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. A cell sitting in fluid looks like one of the most passive things in biology. Nutrients drift toward it on the aimless currents of molecular motion, and now and then one bumps into the right spot on the cell's surface and gets pulled inside. This impression of the cell as a lottery run by chance, with the molecules wandering and the cell waiting, is a misconception. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-enzyme-molecular-movement-cells.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 08 Oct 2026 17:20:02 EDT news710693222 Tiny, shapeless invaders can find their way from ponds to the human brain and cause an infection so severe that it has a 95% fatality rate. The amoeba Naegleria fowleri naturally lives in ponds, feasting on bacteria, but once it enters the human body, it makes a run for the brain tissue, traversing complex, tight spaces to reach its destination. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-harmless-amoeba-tight-space-clues.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 08 Oct 2026 10:40:11 EDT news710672403 Some of the best engineers and inventors are copycats. They look at how the natural world solves complex problems and use those mechanisms as the basis for innovations. But Mother Nature doesn't always give up her secrets easily. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-pig-hearts-noise-soft-valves.html General Physics Thu, 08 Oct 2026 07:00:30 EDT news710594285 When a person falls and gets a cut or a scrape, they often use hydrogen peroxide to clean the wound. This molecular compound is also produced within our cells, helping our immune system build its defenses against harmful bacteria or other pathogens. Hydrogen peroxide is produced inside plants, too, where it acts as a messenger, telling cells to beef up a plant's defenses when it is stressed, wounded or under attack. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-tiny-channels-cells-wound-hydrogen.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 06 Oct 2026 14:50:01 EDT news710514961 In a new study published in Physical Review Letters, researchers have shown that magnetic order can survive weak quantum fluctuations in disordered magnets that lack an energy gap. The work establishes robust ferromagnetism in the two-dimensional random-bond quantum Ising model, confirming a longstanding conjecture in quantum statistical mechanics. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-magnetic-survives-weak-quantum-fluctuations.html Condensed Matter Mon, 28 Sep 2026 09:20:01 EDT news709547682 When light or sound bounces around inside an oddly shaped room, its reflections can quickly become difficult to predict. But new research led by scientists at the Advanced Science Research Center at the CUNY Graduate Center (CUNY ASRC) shows that waves can behave very differently when they travel through a special class of materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-chaos-oddly-cavity.html General Physics Mon, 28 Sep 2026 05:00:03 EDT news709561441 In the world of carnivorous plants, Venus flytraps—with their showy, snapping reflexes—have long hogged the limelight. But plants have many creative bug-capture strategies, from slippery waxes to vibrating lids to bizarrely textured fluids. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-elastic-fantastic-deadly-fluid-pitcher.html Ecology Thu, 24 Sep 2026 22:00:02 EDT news709483141 Across every cell in the body, molecules are constantly pulling, gripping and releasing under mechanical strain. That force often decides whether a drug sticks to its target, whether a cell holds its shape or whether a disease takes hold. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-microscopic-dna-molecules.html Biotechnology Thu, 24 Sep 2026 08:00:04 EDT news709448822 New research from the University of California, Santa Cruz, in collaboration with other institutions, highlights the fragmented and staggered timing of warming increases across the planet, providing a nuanced perspective on the debate over global-warming acceleration. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-unevenness-global-regional-speedups-emerge.html Earth Sciences Wed, 23 Sep 2026 15:40:07 EDT news709392721 The Human Genome Project was launched in 1990, preceded by decades of breakthroughs in genetics. It eventually gave us a sequence of the human genome. Yet, while the physical rules behind the genome's organization remain an active area of research, many questions are still largely unanswered. Among these is the impact of an omnipresent force influencing life on Earth: gravity. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-uncovering-gravity-impact-human-genome.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 23 Sep 2026 14:00:25 EDT news709290421 A pigeon turning its head might seem an unlikely electricity generator. Yet one proposed explanation for the bird's magnetic sense depends on exactly that: Turning through Earth's magnetic field would produce tiny electrical signals inside its ears. However, a theoretical study suggests that this miniature generator cannot supply directional information fast enough to work as a compass. The problem is electrical noise produced within the proposed sensor itself. