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. In physics, the mesoscale lies between the microscopic and the macroscopic. It is not just the domain of tiny living creatures like small larvae, shrimp, and jellyfish, but also where physics equations become extreme. While the macroscopic realm is governed by inertia and the microscopic by viscosity, the mesoscale is both and neither, requiring a new set of physics to describe it. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-mesoscale-swimmers-pave-drug-delivery.html General Physics Sun, 08 Mar 2026 16:00:01 EDT news691772107 Researchers in Hong Kong and the UK have revealed how one species of self-propelling microbes can actively change the path of their swimming motions, depending on how much light they receive. Reporting in Physical Review Letters, a team led by Zhao Wang at the University of Hong Kong shows that the switch arises as the microbe alters the beating pattern of its hair-like flagella, possibly allowing it to optimize the amount of light it absorbs for photosynthesis. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-propelling-microbes-strategy-optimize-intake.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 02 Mar 2026 10:20:11 EST news691669011 Three years ago, Penn Vet researchers reported a major breakthrough in equine assisted reproduction. Katrin Hinrichs, Harry Werner Endowed Professor of Equine Medicine, and colleagues developed a technique that would allow successful conventional in vitro fertilization (IVF) with horses. In conventional IVF, the sperm does its job of finding and fertilizing a mare's egg, or an oocyte, in a Petri dish. Developing a method to motivate stallion sperm to do this—let alone do it consistently—had eluded researchers for decades. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-closer-true-equine-ivf-clinical.html Veterinary medicine Sun, 01 Feb 2026 15:50:01 EST news688988886 Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are the delivery vehicles of modern medicine, carrying cancer drugs, gene therapies and vaccines into cells. Until recently, many scientists assumed that all LNPs followed more or less the same blueprint, like a fleet of trucks built from the same design. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-nanoparticle-blueprints-reveal-path-smarter.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 23 Oct 2025 05:00:08 EDT news680340481 A very special look was presented earlier this week by fashion designer Iris van Herpen at the Paris Haute Couture Week. The garment: a bioluminescent dress, created from 125 million living algae. Biodesigner Chris Bellamy collaborated with researchers Nico Schramma and Mazi Jalaal from the University of Amsterdam to bring this one-of-a-kind look to life. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-bioluminescent-million-algae-fashion.html Ecology Wed, 09 Jul 2025 09:08:42 EDT news671270917 Researchers at Linköping University have developed a new type of pipette that can deliver ions to individual neurons without affecting the sensitive extracellular milieu. Controlling the concentration of different ions can provide important insights into how individual braincells are affected, and how cells work together. The pipette could also be used for treatments. https://phys.org/news/2025-05-micropipette-ion-delivery-individual-neurons.html Nanomaterials Wed, 07 May 2025 11:10:04 EDT news665834415 An international research collaboration led by Rutgers University-New Brunswick scientists that examined microscopic blobs of protein found in human cells has discovered that some morph from an almost honey-like substance to a hard candy-like solid. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-scientists-reveal-protein-linked-parkinson.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 18 Apr 2025 14:00:03 EDT news664167770 In 2019, Caltech researchers demonstrated a new method to use light to control active matter—a kind of material made up of individual energy-consuming pieces that act as a whole to create mechanical motion. The process works similarly to how many individual birds form a swarm that seems to move as a whole. In the research, the team focused on active matter in the form of millimeter-sized protein filaments that normally make up a cell's skeleton, or "cytoskeleton." https://phys.org/news/2025-02-language-material-enables-precise-cellular.html Biotechnology Tue, 11 Feb 2025 15:02:04 EST news658508521 In order to better understand fundamental processes in life science at the molecular level, the precise observation of single molecule dynamics is of utmost interest. However, current techniques based on fluorescence measurements in aqueous solutions are unable to track changes in molecular structure with sufficient temporal resolution. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-tracking-dynamics-biomolecules-optofluidic-antennas.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 30 Apr 2024 10:11:02 EDT news633690656 Microscopic chasms forming a sea of conical jagged peaks stipple the surface of a material called black silicon. While it's commonly found in solar cell tech, black silicon also moonlights as a tool for studying the physics of how water droplets behave. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-physicists-unknown-droplets-superhydrophobic-surfaces.html General Physics Tue, 16 Apr 2024 10:18:57 EDT news632481534 Fluidic force microscopy (FluidFM) combines the sensitivity of atomic force microscopy with microfluidics' capabilities, necessitating precise calibration of its cantilevers for reliable data. Traditional methods, however, struggle with the unique internal structure of FluidFM cantilevers, leading to inaccuracies. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-technique-tiny-tool-tuning-microscopic.html Nanomaterials Fri, 15 Mar 2024 13:38:33 EDT news629728711 S100A11 is a small Ca2+-activatable protein with an established role in different cellular processes involving actin cytoskeleton remodeling, such as cell migration, membrane protrusion formation, and plasma membrane repair. It also displays F-actin binding activity and localizes to actin stress fibers, but its precise role in regulating these structures has remained unclear. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-role-s100a11-protein-focal-adhesion.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 20 Feb 2024 12:14:02 EST news627653641 The delivery of experimental materials to individual cells with exactness and exclusivity has long been an elusive and much sought-after ability in biology. With it comes the promise of deciphering many longstanding secrets of the cell. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-method-precision-delivery-nanoparticles-small.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 15 Feb 2024 09:52:03 EST news627213121 All cells secrete nanoscale extracellular vesicles naturally as lipid-bilayer delimited particles. Therefore they are valid biomarkers to identify a variety of diseases. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-rapid-purification-characterization-circulating-small.html Bio & Medicine Wed, 15 Nov 2023 09:35:49 EST news619263346 Imperial researchers have filmed, for the first time, the activity of bodily "pressure sensors" whose discoverers won the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-nobel-winning-bodily-pressure-sensors.html Biotechnology Mon, 21 Aug 2023 10:53:15 EDT news611833989 A team from the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis and Massachusetts Institute of Technology has created an acoustic microfluidic method that offers new opportunities to conduct experiments with swimming cells and microorganisms. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-treadmill-microswimmers-closer-behavior.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 12 Jun 2023 15:00:01 EDT news605780478 Inspired by the bubbles bacteria create inside their cells, researchers developed a similar system by coating tiny gas vesicles with protein. The resulting bubbles are safe, highly stable, and function as contrast agent in medical applications. They could be used to diagnose, for example, cardiological issues, blood flow, and liver lesions. https://phys.org/news/2023-01-physicists-coating-protein-results-highly.html General Physics Fri, 20 Jan 2023 10:33:02 EST news593433181 As a part of our immune defenses, cytotoxic T cells—or killer T cells—seek out and destroy cells that are infected or cancerous. This process is essential for the body's defense against diseases. https://phys.org/news/2022-09-cells-cancer.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 15 Sep 2022 12:17:03 EDT news582463017 The COVID-19 pandemic forced teachers across the globe to embrace remote learning. Although adapting existing materials was relatively easy for lecture-based courses that revolved around theory, teaching laboratory classes remotely presented a formidable challenge. In a new paper published in the Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education, researchers from the Department of Bioengineering at the The Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign demonstrate the implementation of a remote laboratory activity to teach students about enzyme kinetics. https://phys.org/news/2022-06-bioengineering-team-remote-lab-enzyme.html Education Mon, 13 Jun 2022 15:07:03 EDT news574351622 Some proteins in cells can separate into small droplets like oil droplets in water, but faults in this process may underlie neurodegenerative diseases in the brains of older people. Now, Rutgers researchers have developed a new method to quantify protein droplets involved in these diseases. https://phys.org/news/2021-08-neurodegenerative-diseases.html Soft Matter Fri, 13 Aug 2021 14:17:17 EDT news548083030 The COVID-19 pandemic forced instructors to adapt their courses for online learning. Laboratory courses were particularly difficult due to lack of access to specialized equipment for remote learners. To overcome this challenge, researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign designed a laboratory exercise to teach students how to use micropipettes, through remote learning, using at-home kits. https://phys.org/news/2021-06-laboratory-techniques-remote.html Education Fri, 04 Jun 2021 13:47:55 EDT news542033271 A team of polymer science and engineering researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has demonstrated for the first time that the positions of tiny, flat, solid objects integrated in nanometrically thin membranes—resembling those of biological cells—can be controlled by mechanically varying the elastic forces in the membrane itself. This research milestone is a significant step toward the goal of creating ultrathin flexible materials that self-organize and respond immediately to mechanical force. https://phys.org/news/2021-04-team-elasticity-position-microplates-2d.html Materials Science Mon, 05 Apr 2021 15:01:08 EDT news536853664 Like a well-trained soldier, a white blood cell uses specialized abilities to identify and ultimately destroy dangerous intruders, including creating a protrusion to effectively reach out, lock-on, probe, and possibly attack its prey. Researchers reporting March 16 in Biophysical Journal show in detail that these cells take seconds to morph into these highly rigid and viscous defensive units. https://phys.org/news/2021-03-squishy-white-blood-cells-quickly.