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. Does gravity act equally on all particles in the universe, or are there differences between ordinary and exotic matter? Physics professor Anna Soter and her team at ETH Zurich and the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Villigen are investigating this question. "We have taken an important step toward carrying out an exciting experiment on this topic," says Soter. "We want to measure the gravitational interaction of the muon." https://phys.org/news/2026-09-particle-einstein-theory-gravity.html General Physics Tue, 15 Sep 2026 09:40:06 EDT news708683461 In 1931, physicist Hans Bethe predicted that, in certain one-dimensional quantum systems, particles can bind together to form multi-particle states known as Bethe strings. Unlike ordinary molecules, which are held together by chemical bonds, Bethe strings arise purely from interactions between particles and exist only in one dimension. For decades, Bethe strings remained primarily a theoretical concept. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-ultracold-cesium-atoms-reveal-bethe.html Quantum Physics Mon, 14 Sep 2026 08:40:08 EDT news708593282 "Color coatings are expected to provide vivid color, brightness, gloss and long-term durability, yet no existing technology satisfies all of these requirements simultaneously," says Kobe University materials engineer Hiroshi Sugimoto. Conventional coatings usually rely on relatively thick pigment layers that fade and add significant weight. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-silicon-nanosphere-coatings-glossy-nonfading.html Nanomaterials Sat, 12 Sep 2026 15:00:01 EDT news708084509 New research shows how artificial intelligence, combined with advanced experimental science, can help find "hidden" and unexplored proteins in the human body and reveal what they actually do, according to a new study published in Nature. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-ai-hidden-human-proteins-reveals.html Biotechnology Fri, 11 Sep 2026 17:40:05 EDT news708351781 For more than a century, pharmaceutical companies have relied on flat structures called aromatic rings, which can help drugs bind to target sites in the body. They include benzene rings and other flat, nitrogen-containing rings. But there are limits to their usefulness. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-blue-chemistry-3d-drug-blocks.html Biochemistry Fri, 11 Sep 2026 06:40:01 EDT news708267421 Life in the deep sea is under immense pressure—literally. Such extreme conditions can disrupt the delicate structures of proteins essential to life. Yet somehow, the proteins in deep-sea creatures remain functional. This raises an intriguing question: how? https://phys.org/news/2026-09-pressure-deep-sea-protein-extreme.html Biochemistry Thu, 10 Sep 2026 18:40:01 EDT news708264001 The average person takes thousands of steps each day, instinctively walking heel-to-toe. Although they hardly register them, those consistent heel-first strides are more distinctive to humans than previously thought and allowed early hominins to walk farther and more efficiently, but at the cost of higher impact forces on bones and joints, according to a new study led by a researcher at Penn State. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-heel-early-humans-high-impact.html Evolution Mon, 07 Sep 2026 15:00:04 EDT news708011198 Scientists have revealed a bizarre microscopic creature that reproduces in a way reminiscent of the horror film" Alien." The microbe grows one or more new cells inside its own body before the outer "mother" cell ruptures to release them, a reproductive strategy never before seen in its group of organisms. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-scottish-pregnant-grandmother-microbe-offspring.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 03 Sep 2026 14:40:01 EDT news707654402 When cold and flu season comes around, we take steps like getting our flu shots and taking immune supplements to strengthen our bodies' defenses against pathogens. Plants face pathogenic threats, too. Plant pathogens can have devastating effects on crop yields, with up to 40% of global food crops lost annually, and such losses have severe implications for food security. But what if we could boost plant immune systems as we do our own and make them better able to withstand or fend off biological threats? https://phys.org/news/2026-08-primed-ready-nematode-pheromone-arms.html Biotechnology Thu, 27 Aug 2026 18:50:01 EDT news707071202 New research by Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) shows that globally, up to 560 million children ages 0–9 (43% of all children in this age group) experience at least one additional month (30 or more days) of heat stress per year because of human-induced climate change. This exposure outpaces that of any other age group and is nearly triple the 190 million people (30%) ages 60–69 experiencing this additional health threat. Children are therefore already facing disproportionately high levels of dangerous humid heat caused by human-induced climate change, with exposure expected to grow under further warming. