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. Amines are a functional group characterized by the presence of a nitrogen atom bonded to one or more alkyl or aryl (aromatic ring) groups. Derived from ammonia, amines play crucial roles in biological systems and various industrial applications. In everyday life, they can be found in common products such as medicines and cosmetics, where they act as active ingredients or stabilizers. However, the production of amines typically relies on complex chemical processes that are often based on intermediates derived from fossil fuels or involve energy-intensive steps. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-sustainable-electrosynthesis-enables-production-amines.html Analytical Chemistry Wed, 13 May 2026 15:35:50 EDT news697904761 Astronomers led by the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) have made the first direct detection of turbulence distorting light in the interstellar medium. The findings will help scientists achieve clearer imaging of the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-astronomers-turbulence-stars-distorts.html Astronomy Wed, 13 May 2026 15:27:45 EDT news697904339 We hardly give them a second thought, but everyday objects like bags and backpacks belong to a long technological tradition that may stretch back hundreds of thousands of years. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-history-ancient-technology-hundreds-thousands.html Archaeology Wed, 13 May 2026 14:40:02 EDT news697899984 It all began with a perfectly ordinary chat over coffee between four researchers. How many films featuring geologists can we think of? Quite quickly, the colleagues were able to come up with about 10 films. But then the scientific mind of one of them sprang into action. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-geologists-good-guys-die.html Earth Sciences Wed, 13 May 2026 13:14:32 EDT news697896842 Sitting in a restaurant, you reach for the ketchup bottle, eyeing the basket of fries in front of you. You give the bottle a shake, then a tap. For a moment, nothing happens—the ketchup clings stubbornly to the glass. Then, all at once, it lets go and rushes out, sometimes in a steady stream, sometimes in a messy surge that threatens to flood the basket. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-tiny-big-effects-particle-interactions.html General Physics Wed, 13 May 2026 13:03:41 EDT news697896181 Researchers have recently found a new way to summon useful structures in magnetic materials using light, heat, and electric fields. This new method, described in a new study published in Physical Review Letters, may lead to more energy-efficient and flexible technologies for data storage and optical devices. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-liquid-crystal-demand-skyrmions-room.html Condensed Matter Wed, 13 May 2026 12:40:02 EDT news697890165 When you hear the word "epoxide," what do you think? If anything, likely "glue." But epoxides are quite common in our everyday lives. You might be sitting on a foam seat cushion made from epoxides. There is a good chance the synthetic textiles in your clothing involve epoxides in their production. The same is true of the paint on your car and the printed circuit boards in your electronic devices. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-electrified-route-epoxides-pollution-common.html Analytical Chemistry Wed, 13 May 2026 11:37:32 EDT news697890970 It's been 37 years since scientists first demonstrated the ability to move single atoms, suggesting the possibility of designing materials atom by atom to customize their properties. Today there are several techniques that allow researchers to move individual atoms in order to give materials exotic quantum properties and improve our understanding of quantum behavior. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-3d-atomic-rearrangement-quantum-defects.html Condensed Matter Wed, 13 May 2026 11:00:10 EDT news697802941 Scientists from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have uncovered new information suggesting a potential connection between Homo erectus and modern humans, while also developing new, less invasive paleoproteomics methods of fossil research. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-fossil-teeth-china-uncover-year.html Evolution Wed, 13 May 2026 11:00:01 EDT news697822390 Describing new species can take decades. But scientists are working to identify new ways to speed up our understanding of this hidden biodiversity. By looking at the genetic data of thousands of beetle species, our researchers are able to reveal the true breadth of tropical ground beetles in a move that could help save their rainforest homes. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-world-beetles-rainforest.html Ecology Wed, 13 May 2026 08:36:50 EDT news697880162 Insulators are materials in which electrons cannot move freely. Past theoretical studies predicted the existence of an unusual insulating state dubbed obstructed atomic insulator (OAI), in which electrons are localized inside a crystal, while their centers of charge lie in empty spaces between atoms, rather than on the atoms themselves. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-atomic-bands-transition-metal-dichalcogenides.html Condensed Matter Wed, 13 May 2026 06:40:02 EDT news697807903 More than a decade after the Nagoya Protocol, which aims to fairly share the benefits of utilizing genetic resources, became law, microbiologists and other scientists still face practical challenges and confusion. A new guide published by a team of European microbiologists provides universally applicable frameworks for anyone working with biological resources. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-ten-years-nagoya-protocol-genetic.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 13 May 2026 01:10:01 EDT news697810167 Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moon, is also the solar system's largest satellite, even larger than the planet Mercury. It is also the only celestial body aside from Earth (and the gas giants) to have an intrinsic magnetic field. As if this didn't make the icy body interesting enough, scientists also predict that it has a massive interior ocean with more water than all of Earth's oceans combined. At present, the European Space Agency's (ESA) Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) is in transit to Ganymede to explore it for signs of habitability. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-geysers-juice-mission-explore-ganymede.html Astrobiology Tue, 12 May 2026 20:40:03 EDT news697810079 A new study shows that a single radioactive cloud was responsible for a large share of the nuclear fallout during the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster on 11 March 2011. The work is published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-radioactive-cloud-fukushima-particle-contamination.html Environment Tue, 12 May 2026 18:00:06 EDT news697816141 NASA's Perseverance Mars rover recently took a self-portrait against a sweeping backdrop of ancient Martian terrain at a location the science team calls Lac de Charmes. Assembled from 61 individual images, the selfie shows Perseverance training its mast on a rocky outcrop on which it had just made a circular abrasion patch, with the western rim of Jezero Crater stretching into the background. The selfie was captured on March 11, the 1,797th Martian day (sol) of the mission, during the rover's deepest push west beyond the crater. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-perseverance-rover-snaps-selfie-western.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 12 May 2026 17:40:04 EDT news697818601 The kingfisher's brilliant blue feathers were once used like paint to create works of art. The technique, known as tian-tsui, was popular during China's Qing Dynasty. And because tian-tsui uses delicate feathers, previous scientists struggled to study them using traditional analytical techniques. So, researchers reporting in ACS Omega developed new methods of investigating these featherworks without harming them. The team found that multiple bird species and layered pigments provided a one-of-a-kind palette. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-qing-featherwork-scans-reveal-multiple.html Analytical Chemistry Tue, 12 May 2026 16:10:02 EDT news697819621 Innovators who are working on ways to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere to fight climate change are having a tough time lately. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-deepocean-climate-rare-epa-sea.html Environment Tue, 12 May 2026 14:20:05 EDT news697809121 Throughout history, most of the world's genomic research has relied on DNA data from people of European ancestry. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-africa-world-greatest-genetic-diversity.html Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 12 May 2026 14:00:03 EDT news697809062 Matter behaves strangely under extreme conditions, and often, remnants of these behaviors are left behind even when conditions return to normal. The Trinity nuclear test in 1945 left behind such remnants, and now, 80 years after the explosion, researchers have identified another unique example of what happens when various materials are heated to temperatures exceeding 1,500 °C (2,730 °F) and put under pressures tens of thousands of times atmospheric pressure. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-years-trinity-nuclear-scientists-molecule.html General Physics Tue, 12 May 2026 12:50:01 EDT news697805584 Quantum computers could someday solve pressing problems that are too convoluted for classical computers, such as modeling complex molecular interactions to streamline drug discovery and materials development. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-quantum-circuit-exposes-warping.html Superconductivity Tue, 12 May 2026 12:40:04 EDT news697799460 Living organisms sustain themselves through intricate metabolic processes that continuously convert energy and materials into useful functions. Inspired by these biological systems, researchers are now engineering synthetic materials that can replicate such dynamic behaviors. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-metabolism-hydrogels-replicate-heartbeat-motion.html Polymers Tue, 12 May 2026 12:20:05 EDT news697799252 An international team of researchers, including scientists from HZDR and Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society, for the first time directly observed how angular momentum is transferred and conserved within a crystal lattice. Using intense terahertz laser pulses, the researchers were able to selectively control these processes, which unveiled a surprising effect: During the angular momentum transfer, the direction of rotation reverses—caused by the rotational symmetry of the material. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-atoms-vibrate-circular-paths-unexpected.html Condensed Matter Tue, 12 May 2026 10:00:04 EDT news697795861 Lifting a veil of uncertainty in blackberry genetics, a national team of horticulture scientists have discovered evidence pointing to the single genetic region that controls primocane-fruiting, or the ability to flower and fruit on first-year canes. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-blackberries-reveal-genetic-year-fruiting.html Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 12 May 2026 09:00:05 EDT news697794206 A great Tyrannosaurus rex strides through the conifer trees of her territory, sniffing the air. She picks up the scent from the carcass of a dead horned dinosaur, Triceratops, that she was feeding on yesterday. She walks over and strips off some more shreds of meat, but the smell is foul even for her. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-dinosaurkilling-asteroid-armageddon-blowbyblow-account.html Paleontology & Fossils Mon, 11 May 2026 18:00:01 EDT news697724041 For decades, the search for life beyond Earth has revolved around a key question: What molecules should scientists be looking for on other planets or moons? A new study, published in Nature Astronomy, suggests that the more revealing clue may not be the molecules themselves, but the hidden order connecting them. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-alien-life-mars-europa-missions.html Astronomy Mon, 11 May 2026 17:00:05 EDT news697733705 Protein language models are artificial intelligence tools which help engineer proteins with useful properties, including completely new structures never seen before in nature. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-roadmap-safer-protein-ai.html Biotechnology Mon, 11 May 2026 13:20:06 EDT news697716121 An international team of researchers' analysis of minerals from the Pilbara region of Western Australia has given new insight into how ancient continents on Earth formed as far back as 3.5 billion years ago. Professor Tony Kemp, from The University of Western Australia's School of Earth and Oceans, was a co-author of the study published in Science Advances, which was led by researchers at Nanjing University in China. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-earth-continents-subduction-billion-years.html Earth Sciences Mon, 11 May 2026 11:00:07 EDT news697713343 Dr. Ainara Ballesteros is a Juan de la Cierva postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Environment and Marine Science Research at the Catholic University of Valencia, where she leads a research group focused on jellyfish biology, aquaculture, and the sustainable use of marine resources. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-qa-jellyfish-bycatch-valuable-collagen.html Ecology Mon, 11 May 2026 00:00:01 EDT news697383061 The comet that rambled past us from another star last year likely originated in a cold, isolated corner of the galaxy that had yet to gel into its own solar system, astronomers reported Thursday. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-scientists-latest-interstellar-comet-home.html Astronomy Sat, 09 May 2026 13:50:01 EDT news696170704 Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have made a surprising discovery about a galaxy long, long ago and far, far away: It isn't rotating. That's something only seen in the most massive, mature galaxies that are closer to us in space and time, said Ben Forrest, a research scientist in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Davis, and first author on the paper published May 4 in Nature Astronomy. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-rotating-early-galaxy-astronomers.html Astronomy Sat, 09 May 2026 11:00:02 EDT news697113449