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-pigeons-ear-compass-noise-problem.html General Physics Wed, 23 Sep 2026 06:00:01 EDT news709357238 Just as a leaf drifts along with a stream, objects in other moving fluids normally drift along with the flow. That is, unless they exert energy to move against it. Although it may be less intuitive, light waves or photons work similarly. To move against a stream of light, an object or particle, like a photon, must either have an external force acting on it or actively use energy to move upstream. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-upstream-quantum-fluid-violating-newton.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 22 Sep 2026 16:10:02 EDT news709310548 Researchers at The University of Texas at Arlington have created a mathematical model to identify and analyze vortices, the rotating structures at the heart of hurricanes. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is now using the model to monitor hurricane development worldwide. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-hurricane.html Mathematics Mon, 21 Sep 2026 18:20:01 EDT news709216486 When it rains, traveling waves appear on steep asphalt pavement, slowly making their way down the slope. Because these so-called "roll waves" propagate without deforming and are typically characterized by abrupt discontinuities, they play an important role in hydraulic engineering. Understanding unsteady flows like roll waves is crucial for the design, management and safety of hydraulic structures such as dam spillway chutes. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-emerge-uniform-destabilizes-steep-slopes.html General Physics Wed, 16 Sep 2026 17:00:06 EDT news708783841 Physicists at Leipzig University and Charles University in Prague have developed a method for changing the swimming style of tiny artificial microswimmers in real time. They can make a single microscopic particle switch at will between modes of swimming inspired by bacteria and algae. The researchers have thus turned a property that was previously fixed during production into a programmable parameter. They believe their findings pave the way for an evolutionary approach to the development of synthetic active matter. Their study has now been published in Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-microswimmers-bacteria-algae-propulsion.html Nanophysics Wed, 16 Sep 2026 16:20:02 EDT news708781981 Scientists were shocked when they received the first images of Martian gullies. They were even more shocked as those gullies appeared to change over time. Their similarities to gullies seen on Earth were uncanny, but all of Earth's gullies are formed by water runoff, and Mars is too cold and has too sparse an atmosphere to have liquid water on its surface. Whatever has been causing those changing gullies couldn't have been water, so what was it? A new paper from Apolline Leclef of the Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale at Université Paris-Saclay and her colleagues, available on the arXiv preprint server, shows how they are likely caused by CO2 frost turning into a fluid. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-gullies-mars.html Planetary Sciences Fri, 11 Sep 2026 12:20:12 EDT news708341582 Transthyretin amyloid disease (ATTR) is a progressive, life-threatening condition caused when the protein transthyretin (TTR) breaks apart and aggregates in the heart and other organs. One of the most common treatments, a drug called tafamidis, works by helping TTR stay intact—slowing how it normally unfolds and aggregates. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-scientists-disease-linked-protein.html Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 11 Sep 2026 10:40:02 EDT news708339002 Canada's last epishelf lake drained into the Arctic Ocean following the 2020 breakup of the Milne Ice Shelf and will not recover, a new study confirms. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-canada-epishelf-lake-good.html Earth Sciences Wed, 09 Sep 2026 13:00:06 EDT news708168302 It can't be heard, but different parts of the human body are in constant conversation, communicating to keep the entire system running efficiently. For biologists, being able to listen in on this discussion is a long-sought-after goal. Over the years, researchers have caught snippets of these exchanges, but the complete dialogue has remained out of reach. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-wholistic-view-cellular-communication-entire.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 09 Sep 2026 11:00:15 EDT news708168661 A new study led by surfing scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego revealed the physical relationships underlying a pattern familiar to generations of surfers. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-surf-seafloor.html Soft Matter Thu, 03 Sep 2026 12:40:01 EDT news707644621 When scientists study bacteria that are not in a Petri dish or a test tube but in environments that more closely mimic their actual microbial habitats, they often find delightfully unexpected behaviors. For Sujit Datta, a professor of chemical engineering, bioengineering and biophysics at Caltech, those oddities are an invitation to apply physics to exciting new puzzles. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-bacteria-line-buckle-liquid-crystals.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 01 Sep 2026 09:20:07 EDT news707470681 Proteins with exposed arginine can selectively accumulate even on protein-resistant coatings, as reported by researchers from Science Tokyo. Through an in-depth analysis of which proteins adhere and how they adhere to various anti-fouling surfaces, the team found that arginine disrupts the protective water layer that normally blocks adsorption. Their results will help scientists develop safer and more effective biocompatible materials for medical devices, such as stents and advanced biosensors. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-proteins-accumulate-protein-resistant-surfaces.html Biochemistry Mon, 31 Aug 2026 15:20:06 EDT news707406841 Many cars and not enough lanes is a recipe for traffic jams. Now, researchers from Japan show that even proteins can get backed up and start behaving poorly when too many try to squeeze too quickly through a small space. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-narrow-channels-amyloid-formation-reveal.html Biochemistry Thu, 27 Aug 2026 18:00:03 EDT news707064721 An AI assistant helped University of Colorado Boulder researchers solve a mathematical problem that had challenged their lab for a year and a half, though it made subtle errors along the way. The breakthrough could improve how scientists study nanoparticles—tiny particles about 1,000 times thinner than a human hair—but it reveals both the promise and limitations of AI as a scientific research partner. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-fast-error-prone-ai-decades.html Soft Matter Thu, 27 Aug 2026 16:40:05 EDT news707063041 A sea of corrugated metal roofs stretches into the distance across an informal settlement in Makassar, Indonesia. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-cities-extreme.html Environment Fri, 21 Aug 2026 16:00:07 EDT news706535338 Scientists have redefined how the key blood-clotting protein fibrinogen behaves when it contacts air, overturning two decades of scientific consensus on wound healing. It is the culmination of more than a decade of international collaboration by Dr. Richard Campbell of The University of Manchester, Professor Juan Ruso of the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain and Dr. Natalia Hassan of the Metropolitan Technological University in Chile. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-fibrinogen-discovery-reshapes-wounds.html Biochemistry Thu, 20 Aug 2026 18:20:03 EDT news706445083 Researchers have developed a novel model to accurately and efficiently predict the impact of "green water"—water washing onto the deck of an offshore facility during extreme wave conditions. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-newton-momentum-principles-safer-offshore.html General Physics Thu, 20 Aug 2026 13:40:05 EDT news706445641 Anyone who has had to share a room—or worse, a bed—with a loud snorer knows the effect unchecked snoring can have on sleep, sanity and emotional stability. An entire industry of products, technologies and treatments claims to cure or prevent loud snoring, with varying degrees of success. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-loud-simulation-reveals-physical-mechanism.html General Physics Tue, 18 Aug 2026 11:00:01 EDT news706203002 Cells travel through the body both individually and in collective groups during development, wound healing and diseases such as cancer. New research from the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis shows that cells can sense even the smallest defects, or micro-injuries, in the surface beneath which they travel and stall long enough to begin the healing process. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-tiny-feet-cells-defects-stall.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 17 Aug 2026 15:20:06 EDT news706187761 Researchers at the University of Maryland and their collaborators have cloned a gene that makes wheat resistant to feeding by Hessian fly larvae and demonstrated its direct interaction with a protein produced by the insect. The research breaks through a longstanding barrier to understanding and engineering pest resistance in wheat. It is described in a research paper published Aug. 14, 2026, in the journal Science Advances. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-wheat-gene-hessian-fly-resistance.html Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 14 Aug 2026 18:20:04 EDT news705936181