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 16 Mar 2021 11:00:08 EDT news535099824 Optical investigations and manipulations often form the core of biological experiments. In a new report now published in Science Advances, Kazuki Okamato and a team of scientists in pharmaceutical sciences, neuroscience, medicine, physics and artificial intelligence at the University of Tokyo, Japan, introduced a new borosilicate glass material containing a rare-earth ion terbium (III) (Tb3+). The material emitted green fluorescence upon blue light excitation, much like green fluorescent protein (GFP) with wide compatibility across biological research environments. Using micropipettes made of terbium-doped glass, Okamato et al. targeted GFP-labeled cells for single-cell electroporation, single-cell transcriptome analysis and patch-clamp recording experiments under real-time fluorescence microscopic control. The glass also showed potential third harmonic generation upon infrared laser excitation, useful for online optical targeting of fluorescently labeled neurons in the neocortex in vivo. In this way, the terbium-doped glass simplified multiple procedures in biological experiments with broader applications in biomedical research. https://phys.org/news/2021-01-terbium-iii-doped-fluorescent-glass-biomedical.html Materials Science Mon, 25 Jan 2021 09:40:03 EST news530785687 How can cells adhere to surfaces and move on them? This is a question which was investigated by an international team of researchers headed by Prof. Michael Hippler from the University of Münster and Prof. Kaiyao Huang from the Institute of Hydrobiology (Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China). The researchers used the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii as their model organism. They manipulated the alga by altering the sugar modifications in proteins on the cell surface. As a result, they were able to alter the cellular surface adhesion, also known as adhesion force. The results have now been published in the open access scientific journal eLife. https://phys.org/news/2020-12-sugars-cell-to-surface-adhesion.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 29 Dec 2020 11:29:51 EST news528463786 Under a microscope, the first few hours of every multicellular organism's life seem incongruously chaotic. After fertilization, a once tranquil single-celled egg divides again and again, quickly becoming a visually tumultuous mosh pit of cells jockeying for position inside the rapidly growing embryo. https://phys.org/news/2020-10-key-mechanism-cells-tissues-anatomical.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 01 Oct 2020 14:00:03 EDT news520763318 Cellular functions are dictated by the intricate motion of proteins in membranes that span across a scale of nanometers to micrometers, within a time-frame of microseconds to minutes. However, this rich parameter of space is inaccessible using fluorescence microscopy, although it is within reach of interferometric scattering (iSCAT) particle tracking. The new iSCAT technique is, however, highly sensitive to single and unlabelled proteins, thereby causing non-specific background staining as a substantial challenge during cellular imaging. https://phys.org/news/2019-05-nanoscopic-protein-motion-cell-membrane.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 22 May 2019 10:10:27 EDT news477728619 The detection of physical forces is one of the most complex challenges facing science. Although Newton solved the problem of gravity long ago, imaging the physical forces that act within living cells remains one of the main mysteries of current biology. Considered to play a decisive role in many biological processes, the chemical tools to visualize the physical forces in action do not exist. But today, researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) in Chemical Biology, Switzerland, have developed probes that can enter into cells and image live physical forces. These results, a turning point in the study of life sciences, can be found in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. https://phys.org/news/2019-02-scientists-probes-reveal-physical-cells.html Biochemistry Tue, 12 Feb 2019 07:44:51 EST news469179880 Forces exerted by a living cell or a microorganism are tiny, often no larger than a few nanonewtons. For comparison, one nanonewton is the weight of one part in a billion of a typical chocolate bar. Yet, for biological cells and microbes, these forces are enough to allow cells to stick to a surface or microbes to propel themselves toward nutrients. Scientists from Finland and Germany now present a highly adaptable technique using micropipette force sensors to precisely measure the forces exerted by a wide range of micron-sized organisms. This novel method has now been published in Nature Protocols. https://phys.org/news/2019-01-cells-microorganisms.html Biochemistry Mon, 28 Jan 2019 11:00:12 EST news467888954 Malaria is the most prevalent blood-borne infectious disease caused by parasites of the species Plasmodium. In 2016, more than 216 million malaria infections were reported resulting in 445,000 deaths across the developing world. https://phys.org/news/2018-10-cyto-adhesion-malaria-parasites-fever-uncovered.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 10 Oct 2018 08:58:47 EDT news458380722