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. Arctic glacial fjords are hotspots of marine life, yet their seafloor environments remain some of the least explored regions on Earth. Their extreme remoteness and the technical challenges of deep-water observation have led scientists to rely on indirect measurements like sonar. However, these methods cannot visually verify animal behavior or identify specific species. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-rare-footage-elusive-sea-floor.html Plants & Animals Wed, 06 May 2026 18:50:01 EDT news697306021 Only about 5% of the universe is composed of normal matter that we can directly observe, while the remaining 95% is widely believed to consist of dark matter and dark energy. Paradoxically, however, the nature of these dark components remains unknown. Is this due to limitations in our observational capabilities, or does it reflect a more fundamental incompleteness in the classical laws of physics that have long underpinned our understanding of the universe? https://phys.org/news/2026-04-decoherence-gravity-dark-energy-quantum.html General Physics Wed, 22 Apr 2026 07:30:01 EDT news696002430 Over the last decade, I've worked closely with Montréal educators and students to better understand how climate change education occurs in schools—and how climate change curricula and policies shape everyday experiences there. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-schools-factoring-labor-essential.html Environment Wed, 03 Dec 2025 12:56:01 EST news683988781 The goal of carbon dioxide (CO2) hydrogenation is to turn pollution into fuel. This process transforms CO2, one of the main greenhouse gases, into chemical products and renewable fuels. One important product is methanol, a versatile compound used in everything from plastics to fuels. https://phys.org/news/2025-05-rethinking-relationship-greenhouse-gas-sustainable.html Analytical Chemistry Thu, 29 May 2025 15:02:20 EDT news667749735 The cells that make up the walls of the finest of all lymphatic vessels have a lobate, oak leaf-like shape that makes them particularly resilient to changes in fluid volume. A similar cell shape also supports mechanical stability in plants. This has been shown by researchers from Uppsala University in an article published in the journal Nature. https://phys.org/news/2025-03-unique-cell-lymphatic-vessels-stable.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 19 Mar 2025 12:00:20 EDT news661591742 I broke its neck. When making a vase at the potter's wheel, I torqued its slippery neck clear off the pot as I tried to thin it into a graceful curve. https://phys.org/news/2025-02-human-neck-locus-power-beauty.html Social Sciences Mon, 10 Feb 2025 14:50:03 EST news658418688 An international team of scientists have discovered that soap could be important to helping our understanding of complex systems in the human body, such as lungs, and improving therapies for conditions such as respiratory distress syndrome. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-soap-maze-skills-secrets-human.html Soft Matter Fri, 24 Jan 2025 07:00:03 EST news656924401 If you're a young person (or a parent of one), you may be thinking some big thoughts about your future. Am I going to go to university? Maybe I'll look at a trade? I might want to travel? Or maybe I don't? Do I have to decide now? I don't know what I want to do with my life. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-editorial-rest-ancient-teens-full.html Archaeology Fri, 06 Sep 2024 13:25:03 EDT news644847902 When water gets inside nanopores with sizes below 10 nanometers, new physics emerge: new phases of ice were observed and ultrafast proton transport was measured. Confined water also plays a role in biology, where aquaporins cross cellular membranes to allow specific transport of water and other small molecules through nanometer-scale channels. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-confined-electric-reveals-dielectric-response.html Nanophysics Thu, 25 Jul 2024 14:30:57 EDT news641136653 A research team from Japan, including scientists from Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE 6501, Hitachi), Kyushu University, RIKEN, and HREM Research Inc. (HREM), has achieved a major breakthrough in the observation of magnetic fields at unimaginably small scales. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-scientists-visualize-magnetic-fields-atomic.html Condensed Matter Fri, 05 Jul 2024 09:01:04 EDT news639388861 In a paper published today in Nature Communications, researchers unveiled previously unobserved phenomena in an ultra-clean sample of the correlated metal SrVO3. The study offers experimental insights that challenge the prevailing theoretical models of these unusual metals. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-uncovers-hidden-phenomena-ultra-quantum.html Condensed Matter Mon, 24 Jun 2024 08:10:09 EDT news638435401 Learning from an experience, remembering an anecdote or changing an attitude are examples that reveal how all our behavior is the result of the exchange of chemical compounds—neurotransmitters—between neurons. Unraveling what exactly happens at the molecular level when neurons "talk" to each other at synapses is crucial for understanding the human brain in general and, in particular, for helping to solve mental health problems. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-neuronal-gateway-essential-molecules-memory.html Biotechnology Wed, 17 Apr 2024 11:48:36 EDT news632573313 Unconventional superconducting states are states of superconductivity rooted in physical processes that do not conform with the conventional theory of superconductivity, namely Bardeen, Cooper and Schrieffer (BCS) theory. These states are characterized by close interactions between magnetism and superconductivity. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-spontaneous-emergence-1d-superconducting-stripes.html Superconductivity Mon, 08 Apr 2024 09:39:39 EDT news631787972 Researchers from Kyushu University have developed a hydrogen energy carrier to address some of the biggest hurdles in the path toward a sustainable hydrogen economy. As explained in a paper published in JACS Au, this novel compound can efficiently "store electrons" from hydrogen in a solid state to use in chemical reactions later. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-electrons-hydrogen-chemical-reactions.html Materials Science Thu, 28 Mar 2024 12:36:35 EDT news630848191 Imagine the embers of a campfire, slowly dimming over time. That is the fate most stars in the universe face. After their nuclear fuel is spent, 98 percent of stars—including our sun—will eventually become white dwarfs. These small, dense remnants are thought to simply cool down, becoming ever fainter as the universe ages. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-crystals-stellar-aging-stars-delay.html Astronomy Tue, 19 Mar 2024 11:35:04 EDT news630066902 In most materials, heat prefers to scatter. If left alone, a hotspot will gradually fade as it warms its surroundings. But in rare states of matter, heat can behave as a wave, moving back and forth somewhat like a sound wave that bounces from one end of a room to the other. In fact, this wave-like heat is what physicists call "second sound." https://phys.org/news/2024-02-physicists-capture-sloshing-superfluid-revealing.html General Physics Thu, 08 Feb 2024 14:00:01 EST news626604202 How far microplastics travel in the atmosphere depends crucially on particle shape, according to a recent study by scientists at the University of Vienna and the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization in Göttingen. Although spherical particles settle quickly, microplastic fibers might travel as far as the stratosphere. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-microplastic-fibers-stratosphere.html Environment Tue, 09 Jan 2024 13:11:03 EST news624028261 In 1960, Joaquin Luttinger introduced a universal statement that relates the total number of particles that a system can accommodate to its behavior under low-energy excitations. While Luttinger's theorem is readily verified in systems of independent particles, it also holds true in correlated quantum matter exhibiting strong interactions between the particles. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-luttinger-theorem-core-topological.html Condensed Matter Wed, 06 Dec 2023 11:38:58 EST news621085135 Weyl semimetals are highly sought after by material scientists. First predicted in the early 2010s, they belong to the class of topological materials that owe their unique transport, optical and thermoelectric behavior to distinct geometric and topological features, rather than to their chemical composition. What sets Weyl semimetals apart is that their electrons behave as if they are massless due to the presence of nodes in the electronic band structure, leading to unusual and interesting properties. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-widely-weyl-semimetal-shown-magnetic.html Condensed Matter Tue, 07 Nov 2023 09:22:03 EST news618571321 A research group led by Professor Kenji Ohmori at the Institute for Molecular Science, National Institutes of Natural Sciences are using an artificial crystal of 30,000 atoms aligned in a cubic array with a spacing of 0.5 micron, cooled to near absolute zero temperature. By manipulating the atoms with a special laser light that blinks for 10 picoseconds, they succeeded in executing quantum simulation of a model of magnetic materials. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-ultrafast-quantum-simulation-large-scale-entanglement.html Quantum Physics Fri, 29 Sep 2023 12:16:06 EDT news615208561 After years of dedicated research and over 5 million supercomputer computing hours, a team has created the world's first high-resolution 3D radiation hydrodynamics simulations for exotic supernovae. This work is reported in The Astrophysical Journal. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-world-3d-simulations-reveal-physics.html Astronomy Fri, 15 Sep 2023 11:32:37 EDT news613996353 Excavations by a University of Kansas paleontologist working in a treasure trove of fossils called the "Spence Shale Lagerstätte" have revealed an ancient sea worm unknown to science until now. The finding has now been published in the journal Historical Biology. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-glimpse-million-year-old-sea-worm-dune.html Paleontology & Fossils Thu, 03 Aug 2023 12:53:09 EDT news610285915 On June 23, 1993, the mathematician Andrew Wiles gave the last of three lectures detailing his solution to Fermat's last theorem, a problem that had remained unsolved for three and a half centuries. Wiles' announcement caused a sensation, both within the mathematical community and in the media. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-mathematicians-bridges-discipline-fermat-theorem.html Mathematics Thu, 22 Jun 2023 16:54:13 EDT news606671649 Transporting energy is costly. When a current runs through conductive materials, some of the energy is lost due to resistance as particles within the material interact—just notice the warmth from your phone or laptop. This energy loss presents a hurdle to the advancement of many technologies and scientists are searching for ways to make superconductors that eliminate resistance. https://phys.org/news/2023-05-possibilities-tiny-superconductors.html Superconductivity Fri, 05 May 2023 10:08:03 EDT news602500081 Researchers have used data from previous publications aiming to answer the question of why the Arctic sea ice is responding much more quickly and obviously to climate change than the Antarctic sea ice, which has stayed relatively stable according to the long-term studies monitoring the Antarctic region's sea ice patterns. Their results were published in the journal Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Research. https://phys.org/news/2023-05-similar-antarctic-arctic-sea-ice.html Earth Sciences Fri, 05 May 2023 09:00:08 EDT news602496006 Developing new quantum devices relies on controlling how electrons behave. A material called graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms, has fascinated researchers in recent years because its electrons behave as if they have no mass. For decades, scientists have also been interested in high-temperature superconductors: ceramic materials where electron interactions yield a macroscopic quantum state where electrons pair with each other. They do so at a temperature above the usual superconducting temperature of metals, which approaches absolute zero. https://phys.org/news/2023-04-kind-quantum-device-combining-high-temperature.html Superconductivity Thu, 13 Apr 2023 10:27:03 EDT news600600421 An article published in the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction discusses Amazon Rainforest wildfire governance with local community participation in the so-called tri-national border region between Madre de Dios in Peru, Acre state in North Brazil, and Pando, one of Bolivia's nine departments (subnational administrative divisions). The region is sometimes referred to as MAP. https://phys.org/news/2023-04-undermining-lack-local-policies-hinder.html Environment Wed, 05 Apr 2023 11:12:56 EDT news599911971 A study published in Nature Communications by an international team of climate scientists uncovers the physical mechanisms that can cause uneven future warming in the Indian Ocean and corresponding shifts in monsoon precipitation. https://phys.org/news/2023-04-climate-scientists-uncover-mechanisms-uneven.html Earth Sciences Tue, 04 Apr 2023 08:48:03 EDT news599816881 A Los Alamos National Laboratory team has overcome key challenges toward technologically viable high-intensity light emitters based on colloidal quantum dot technology, resulting in dual-function devices that operate as both an optically excited laser and a high-brightness electrically driven light-emitting diode (LED). https://phys.org/news/2023-03-dual-purpose-laser-device-based-colloidal.html Optics & Photonics Mon, 27 Mar 2023 09:35:04 EDT news599128501 In condensed matter systems, an essential characteristic of electrons besides charge and spin is the orbital degree of freedom (ODoF). It plays a crucial role in understanding unconventional properties in solid-state materials and in "orbital physics" toward unveiling the science and technology of correlated electrons. However, due to the complexity and various degrees of freedom simultaneously involved in real materials, it has always been a challenge to fully unravel the physics of strongly correlated electronic matter mediated by the ODoF via controlled experiments. https://phys.org/news/2023-03-photonic-p-orbital-higher-order-topological-insulators.html Condensed Matter Tue, 14 Mar 2023 12:44:03 EDT news598016641