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. Scientists are always on the lookout for more efficient ways to make useful products and ingredients. Now, researchers from the University of Valladolid in Spain have successfully used a type of purple bacteria to make CoQ10 and carotenoid pigments from CO₂ and other ingredients found in industrial waste streams. The new study is published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-purple-bacteria-industrial-products-valuable.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 10 Nov 2026 13:50:06 EST news713539390 Long before birds took to the skies, dinosaurs were already sporting feathers. But exactly how they evolved into the sophisticated structures that allow birds to fly remains something of a mystery. Now, the discovery of the longest feather ever found preserved in amber is providing some new clues. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-million-year-feather-evolution-flight.html Evolution Tue, 10 Nov 2026 12:30:01 EST news713531525 An international collaboration of physicists has presented its first results in its search for hypothetical particles that could help to explain the vast disparity between the strength of gravity and the three fundamental forces described by the Standard Model. Following three years of data collection at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)'s FASER experiment, the FASER Collaboration found no evidence for these heavy, slow-moving "quirks." https://phys.org/news/2026-11-lhc-collaboration-result-quirks.html General Physics Tue, 10 Nov 2026 11:50:01 EST news713532498 A fresh excavation of the eastern deposit at Riparo Mochi, a rock shelter near today's French–Italian border, has pushed back the timeline for when Ice Age hunter-gatherers from Spain first entered Italy. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-ice-age-reveals-hunter-italy.html Archaeology Tue, 10 Nov 2026 10:40:05 EST news713524984 In 2031, Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft will arrive at the near-Earth asteroid 1998 KY26: a tiny body that is accelerating in a way that astronomers have struggled to explain. Some studies have suggested that the asteroid is pushed along by water escaping from it as gas, making it an as-yet theoretical "dark comet." https://phys.org/news/2026-11-simulations-unusual-asteroid-dark-comet.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 10 Nov 2026 09:20:10 EST news713453327 Physicists at the ALPS II collaboration have reported the first results from the Any-Light-Particle-Search (ALPS) II experiment: the most sensitive instrument of its kind in the search for hypothetical "axions." Headed by Axel Lindner at the DESY Research Centre in Germany, the collaboration found no evidence for axions in this initial campaign, but its results offer valuable guidance for future runs: tightening the search for one of the most promising candidates for dark matter. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-world-sensitive-lab-based-axion.html General Physics Tue, 10 Nov 2026 08:40:01 EST news713447989 More than 2,000 years ago, Egyptians offered cats to the gods. Now, a new study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science suggests that even cats destined for the gods did not necessarily live pampered lives. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-egyptian-cats-meant-gods-harsh.html Archaeology Tue, 10 Nov 2026 07:40:15 EST news713446014 Tiny levitated magnets are able to avoid contact friction, making them useful for detecting extremely weak forces and magnetic fields and acting as ultralow-noise quantum sensors and precision measurement tools. Combining levitation with extreme cold further reduces unwanted motion that can make faint signals hard to detect. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-fastest-levitated-magnet-physicists-dark.html General Physics Mon, 09 Nov 2026 12:30:01 EST news713447973 Most of us like a good old chat with friends, colleagues, neighbors or acquaintances. But what can turn a really good chat into a great one? Sure, conversation topics matter, but scientists have found underlying patterns that may explain our best interactions. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-art-good-conversation-involve-pink.html Mathematics Mon, 09 Nov 2026 12:10:01 EST news713447999 The brilliant magenta feathers on the head and throat of a male Anna's hummingbird present an optical puzzle. Magenta cannot be produced by a single wavelength of light. Instead, the feathers reflect a mixture of red and blue. Scientists understood the strong red reflection, but the weaker blue component was harder to explain. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-hummingbird-brilliant-magenta-feathers-hidden.html Plants & Animals Mon, 09 Nov 2026 08:00:06 EST news713181845 Typically, after a physical system is disturbed, it can gradually return toward a state of thermal equilibrium by exchanging heat with its surroundings. Thermal equilibrium is a state in which there is no net transfer of heat between the system and its surroundings. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-optical-strong-mpemba-effect-qubit.html Optics & Photonics Mon, 09 Nov 2026 06:40:01 EST news713180411 Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a team of astronomers identified 104 magnified stellar events in a galaxy known as the Dragon, located around 6.5 billion light-years away. This discovery more than doubles the previous record of 44 such detections in the same galaxy. Because these kinds of events reveal some of the most luminous stars and likely the presence of dark matter, this study offers a rare look at the galaxy's stellar population along with a possible hint at the nature of dark matter. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-jwst-tracks-magnified-stellar-events.html Astronomy Sun, 08 Nov 2026 14:20:01 EST news713195094 In 2009, researchers working in the Liang Bua cave on Flores Island came across a leg bone. The 190,000–120,000-year-old fossil was identified as a bird bone and set aside. Like many bird bones before it, it was overlooked and left to collect dust. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-species-ground-bird-largest-kind.html Paleontology & Fossils Sun, 08 Nov 2026 11:20:01 EST news712840789 Primordial black holes are hypothetical objects that could have formed directly from dense clumps of matter in the very early universe. If they exist, their dramatic origins would set them apart from the black holes we see today, which form when massive stars collapse. Some theories suggest that "stupendously large" primordial black holes could account for a significant share of the universe's elusive dark matter. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-stupendously-large-primordial-black-holes.html Astronomy Sun, 08 Nov 2026 09:40:01 EST news712855037 In a new Nature Physics study, researchers demonstrated the Aharonov-Bohm effect in a quantum simulation of a lattice gauge theory using a hybrid trapped-ion quantum computer. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-paths-flux-ions-simulate-aharonovbohm.html Quantum Physics Sat, 07 Nov 2026 13:00:02 EST news713027871 Glaciers are often thought of as unyielding blocks of ice that slowly carve out the landscape as they move downhill by gravity. But sometimes their slow crawl becomes a surge that sees them move orders of magnitude faster than their usual speed. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-heavy-glacier-alaska.html Earth Sciences Sat, 07 Nov 2026 10:40:05 EST news712840857 We live in a noisy world. Whether it is the roar of traffic, the rumble of ships or the hum of heavy industry, there is often no escaping noise unless you are a hermit on a desert island. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-noise-pollution-biology-behavior-animal.html Plants & Animals Fri, 06 Nov 2026 13:20:04 EST news713190869 Optical cavities are pairs of light-trapping mirrors and underpin the operation of lasers, atomic clocks and many types of precision sensors. If the distance between the mirrors is changed rapidly enough, some theories predict that the waves inside them should bunch together into short, intense pulses. So far, however, this prediction has never been tested directly. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-vibrating-mirrors-analog-black-hole.html Astronomy Fri, 06 Nov 2026 12:40:11 EST news713186888 Matter starts to behave differently at extremely low temperatures, creating conditions ideal for studying quantum physics and new states of matter. Now, researchers from China have achieved a new low-temperature record aboard their Tiangong space station. Their research, recently published in Science, might lead to a new generation of experiments in quantum physics and precision measurements in space. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-scientists-temperature-china-space-station.html Quantum Physics Fri, 06 Nov 2026 12:00:17 EST news713186878 Our oceans have effectively become trash dumps where massive quantities of plastic end up. So much so, in fact, that the largest offshore plastic accumulation zone has been labeled the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-microplastic-pollution-pacific-ocean.html Environment Fri, 06 Nov 2026 10:20:01 EST news713180421 Gravitational lensing is one of astronomy's best tricks for seeing the early universe. When a massive galaxy cluster sits in between the observer and a distant object, its gravity bends and magnifies the distant object's light, acting like a giant natural magnifying glass. Galaxies that would otherwise be too faint to spot suddenly come into view because of gravitational lensing. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-galaxy-nicknamed-misty-moons-glimpse.html Astronomy Fri, 06 Nov 2026 07:40:10 EST news713008612 Ancient Maya communities made extensive use of liquid mercury and a red, mercury-containing pigment called cinnabar to decorate buildings, pottery and burial sites. Unsurprisingly, as previous research has shown, this led to mercury contamination of soils and reservoirs at some Maya sites. And that pollution may have spread even farther into their territory and caused the collapse of two lake ecosystems, according to a study published in the journal Science Advances. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-ancient-maya-mercury-severe-environmental.html Earth Sciences Thu, 05 Nov 2026 14:20:08 EST news713108145 Physicists at CERN report that they've detected evidence of a rare meson particle decay (B⁰→ µ⁺µ⁻) that occurs when the meson's beauty quark annihilates with a down-type quark. The pair decays into a muon and antimuon, which are particles similar to electrons. Because evidence for this decay helps test theoretical predictions from the Standard Model, physicists have been waiting for it since 1984, when it was first theorized. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-years-physicists-evidence-ultrarare-particle.html General Physics Thu, 05 Nov 2026 12:30:02 EST news713103421 On a desolate island at the end of the world, battered by freezing winds, archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a possible 19th-century castaway camp that may have belonged to a renowned Argentine sailor and his shipwrecked crew. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-archaeologists-uncover-19th-century-castaway.html Archaeology Thu, 05 Nov 2026 11:00:38 EST news713093852 Around 4.5 billion years ago, a planet-sized object collided with the newly formed Earth, throwing out the debris that would later form the moon. The collision left Earth spinning extremely fast, with days lasting just two to five hours. Yet existing models of how Earth's first crust formed and evolved have largely overlooked how the planet's later slowdown might have affected it. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-earth-primordial-crust.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 05 Nov 2026 10:20:06 EST news713093842 The genital structures of male hawkmoths are lifesavers. By rubbing specialized scales on their genitals against parts of their abdomen, the nocturnal insects emit ultrasonic sounds that can potentially scramble the acoustic signals that bats use to hunt. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-evolution-hawkmoth-genitals-defensive-tools.html Plants & Animals Wed, 04 Nov 2026 15:20:07 EST news713019660 So far, observations by instruments including the James Webb Space Telescope have revealed the presence of surprisingly massive black holes in the early universe. Even less than a billion years after the Big Bang, some of these bodies already weighed billions of times the mass of the sun, and to date, astronomers are unclear as to how they could have grown so large so quickly. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-pulsars-mass-limits-supermassive-black.html Astronomy Wed, 04 Nov 2026 11:30:01 EST news713008413 Human feet are much stiffer than those of other primates, which means they limit midfoot bending during walking. The evolutionary reasons for this are not entirely clear. One idea is that the features that stiffen the foot evolved to make upright walking less effortful. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-foot-stiffening-socks.html Evolution Wed, 04 Nov 2026 10:40:11 EST news713008392 Bats can produce ultrasonic pulses with high frequencies between 20,000 and 120,000 hertz, which are inaudible to humans. The sound waves they produce travel forward, hitting nearby objects and bouncing back in the form of echoes. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-adjustments-echolocation-distinct.html Plants & Animals Wed, 04 Nov 2026 06:40:01 EST news712840781 Hundreds of millions of metric tons of plastics are produced every year, and most of them end up sitting in landfills or polluting natural environments after use. These plastics endure for dozens to hundreds of years. But some scientists are on the lookout for solutions to this problem. And now, one team of researchers might have found a potential solution in bee nests. Their study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that a natural plastic made by bees may offer design lessons for plastics that degrade naturally in far less time. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-bee-linings-plastics-soil.html Biochemistry Tue, 03 Nov 2026 13:30:01 EST news712933595