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-climate-exposes-million-children-globally.html Environment Wed, 26 Aug 2026 14:00:21 EDT news706897322 In the journal npj Biofilms and Microbiomes, researchers from the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA) and the University of São Paulo (USP) describe the role of three bacteria in suppressing a soil-borne wheat pathogen that causes root rot. The study paves the way for the development of inoculants that can be used in agriculture. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-bacteria-ancestral-wheat-microbiomes-root.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 24 Aug 2026 17:20:04 EDT news706801322 Scientists had previously observed that some species of shrews undergo a form of biological plasticity in which their bodies, skulls, brains and some organs shrink in the winter, then regrow in the spring. Now, a new study in Japan, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, has taken a closer look at this phenomenon and found that shrews' snouts exhibit an inverse effect, growing and then shrinking again. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-shrews-reversible-size-skulls-noses.html Plants & Animals Wed, 19 Aug 2026 11:40:05 EDT news706354020 Between 29,000 and 19,000 years ago, the planet experienced some of its coldest temperatures and drastic landscape changes at the peak of the Ice Age, during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), the period of most extensive global ice cover. Humans, despite being unaccustomed to such icy temperatures and surroundings, survived through the age. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-ancient-jomon-dna-reveals-hidden.html Evolution Tue, 18 Aug 2026 11:40:10 EDT news706266198 A study has been published in Nature Communications that identifies an unusual regime of quantum oscillations in a three-dimensional topological insulator. The results show that, when subjected to temperatures near absolute zero and extreme magnetic fields, electrons in the material zirconium pentatelluride (ZrTe₅) exhibit behavior that deviates from the pattern predicted by conventional theory. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-anomalous-quantum-oscillations-reveal-physics.html Condensed Matter Mon, 17 Aug 2026 10:40:05 EDT news706178521 Detecting water where none remains today: Neutron and X-ray tomography make it possible. In an international study conducted with the participation of the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, researchers have brought to light macroscopic hydrogen-rich regions inside a Martian meteorite. The findings provide evidence for early water-rock interactions on Mars. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-dry-meteorite-mars.html Astrobiology Thu, 13 Aug 2026 15:00:01 EDT news705841861 A University of Kansas physicist played a leading role in a CERN study showing that two rival explanations for how gluons behave inside atomic nuclei can now be experimentally distinguished. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-cern-conventional-gluons-atomic-nuclei.html General Physics Tue, 11 Aug 2026 17:40:04 EDT news705672722 If you ask Vijay Parashar, associate professor of medical and molecular sciences (MMSC) at the University of Delaware College of Health Sciences, human bodies are bags of bacteria. "It sounds gross, but not all bacteria are bad; most of them are good. The trouble starts when the bad bacteria learn how to outsmart antibiotics." https://phys.org/news/2026-08-bacterial-enzyme-weaken-antibiotic-defenses.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 06 Aug 2026 19:20:01 EDT news705254041 The Sloan Digital Sky Survey V (SDSS-V) has announced its 20th public data release (DR20), delivering a dramatic expansion of the Milky Way Mapper (MWM) scientific survey—the most detailed spectroscopic map yet assembled of stars in and around our home galaxy. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-galaxy-milky-mapper-survey-latest.html Astronomy Thu, 06 Aug 2026 18:30:01 EDT news705257521 Using spectral data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), astronomers have gained some of the clearest evidence yet that white dwarf stars are accreting debris from disintegrating exoplanets. Captured while DESI was unable to study its primary targets: distant galaxies, the results provide unprecedented insights into the chemical makeup of rocky exoplanets, revealing compositions remarkably similar to the planets and asteroids of our own inner solar system. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-desi-side-reveals-spectra-disintegrated.html Astronomy Sun, 02 Aug 2026 08:20:01 EDT news704452570 Birds have a lot to do in their short lives: defend territories, build nests, raise chicks and feed themselves. But the toll of these activities may be greater for female birds than for male birds. A new study by UCLA ornithologists has found that female birds have lower survival rates than males. The research is the first to study female bird survival in a large dataset and shows that the phenomenon is more widespread than previously recognized. In mammals, females generally have higher survival rates, and why birds, which are not mammals, show the inverse is a puzzle the researchers are trying to solve. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-female-birds-shorter-lifespans-male.html Plants & Animals Thu, 30 Jul 2026 18:30:01 EDT news704650141 A new study in Nature Communications has established a link between the Riemann Hypothesis and dynamical phase transitions in engineered quantum systems, demonstrating the effect on a quantum processor. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-physicists-link-riemann-hypothesis-phase.html General Physics Thu, 30 Jul 2026 12:20:05 EDT news704628909 "Shark Week," which kicks off this week, has captivated audiences for decades with stories of these powerful ocean predators. But the secret behind their extraordinary swimming abilities lies far deeper than their impressive teeth or iconic tails—it's hidden inside their spines. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-sharks-spines-hidden-architecture-styles.html Plants & Animals Mon, 27 Jul 2026 11:40:07 EDT news704368926 Lithium in drinking water is a widespread and persistent source of human exposure across Tribal communities in the Western United States, according to a new study from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. The findings document substantial regional variation in exposure and provide some of the strongest evidence to date that household drinking water is a major contributor to lithium levels measured in the body. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-term-widespread-lithium-communities-western.html Environment Mon, 27 Jul 2026 09:40:01 EDT news704362802 Birdsong carries meaning across open space, helping birds attract mates, defend territory and communicate with rivals. While there has been much research into the use of birdsong across species, researchers have lacked a single global framework that explains birdsong complexity and how it differs from place to place. But now, in a study recently published in Science, a group of researchers in France have analyzed more than 116,000 bird songs from 3,160 passerine species around the world, allowing them to identify eight common motifs and explain differences in birdsong. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-birdsong-differs-world-motifs.html Plants & Animals Fri, 24 Jul 2026 12:50:02 EDT news704113567 NASA's Juno mission has provided the first measurements of the temperature below the surface of Jupiter's moon Io, revealing significant heating within the shallow subsurface of the most volcanically active world in the solar system. Collected during two close flybys, the data also show that most of Io's surface is remarkably smooth and composed of material with very low density. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-juno-temperature-jupiter-fiery-moon.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 22 Jul 2026 13:07:19 EDT news703943161 If you've driven down two-lane highways in rural parts of North Florida recently, you may have noticed a spate of new signs that designate the grassy knolls bordering the asphalt as wildflower areas. The signs likely feel redundant right about now as thousands of milkweeds produce thick umbels packed full of pentagonal buds and fully developed flowers. Many of these flowers and all the monarchs they attract have the same attention-grabbing orange color as the safety vests worn by workers who carefully planted each milkweed by hand months earlier. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-butterfly-experts-milkweed-florida-roadsides.html Plants & Animals Sat, 18 Jul 2026 13:30:01 EDT news703499199 In drug discovery, building complex molecules quickly is the name of the game. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-textbook-chemistry-gains-blue-complex.html Materials Science Sun, 12 Jul 2026 15:11:55 EDT news703087891 A new Stanford-led study offers the clearest picture yet of how some ocean life survived our planet's biggest mass extinction while most animals did not. About 252 million years ago, 96% of marine species and 70% of land animals died off during the Permian–Triassic extinction event, known as the "Great Dying." Not all branches of the evolutionary tree were affected evenly, however. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-link-mass-extinction-dominant-marine.html Evolution Fri, 10 Jul 2026 07:42:09 EDT news702888087 A team of scientists from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Cleveland Clinic and IBM has calculated nine molecular configurations of a promising material to produce fuel for fusion energy—the first known instance of such computations on quantum computers. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-quantum-fusion-fuel-material-configurations.html Quantum Physics Tue, 07 Jul 2026 15:40:01 EDT news702654741 In marine environments, sponges tend to eat other organisms to get their nutrients. But a study published in Functional Ecology by researchers at the University of Amsterdam's Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), demonstrates how sponges may also use photosynthesis, just like plants. This phenomenon can help with productivity—the amount of energy and food produced—in tropical coral reefs, and perhaps in other ecosystems where sponges are also common. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-sun-powered-sponges-generate-tropical.html Plants & Animals Wed, 01 Jul 2026 20:40:01 EDT news702137087