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. Mercury contamination presents an obvious challenge: it is invisible. A glass of water or a piece of fruit can seem perfectly normal to the naked eye, even when trace amounts of toxic mercury are present. Detecting such minute levels usually requires specialized laboratory tools and trained experts. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-molecular-sensor-invisible-mercury-easier.html Biochemistry Fri, 13 Nov 2026 15:00:09 EST news713793039 A team of physicists and computer scientists led by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) approach that learns on its own to separate important high-energy particle jet signals from the enormous background of particles recorded in relativistic heavy-ion collisions, where two beams of heavy ions collide at near the speed of light. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-ai-particle-jets-background-noise.html General Physics Fri, 13 Nov 2026 12:40:07 EST news713786541 Researchers from the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed an optical system that focuses light from several subfields onto a single small-format detector. By analyzing field-dependent spot shapes, the system identifies which subfield an isolated infrared target comes from. In sequence-level tests, it identified the correct field in about 89% of cases. The study is published in Optics and Laser Technology. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-optical-multiple-infrared-fields-small.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 13 Nov 2026 10:00:12 EST news713778021 Researchers from the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw (UW) and the Center for Optical Quantum Technologies at the University of Warsaw's Center for New Technologies (CeNT UW) have developed a method for ultrasensitive microwave sensing. Using cold, strongly interacting Rydberg atoms as a microwave detector, the researchers observed that carefully engineered interactions between the atoms make the atomic state resistant to loss. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-atomic-interactions-microwave-sensor-capture.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 12 Nov 2026 19:10:01 EST news713722981 Researchers have developed a new approach that can precisely count from zero to more than 9,000 individual photons. The advance opens new possibilities for studying quantum light at large scales and making precise optical measurements. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-multiplexed-detector-precisely-photons.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 12 Nov 2026 18:30:02 EST news713722802 The universe's dominance by ordinary matter is compelling evidence that matter and antimatter are not perfect reflections of each other. However, known differences do not explain the scale of this imbalance, leaving open the possibility that unknown physics is responsible. A new analysis of meson decays, conducted by the LHCb collaboration, has narrowed the scope of the search for such a scenario while paving the way for more precise measurements in the future. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-matterantimatter-asymmetry-evidence-physics.html General Physics Thu, 12 Nov 2026 18:00:09 EST news713718121 A new study published in Nature Materials reports that researchers have developed an aluminum gallium nitride device that combines light detection, memory and basic processing by controlling charge at polarization interfaces. The device can detect light at the nanowatt-per-square-centimeter level and operate stably at temperatures up to 300°C. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-iii-nitride-device-memory-sensor.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 11 Nov 2026 08:40:09 EST news713607432 Artificial intelligence use among university students is now near-universal in many countries. Yet, as of a year ago, fewer than one in five universities in a 90-country UNESCO survey had a formal AI policy. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-ai-universal-higher-universities.html Education Tue, 10 Nov 2026 16:20:08 EST news713539938 When the most massive stars in the universe die, they often detonate in fiery supernovae, dramatically blasting most of their matter into space. The remaining stellar cores collapse into neutron stars and, sometimes, black holes. However, theories suggest that some massive stars might die without a bang, instead directly collapsing inward to become neutron stars or black holes. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-gravitational-hint-black-holes-born.html Astronomy Tue, 10 Nov 2026 15:10:01 EST news713543762 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 Hydrogen could play an important role in cleaner energy systems, but even small leaks can create safety risks. Reliable sensors are therefore essential wherever hydrogen is produced, stored, transported or used. A persistent problem is humidity: water molecules can cover the active surfaces of hydrogen detectors and prevent them from responding accurately, particularly in hot, moisture-rich environments. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-crystal-boundaries-hydrogen-sensors-hot.html Nanomaterials Tue, 10 Nov 2026 11:40:16 EST news713525882 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 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 A figure in red trudges across a blanket of white. Snow squeaks under the scientist's feet, too dry to be slick or soft. Only a line of flags and a few large buildings—the scientist's destination—break up the landscape. The sun hovers on the horizon, never quite setting against a blue sky devoid of clouds. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-untangling-patterns-cosmic-microwave-background.html Astronomy Fri, 06 Nov 2026 19:20:01 EST news713190476 You have probably performed a sandwich assay before, even if you didn't know it. Sandwich assays are the molecular sensing technology behind lateral flow tests like the at-home COVID test. After a sample is dripped onto the test strip, it combines with detector antibodies attached to tiny gold particles, which bind to any viral proteins present. When the sample reaches the test line, a second antibody anchored to the strip binds to a different site on the viral protein, creating a molecular "sandwich." As the gold particles accumulate, the test line turns dark red, becoming visible to the naked eye. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-paired-dna-strands-sequence-small.html Biochemistry Thu, 05 Nov 2026 18:40:04 EST news713117401 Detecting a single photon is a challenge in itself. But what if you also want to know exactly how many photons arrive at a particular point at the same time? Physicist Erik Baalbergen is working on light detectors that can do just that. They form a key building block for the optical quantum computer of the future. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-physicist-detector-capable-photons-quantum.