defects-trigger-insulating-behavior.html Condensed Matter Fri, 15 Nov 2024 12:50:04 EST news650897401 With just the flick of a switch, quantum materials can undergo drastic changes. One notable example is the insulator-to-metal transition, a reversible physical phenomenon in which a material shifts from an insulating state, which will not conduct electricity, to a metallic one that will. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-metal-insulator-transition-quantum-material.html Condensed Matter Mon, 15 Jul 2024 11:09:03 EDT news640260541 Thanks to human ingenuity and zero gravity, we reap important benefits from science in space. Consider smart phones with built-in navigation systems and cameras. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-neutrons-window-explore-space-glass.html General Physics Tue, 21 May 2024 16:53:04 EDT news635529181 Traditional techniques for observing fish behavior, largely dependent on vision-based systems, face substantial limitations, such as a confined range of observation and a limited duration of operation underwater. In response to these challenges, a research team from the National University of Defense Technology has pioneered a wearable electronic device that adeptly captures disturbances in the water flow caused by the movements of fish. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-smart-vest-fish-underwater-spies.html Ecology Wed, 10 Apr 2024 14:49:28 EDT news631979364 Widespread ownership of modern smartphones could make for more accessible—and equitable—microscopy in many elementary and middle school classrooms. According to University of Georgia research, iPhone cameras can serve as adequate alternatives to traditional grade-school optical microscopes when paired with more cost-efficient magnification devices. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-iphones-microscopes-early-stem.html Education Thu, 14 Mar 2024 09:59:28 EDT news629629163 In a new Science Advances study, scientists from the University of Science and Technology of China have developed a dynamic network structure using laser-controlled conducting filaments for neuromorphic computing. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-elevating-neuromorphic-laser-controlled-filaments-vanadium.html Condensed Matter Thu, 12 Oct 2023 09:27:03 EDT news616321617 Researchers have demonstrated a material for next generation dynamic windows, which would allow building occupants to switch their windows between three modes: transparent, or "normal" windows; windows that block infrared light, helping to keep a building cool; and tinted windows that control glare while maintaining the view. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-material-users-tune-windows-block.html Condensed Matter Thu, 21 Sep 2023 11:03:12 EDT news614512988 Vivid displays, enriched color variations and boosted stability are something everyone can look forward to encountering as advances are made in the electrochromic device (ECD) field https://phys.org/news/2023-09-brightly-multicolored-future-electrochromic-devices.html Nanomaterials Thu, 14 Sep 2023 12:20:03 EDT news613912801 The world's first 3D printing technology that can be used in transparent displays and AR devices has been developed, which implements the physical phenomenon of chameleon's changing skin color or peacock's beautiful feather color. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-3d-technology-precision.html Nanophysics Tue, 08 Aug 2023 06:21:47 EDT news610694502 Researchers at McMaster University have created a new packaging tray that can signal when Salmonella or other dangerous pathogens are present in packages of raw or cooked food such as chicken. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-packaging-tray-contamination-food-unwrapped.html Biochemistry Wed, 05 Jul 2023 09:54:35 EDT news607769670 With a flick of a switch, current technologies allow you to quickly change materials from being dark to light, or cold to hot, just by blocking or transmitting specific wavelengths. But now, inspired by squid skin, researchers in ACS Nano report a soft film that can regulate its transparency across a large range of wavelengths—visible, infrared and microwave—simultaneously. They demonstrated the material in smart windows and in health monitoring and temperature management applications. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-squid-inspired-soft-material-switchable-shield.html Nanomaterials Wed, 28 Jun 2023 08:22:03 EDT news607159321 Nanoscientists have developed a wearable textile that can convert body movement into useable electricity and even store that energy. The fabric potentially has a wide range of applications from medical monitoring to assisting athletes and their coaches in tracking their performance, as well as smart displays on clothing. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-wearable-textile-captures-energy-body.html Nanomaterials Mon, 05 Jun 2023 15:30:04 EDT news605197802 Researchers in Singapore have developed the world's smallest LED (light-emitting diode) that enables the conversion of existing mobile phone cameras into high-resolution microscopes. Smaller than the wavelength of light, the new LED was used to build the world's smallest holographic microscope, paving the way for existing cameras in everyday devices such as mobile phones to be converted into microscopes via only modifications to the silicon chip and software. This technology also represents a significant step forward in the miniaturization of diagnostics for indoor farmers and sustainable agriculture. https://phys.org/news/2023-05-technology-enables-conversion-mobile-cameras.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 04 May 2023 08:37:44 EDT news602408256 Dust is a common fact of life, and it's more than just a daily nuisance—it can get into machinery and equipment, causing loss of efficiency or breakdowns. https://phys.org/news/2023-02-anti-dust-tech-paves-self-cleaning-surfaces.html Nanomaterials Wed, 22 Feb 2023 11:20:20 EST news596287216 It was a simple idea—maybe even too simple to work. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-basics-yields-printable-transparent-plastic.html Polymers Fri, 02 Dec 2022 09:17:33 EST news589195048 A group from Nagoya University in Japan has discovered a never-before-seen form of ruthenium phosphide with an unusual configuration of atoms and electrons in its cooled state. This may resolve the puzzle of how a metal can be a conductor at high temperatures, but an insulator at lower temperatures. https://phys.org/news/2022-11-mechanism-metal-to-insulator-transition-ruthenium-phosphide.html Analytical Chemistry Wed, 30 Nov 2022 08:51:38 EST news589020695 UCLA researchers and their colleagues have discovered a new physics principle governing how heat transfers through materials, and the finding contradicts the conventional wisdom that heat always moves faster as pressure increases. https://phys.org/news/2022-11-unearths-obscure-contradictory-behaviors.html General Physics Mon, 28 Nov 2022 15:47:49 EST news588872865