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. Generating hydrogen without releasing carbon dioxide sounds simple: pass electricity through water, split water molecules and generate green hydrogen. The hard part is the electrocatalyst. The best ones rely on platinum, ruthenium and iridium, which are scarce and expensive. We wanted to know whether a small amount of iron and nickel oxides, anchored on carbon nanofibers grown by chemical vapor deposition the right way on the right scaffold, could do the job instead. Our results are published in ACS Applied Nano Materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-fuel-nanomaterial-green-hydrogen.html Nanomaterials Mon, 26 Oct 2026 19:00:03 EDT news712234922 In November 1857, during a séance in Jersey City, the medium Leah Brown claimed her body produced luminous particles. So intense was the luminosity emanating from her, she recalled in her memoir, that it almost burned her hands. She rinsed her hands under a tap and then pushed them into the damp earth outside. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ghoul-chemical-tool-toxic-chemistry.html Other Mon, 26 Oct 2026 18:50:01 EDT news712233694 DNA-nano/microparticle motors are among the fastest artificial molecular motors reported to date, moving at approximately 30 nm per second. However, they are still slower than natural motor proteins (approximately 100–1,000 nm per second), and further improvements in design and performance are required. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-simulations-reveal-high-dna-particle.html Bio & Medicine Mon, 26 Oct 2026 16:20:01 EDT news712249621 A new study led by an international research team including scientists at the University of South Carolina challenges the idea that the ancient Laacher See volcanic eruption in western Europe triggered a significant climate-cooling period affecting central Europe and the Arctic nearly 13,000 years ago. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-sediment-core-reveals-volcanic-eruption.html Earth Sciences Mon, 26 Oct 2026 11:20:05 EDT news712226705 Stainless steel is widely used for its corrosion resistance, but it is not invincible. In environments containing chloride ions, such as seawater, pitting corrosion can occur. These pits often start at tiny particles called inclusions embedded in the steel. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-reveal-titanium-additions-fully-pitting.html Analytical Chemistry Sat, 24 Oct 2026 17:00:01 EDT news711967888 Many topics in astronomy and astrophysics are esoteric. There's not much of a relationship between something like the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way and the life of a regular person going about their business. But the sun is different. Its presence in our lives is inescapable. Its behavior, especially its flaring, has an impact. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-flare-ribbons-reveal-hidden-solar.html Astronomy Sat, 24 Oct 2026 14:00:01 EDT news711886210 The positron is the antimatter counterpart of the electron, identical in mass but carrying an equal and opposite electric charge. Like the electron, it also behaves like a tiny bar magnet, and according to a key prediction of the Standard Model of particle physics, its magnetic moment should be exactly equal and opposite to the electron's. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-positron-cyclotron-key-standard.html General Physics Sat, 24 Oct 2026 13:20:02 EDT news711890804 Metallic materials used in extremely cold environments must maintain high strength, ductility and fracture toughness to support applications in aerospace, clean energy, superconducting systems and deep-space exploration. However, traditional alloys often suffer performance degradation at ultralow temperatures because of the long-standing trade-off between strength, ductility and toughness. Although metals may become stronger at lower temperatures, they can also become more brittle and prone to fracture. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-nanoscale-alloy-redesign-tackles-cold.html Nanomaterials Sat, 24 Oct 2026 11:00:02 EDT news711899145 In 1953, two physicists showed that an electron beam skimming past a grating emits light whose color depends only on the electron's speed and the grating's spacing. Known as Smith-Purcell radiation, this phenomenon has become a useful tool for building compact, tunable light sources and tracking particle beams without touching them. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-plain-silicon-reveals-hidden-electron.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 23 Oct 2026 16:20:08 EDT news711980881 Establishing a long-term presence on the moon will require solving challenges that are easy to overlook on Earth. Lunar temperatures, for instance, can vary from hundreds of degrees below zero to boiling, making effective insulation essential for lunar habitats. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-everyday-mylar-insulator-lunar-habitats.html Space Exploration Fri, 23 Oct 2026 15:20:01 EDT news711979621 Researchers at Umea university thought gold particles would make electronic components emit more light. Instead, they discovered an unexpected effect that could be important for the future of organic electronics. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-gold-nanoparticles-unexpectedly-electrical-devices.html Nanophysics Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:40:10 EDT news711968464 Do cosmic radiation doses near the moon differ significantly from those received by astronauts in low Earth orbit? Experimental lithium fluoride detectors, installed aboard the Orion spacecraft during the Artemis I mission, have now made it possible to obtain preliminary estimates. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-artemis-crystals-experimental-detectors-doses.html Space Exploration Fri, 23 Oct 2026 11:40:01 EDT news711967966 If you wanted a Nobel Prize, you would do well to study neutrinos. To date, the Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded five times to research related to neutrino detection and discovery. This year, Francis Halzen earned the Nobel "for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin." https://phys.org/news/2026-10-neutrino-science-year-nobel-prize.html General Physics Thu, 22 Oct 2026 19:30:01 EDT news711891573 In a review article recently published in the journal Earth-Science Reviews, researchers from the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde (IOW), in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Leicester (United Kingdom), report on how human activity has altered Earth's sediments over the decades. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-microplastics-sediment-decades-human-worldwide.html Earth Sciences Thu, 22 Oct 2026 16:20:19 EDT news711901381 As the climate gets warmer, the number of particles that make up clouds in the Arctic may increase or decrease, depending on the specific area. A new study indicates that the Arctic should be divided into three parts rather than considered as a whole. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-years-size-view-arctic-cloud.html Earth Sciences Thu, 22 Oct 2026 15:20:18 EDT news711900301 Ever since quantum mechanics first described particles, like electrons, as rippling waves, researchers have wondered if those waves could be trapped in place. Writing today in Science a century later, a team of Columbia University researchers reports waves of electrons becoming trapped for the first time in a metal called Pd₅AlI₂. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-quantum-electron-metal.html Condensed Matter Thu, 22 Oct 2026 14:00:18 EDT news711812644 Technion researchers have presented evidence for the existence of solar-storm-like outbursts near supermassive black holes, which can be a million times larger than the sun or more. The phenomenon was discovered in the vicinity of the black hole in the galaxy NGC 3783, and the researchers' findings were published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-black-hole-uncover-evidence-solar.html Astronomy Thu, 22 Oct 2026 11:03:31 EDT news711885705 Unlike classical physics, quantum mechanics generally cannot tell us exactly what will happen in an individual event. Instead, it predicts the probabilities of different outcomes. As one of the theory's early pioneers, Erwin Schrödinger played a key role in debates about what this randomness really means. However, part of his contribution has stayed hidden for more than 80 years. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-lost-schrdinger-manuscript-reveals-true.html Quantum Physics Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:00:01 EDT news711806228 Researchers at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) have reconstructed approximately 16,000 years of summer temperature changes from sediments collected at Lake Prokoško in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The findings show how the Western Balkans responded to rapid climate changes at the end of the last glacial period, how warmer and cooler phases unfolded during the Holocene, and how the impact of human land use became increasingly pronounced. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-reconstructing-years-summer-temperature-western.html Earth Sciences Wed, 21 Oct 2026 16:30:02 EDT news711818342 A crack appears beside a window after weeks of scorching weather. As much as you might hope the ground beneath your house will recover with the first rain, the effects of a dry summer can continue long after temperatures fall. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-subsidence-drought-ground-collapse-homes.html Environment Wed, 21 Oct 2026 15:20:16 EDT news711796824 Researchers at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) at the U.S. Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have measured the shortest high-energy X-ray pulses ever recorded at an X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL). The pulses had photon energies of about 9 kiloelectronvolts (keV) and clocked in at durations of 100 to 400 attoseconds—mere billionths of a billionth of a second. The results are published in Nature Photonics. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ray-free-electron-laser-shortest.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 21 Oct 2026 14:40:10 EDT news711803582 Scientists from RMIT University and Riga Technical University in Latvia have shown that static charge left on surfaces can be controlled, which may have big benefits for companies needing to avoid the little zap in production of common household goods. The discovery could even one day help stop powders such as protein, chocolate malt powders and coffee from clumping. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-invisible-tweak-protein-clumpy.html General Physics Wed, 21 Oct 2026 11:40:16 EDT news711796202 Earlier this year, an outbreak of Andes hantavirus on a cruise ship, which killed three passengers and sickened 13, highlighted the lack of approved vaccines or treatments for the virus. In a study published in Nature, scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and collaborators from Institut Pasteur and LSU Health Shreveport show how the virus recognizes its target on a human cell, a finding that could lead to effective therapies against Andes virus and other hantaviruses. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-scientists-reveal-deadly-andes-hantavirus.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 21 Oct 2026 11:00:15 EDT news711712681 For the first time, Northwestern University physicists have coaxed a single positron—the antimatter counterpart of an electron—into an exquisitely controlled quantum state. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-physicists-particle-antimatter-months.html General Physics Wed, 21 Oct 2026 11:00:10 EDT news711713041 Bacteria get a bad reputation—with all the outbreaks, infections and deaths. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-infections-bacteria-reveal-medicines-crops.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 21 Oct 2026 09:40:13 EDT news711785956 The oxygen in about every other breath we take comes from microscopic cells—phytoplankton—drifting in the surface of the ocean. Among them is Prochlorococcus, the smallest and most abundant photosynthetic organism in the seas. It single-handedly accounts for roughly 10% of all the carbon that the land and the oceans pull from the atmosphere each year. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ocean-abundant-loner-microbe-sticky.html Ecology Wed, 21 Oct 2026 09:00:06 EDT news711791161 Quantum networks, systems that connect devices and allow them to exchange information encoded in the quantum states of particles, could enable more secure communications. To build these networks, physicists need to devise strategies that allow distant particles to share quantum states, preserving them long enough to perform calculations or enable communication between devices. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-atomic-memory-distant-ions-entangled.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 21 Oct 2026 07:40:12 EDT news711706392 The most comprehensive data set ever collected from Earth's atmosphere during a solar radiation event has highlighted the importance of better-coordinated radiation monitoring for aviation safety, according to new research led by the University of Surrey. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-rare-solar-storm-scientists-clearest.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 20 Oct 2026 21:00:01 EDT news711720267 New results from the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) provide strong evidence that smashing oxygen nuclei together at nearly the speed of light generates a quark-gluon plasma (QGP), a type of matter that existed just after the birth of the universe. The data, just published in Physical Review Letters, show that energetic jets of particles lose energy as they traverse the hot, dense matter left in the collision's wake. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-oxygen-collisions-evidence-jet-quenching.html General Physics Tue, 20 Oct 2026 17:20:01 EDT news711719881 Scientists have long been interested in cellular nanodiscs, tiny particles made from natural cell membranes that mimic many of the functions of living cells. While previous studies demonstrated the therapeutic potential of nanodiscs for drug delivery, detoxification and vaccines, one fundamental question remained unanswered: How does size influence how well they work? https://phys.org/news/2026-10-supercomputer-reveals-size-future-nanomedicine.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 20 Oct 2026 16:20:05 EDT news711718502