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 05 Nov 2026 16:20:09 EST news713111282 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 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 Even the world's most powerful telescopes have their blind spots. Although NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) can peer billions of years into the past, it still struggles to photograph planets orbiting nearby stars. Stars shine with such extraordinary brightness that their glare overwhelms nearby planets' faint glow. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-giant-planet-emerges-year-jwst.html Space Exploration Wed, 04 Nov 2026 11:00:01 EST news712917421 Are the laws of physics truly the same everywhere in the universe? This fundamental principle, known as Lorentz invariance, lies at the heart of Einstein's theory of relativity. Yet some theories that seek to reconcile gravity with quantum physics suggest that it might not always hold. To investigate this possibility, researchers from the international KM3NeT collaboration analyzed 5,828 atmospheric neutrino candidate events detected by KM3NeT/ORCA, a neutrino telescope located deep in the Mediterranean Sea. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-einstein-laws-bottom-mediterranean-sea.html General Physics Wed, 04 Nov 2026 00:00:08 EST news712852321 Physicists have found evidence of a particle decay so rare that it is expected to occur only around once in every 10 billion "beauty" particles. The result, from the upgraded LHCb experiment at CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC), follows a search spanning more than 40 years and brings physicists closer to exploring the "Zeptoverse"—an unexplored world that exists at distances of a billionth of a trillionth of a meter, or a "zeptometer," where new particles and forces of nature may be hiding. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-physicists-closer-zeptoverse-year-particle.html General Physics Tue, 03 Nov 2026 10:40:30 EST news712921381 What's that chirping sound coming through the detector? Did you feel something whiz past? Those are just some ways people react when they encounter microbats for the first time. Microbats are small, mostly nocturnal mammals that use ultrasonic sounds to navigate and hunt at night. They do this through echolocation, producing calls and listening to the echoes that bounce back from objects and prey. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-dark-science.html Plants & Animals Sat, 31 Oct 2026 18:30:01 EDT news712573772 Neutrinos are funny little particles that weigh almost nothing, making them one of the universe's most elusive building blocks. They can come from objects as mundane as bananas and as exotic as supernovas—the exploding death throes of massive stars. Most neutrinos stream through space and pass through the Earth without interacting with anything. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-figuring-cosmic-neutrinos-tricky-radio.html Astronomy Fri, 30 Oct 2026 20:20:01 EDT news712584267 Researchers have experimentally demonstrated, for the first time, that it is possible to obtain from an altermagnet a spin current that can transport magnetic information. This result is supported by the theoretical model of electron transport developed by the CFM group. Altermagnets are a new class of materials that, despite not exhibiting the net magnetization characteristic of conventional magnets, can generate this type of current. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-electrical-reveal-hidden-magnetic-altermagnets.html General Physics Thu, 29 Oct 2026 15:40:04 EDT news712497013 More than a century after Einstein first devised the equations that describe gravity, physicists are still finding new ways of interpreting them. Luca Comisso, an associate research scientist in Columbia University's departments of Astronomy and Physics and the Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, and Felipe A. Asenjo of Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez in Chile, recently found a new way of looking at Einstein's equations that reveals a striking analogy with "magnetic reconnection" in plasmas, which occurs when magnetic field lines break and reconnect, powering explosive phenomena such as solar flares. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-gravitational-fields-reconnect-einstein-equations.html General Physics Wed, 28 Oct 2026 11:00:12 EDT news712239782 Neutrinos are among the most abundant particles in the universe, but they are also among the most elusive. Nearly massless, they are produced by nuclear reactions in the sun, exploding stars, particle accelerators and even the decay of radioactive elements on Earth. They interact so weakly with ordinary matter that trillions pass through each person every second without leaving a trace. Studying these ghostly particles could help answer some of the biggest questions in physics, from the nature of dark matter to why matter exists at all. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-spine-machine-trail-ghost-particles.html General Physics Tue, 27 Oct 2026 15:10:01 EDT news712330469 Adelaide University quantum engineers have found a new way to improve some of the world's most sensitive sensors of electromagnetic fields, a breakthrough that could help advance brain imaging, medical diagnostics, communications technology and next-generation quantum devices. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-quantum-sensor-loop-magnetic-medicine.html Superconductivity Tue, 27 Oct 2026 13:40:06 EDT news712316102 An international research team from Germany, Switzerland and Japan has demonstrated in a recent study that a single reflection zone plate (RZP) can perform both soft X-ray imaging and resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) mapping. The approach could simplify future instruments that need to determine both where structures are located in a material and how their electronic properties vary. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-optical-element-combines-soft-ray.html Optics & Photonics Mon, 26 Oct 2026 16:20:11 EDT news712228959 Understanding instabilities and turbulence in plasmas is one of the key challenges across a wide range of plasma research fields, including nuclear fusion, astrophysics and laser-plasma physics. In plasmas, slight disturbances can grow due to instabilities, and energy is transferred between structures of various sizes due to turbulence. These phenomena give rise to structures ranging from very small to large, which significantly influence the overall motion and energy flow of the plasma. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ray-pulse-reveals-plasma-nanostructures.html Plasma Physics Sat, 24 Oct 2026 15:00:06 EDT news711645235 Researchers at AIST have directly observed magnetic flux quanta generated in a superconductor by photon absorption and demonstrated a new principle of photon detection that identifies the number of photons based on the number of these flux quanta. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-magnetic-flux-quanta-photon.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 23 Oct 2026 17:20:02 EDT news711982021