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. One of the deepest ambitions in modern physics is understanding how the fabric of space and time could emerge from fundamental quantum degrees of freedom to establish a quantum theory of gravity. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-quantum-error-emergent-gravity-probing.html General Physics Tue, 21 Jul 2026 11:10:02 EDT news703850636 A new study by Queen Mary University of London mathematician Professor Ginestra Bianconi proposes a new perspective on one of the deepest questions in modern physics: How can the universe become increasingly structured and complex while still obeying the second law of thermodynamics? https://phys.org/news/2026-07-gravity-entropy-theory-law-thermodynamics.html General Physics Fri, 17 Jul 2026 15:00:01 EDT news703512912 This week, researchers reported finding nanoplastics in Antarctic soils for the first time, suggesting they were delivered via long-range atmospheric transport. A study associates the use of hormonal birth control with the risk of brain tumors. And researchers developed a new drug against metastatic prostate cancer using human proteins. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-saturday-citations-blue-zone-longevity.html Other Sat, 11 Jul 2026 09:00:04 EDT news702889645 Designing high-performance catalysts is essential for cleaner energy technologies, but the behavior of multi-element modern catalyst materials is difficult to predict. In a new study, researchers at Tohoku University with international collaborators developed a collaborative framework that combines large language models with lab experiments to accelerate the discovery of high-entropy alloy catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction, a key process in fuel cells. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-large-language-discovery-catalysts-energy.html Analytical Chemistry Wed, 08 Jul 2026 12:20:05 EDT news702724057 When two black holes orbit each other, they eventually spiral inward and collide in one of the most violent phenomena in the universe. The event is so energetic that it significantly distorts the universe around it. It emits gravitational waves—ripples in the fabric of spacetime—that are strong enough to be detected with precision instruments on Earth even when they originate billions of light-years away. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-black-hole-collisions-entropy-law.html Astronomy Wed, 08 Jul 2026 10:00:01 EDT news702721529 Of the known things in the universe, black holes are among the most extreme. They pack huge amounts of mass densely into a small area, producing gravity that is so strong that even light cannot escape. To describe their properties, physicists have relied on complex equations from Einstein's theory of general relativity and quantum mechanics. But in the early 1970s, Stephen Hawking and other physicists found parallels between the laws of thermodynamics describing ordinary things—like how a stovetop boils a pot of water—and black hole mechanics. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-dynamic-black-holes-obey-hawking.html Astronomy Thu, 02 Jul 2026 13:40:04 EDT news702218369 A University at Buffalo-led team of researchers has developed a method for producing advanced nanoparticles that could accelerate the discovery of new materials for energy and electronic applications. The study, published in Nature Communications, introduces a one-step process that rapidly combines multiple metals into uniform nanoparticles in milliseconds. This allows researchers to quickly produce and explore a wider range of material combinations than was previously possible. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-onestep-generates-high-entropy-alloy.html Nanomaterials Tue, 30 Jun 2026 17:00:08 EDT news702042192 Gravity, the force that attracts objects toward each other, is currently framed by Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity. This framework describes gravity as the curvature of spacetime, the invisible four-dimensional fabric of the universe. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-thermodynamic-approach-gravity-cosmic-dark.html General Physics Thu, 25 Jun 2026 08:20:01 EDT news701522878 Modern physics theories highlight the key role of horizons—boundaries beyond which information cannot reach an observer—in a variety of cosmological and gravitational phenomena. Two renowned examples of these boundaries are event horizons in black holes and the cosmological horizon of the de Sitter spacetime, a model of an expanding universe with a positive vacuum energy. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-horizon-edge-states-gain-finite.html General Physics Tue, 23 Jun 2026 08:20:01 EDT news701343470 Every day, millions of people play Wordle, the popular New York Times game that challenges users to guess a secret five-letter word. Using information theory, a team of researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York, has developed a method to solve the game with a 99% success rate. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-math-wordle.html Mathematics Wed, 17 Jun 2026 14:40:07 EDT news700920061 A team of U.S. researchers has designed a passive quantum error correction technique that enables qubits to correct their own errors. Demonstrated by Shruti Shirol and colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the protocol transforms the inevitable dissipation of energy in qubit systems from a hindrance into an advantage, offering a promising route toward practical quantum computing outside the lab. The research has been published in Physical Review X. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-passive-quantum-error-qubit-lifetime.html Quantum Physics Mon, 15 Jun 2026 09:40:08 EDT news700480884 A University of Birmingham scientist has built a "mini-universe" that takes a step toward answering one of science's biggest questions: "What is time?" Publishing his findings in Physical Review Research, Professor Giovanni Barontini shows how it is possible to measure the flow of time without using a clock at all. The new findings provide a scientific model in which a version of time emerges from the experiment itself. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-scientist-miniuniverse-clock.html General Physics Fri, 12 Jun 2026 14:20:01 EDT news700487646 A KAIST research team has succeeded, for the first time, in synthesizing the core raw material for fabricating asymmetric MXene, a so-called "Janus-faced" nanomaterial that can perform distinct functions because of differing atomic compositions on its two sides, paving the way for the development of multifunctional materials with applications such as removing radioactive pollutants and shielding electromagnetic waves. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-janus-nanomaterials-pave-capturing-radioactive.html Nanomaterials Thu, 11 Jun 2026 11:00:10 EDT news700391943 Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory are helping show what it means to design a material almost atom-by-atom. In two publications, scientists show they can carefully choose the types of atoms in a material, where those atoms sit and what is attached to the surfaces of its atom-thin layers. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-tuning-atomic-surface-chemistry-mxenes.html Nanomaterials Thu, 04 Jun 2026 11:40:01 EDT news699787804 Researchers at IMDEA Materials Institute have developed a new hybrid methodology that combines quantum mechanics and thermodynamic calculations to predict the phase diagram of nickel-cobalt alloys. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-strategy-phase-diagram-nickel-cobalt.html Analytical Chemistry Wed, 03 Jun 2026 17:00:04 EDT news699721021 Black holes, regions in space where gravity is so strong that nothing can escape, have been widely studied over the past decades, due to their unique and intriguing properties. Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts that black holes obey a set of rules, known as the laws of black hole mechanics. These rules somewhat resemble the laws of thermodynamics, which delineate how energy, heat, and entropy behave in our universe. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-violating-3rd-law-black-hole.html General Physics Wed, 03 Jun 2026 07:00:04 EDT news699524996 Researchers have discovered that atoms can be mixed, separated, and recombined within the same experiment, providing a pathway to a record-breaking catalyst for green hydrogen production. In their study, the team created nanoscale particles containing only a few dozen platinum and nickel atoms and observed unusual dynamic behavior in direct space and in real time. As the two metals separate from one another while maintaining an interface, they become highly active for electrochemical water splitting, leading to efficient hydrogen evolution. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-atomic-reshuffle-catalysts-hydrogen-production.html Nanomaterials Tue, 02 Jun 2026 19:10:01 EDT news699630241 Glasses are non-crystalline but solid states of matter in which molecules and atoms are not arranged into a regular crystal lattice, but rather in a disordered pattern. Glassy materials are widely used in various settings, for instance, in the synthesis of pharmaceuticals and the development of electronics or optical devices. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-molecular-glasses-arrhenius-paradox.html General Physics Tue, 02 Jun 2026 07:10:01 EDT news699280613 In a grandfather clock, a pendulum swings back and forth and this periodic motion is maintained using the energy stored in its suspended weights. This is done with the help of the escapement mechanism, which converts the gravitational energy of the weights into impulses that drive the pendulum, which then moves the clock's gears, which move its hands. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-quantum-pendulum-clock-classical-accuracy.html General Physics Thu, 28 May 2026 12:35:27 EDT news699190352 For more than half a century, materials scientists have struggled with how to simulate the complexity of polymer materials. An individual chain can comprise tens of thousands of atoms, a melt or composite contains billions, and the properties engineers actually care about, such as how an adhesive grips a surface, how a self-assembling block copolymer locks into a nanostructure, or how a biopolymer film stretches without tearing, emerge only over length and time scales that forcible atomistic simulation cannot reach. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-thermodynamic-laws-ai-polymer.html Polymers Tue, 26 May 2026 19:20:07 EDT news699029450 Researchers from the University of Glasgow's Institute for Gravitational Research are celebrating the publication of a vast new treasure trove of gravitational wave detections, hailed as a milestone marking the coming of age of gravitational astronomy. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-ligovirgokagra-precision-gravitational-astronomy.html Astronomy Tue, 26 May 2026 13:20:11 EDT news699015182 A new Physical Review Letters study places constraints on the ER = EPR conjecture, showing that under the authors' assumptions, the conjecture would imply possible alterations to the hyperfine structure and effective charge of the hydrogen atom—effects that have never been observed. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-hydrogen-quantum-wormhole-conjecture.html General Physics Mon, 25 May 2026 16:00:01 EDT news698933854 Scientists may soon stop hunting for new materials—and start designing them to order. For the first time, Northwestern University scientists have demonstrated that megalibraries—tools that dramatically accelerate materials discovery—can do more than uncover promising new materials. They can also help scientists intentionally engineer those new materials with specific properties. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-megalibraries-reshape-ai-driven-materials.html Analytical Chemistry Mon, 25 May 2026 12:00:05 EDT news698927162 As ammonia gains attention as a next-generation energy source capable of overcoming the limits of hydrogen storage and transport, KAIST and a joint research team have developed fuel cell technology that directly uses ammonia as fuel while achieving world-class performance and stability. This achievement is regarded as a core technology that will accelerate the commercialization of the next-generation hydrogen economy and carbon-free power generation. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-high-entropy-catalyst-ammonia-fuel.html Materials Science Wed, 20 May 2026 12:20:01 EDT news698495161 Water molecules do not simply swirl around in complete disorder; they can form certain preferred structures. This scientific fact is often presented in entirely unscientific ways. For example, when people speak of an alleged "memory of water" or of "water clusters" as a possible explanation for homeopathy, among other things. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-entropy-ions.html General Physics Mon, 18 May 2026 18:30:01 EDT news698344201 Technion researchers have developed, for the first time, a comprehensive physical model explaining how the properties of a radiating material, including absorption, emission, and quantum efficiency, affect the fundamental characteristics of the light it emits as a function of temperature. In essence, the emitted light changes its color, intensity, and randomness according to the material's properties and its temperature. The discovery was published in Optica and opens new possibilities for designing advanced light sources, optical sensors, and thermally based photonic systems. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-temperature-smarter-sensors-photonic-devices.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 12 May 2026 18:40:04 EDT news697816741 Entropy gets a bad rap. Typically associated with randomness and chaos, it can also correlate with freedom and diversity. Cornell researchers have found that, thanks to the latter qualities, entropy can help bind certain pairs of molecules faster and more robustly—an approach that could have broad applications in drug development and assembling nanoparticles to form new materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-looped-polymers-stronger-faster-molecular.html Polymers Mon, 11 May 2026 17:10:02 EDT news697737001 Black holes live forever, at least according to general relativity. Once material crosses a black hole's event horizon, it is trapped forever, until the last day of cosmic time. But we know that isn't true. General relativity is a classical model. It doesn't take into account the fuzzy, indeterminate nature of the quantum. We don't have a complete and consistent theory of quantum gravity, but we do have some understanding of quantum black holes. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-black-holes-dont-white.html Astronomy Mon, 11 May 2026 11:40:05 EDT news697714622 This week, researchers reported that the human brain is capable of sophisticated language processing while in an unconscious state during general anesthesia. An informatics and computing professor found that the Climate TRACE consortium has underestimated vehicle carbon emissions in cities by a staggering 70%. And archaeologists excavated and photoscanned a prehistoric man-made island located in a Scottish loch. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-saturday-citations-psychedelic-therapeutics-interoception.html Other Sat, 09 May 2026 08:30:02 EDT news697453274 We're focusing on space news this week, but we did cover the usual amount of local news down here in Earth's gravity well: A new Tokamak reactor regime sustained stable plasma fusion for one full minute. An anomaly in global sea level rise turns out to be due to deep ocean heating. And Chinese researchers report that they found microplastics in every part of both healthy and diseased human brains. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-saturday-citations-spaaa-aaace.html Other Sat, 02 May 2026 09:00:01 EDT news696857370