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. Museums are increasingly using digital technologies to create more interactive and accessible experiences for visitors. Technologies such as three-dimensional (3D) digital models, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) allow visitors to explore artifacts in new ways, both online and during visits to physical museums. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-emotional-cultural-heritage-strongest-link.html Archaeology Wed, 07 Oct 2026 21:40:02 EDT news710600285 Fashion lovers are generally associated with bursting wardrobes and chasing the latest trends. But that reputation is beginning to shift. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ways-enjoy-fashion-hobby-indulging.html Economics & Business Wed, 07 Oct 2026 20:40:01 EDT news710596921 A joint research team has identified a new mechanism underlying antibiotic resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a major multidrug-resistant "superbug." The discovery provides important clues for the development of new treatments for multidrug-resistant bacterial infections. The findings are published in the journal Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-superbug-p-aeruginosa-protein-channels.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 07 Oct 2026 19:00:01 EDT news710604481 Francis Halzen, winner of the Nobel Prize in physics, spoke with pride on Wednesday about his early promotion of artificial intelligence in his research on neutrinos. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-nobel-physics-winner-pride-ai.html General Physics Wed, 07 Oct 2026 18:40:01 EDT news710587906 New research within the PELAgIO ECOWind project has revealed how offshore wind farms can influence ocean temperatures and mixing, and why their effects depend on local conditions. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-offshore-turbine-foundations-cool-ocean.html Environment Wed, 07 Oct 2026 18:20:06 EDT news710604061 An undergraduate astrophysics student at UC Berkeley has found three unusual galaxies—cataloged as Shapiro Dwarf Galaxies I, II and III. Each galaxy is far from other galaxies and has stopped making stars, a combination that is extremely rare. The discovery, published in The Astrophysical Journal, provides compelling observational evidence of a long-held astronomical theory. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-undergraduate-student-puzzle-isolated-galaxies.html Astronomy Wed, 07 Oct 2026 17:20:11 EDT news710603101 A new type of advanced microscope (wide-field coherent multidimensional microscopy) has been developed. It uses a carefully designed sequence of ultrashort light pulses to study the behavior of high-tech materials, with potential practical applications in the study of innovative materials such as those used to build solar panels. This is the result of work by a research group of physicists from the Faculty of Sciences, Mathematics, Physics, and Natural Sciences at Università Cattolica's Brescia campus who, for the first time, have developed a "multidimensional microscope" that, in a sense, records the behavior of materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ultrashort-laser-pulses-microscope-electron.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 07 Oct 2026 17:10:01 EDT news710610361 Two studies on critical topology have recently been published in the journal Nature. These studies were led by the teams of Prof. Baile Zhang at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and Prof. Jianhua Jiang at the University of Science and Technology of China, respectively. Prof. Xue-Jia Yu from the School of Physics at the Eastern Institute of Technology, Ningbo (EIT), served as a co-corresponding author on both papers and provided key theoretical guidance in the related experimental collaborations. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-acoustic-topology-persist-gapless-critical.html Condensed Matter Wed, 07 Oct 2026 16:40:20 EDT news710599631 Some of the giant marine reptiles that ruled the seas during the age of dinosaurs were better built for surprise attacks, while their relatives were better suited to chasing prey through open water, according to a Rutgers-led study. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-flexible-tails-boost-ancient-sea.html Paleontology & Fossils Wed, 07 Oct 2026 16:00:03 EDT news710605632 Modern technological breakthroughs like lasers, MRI scanners, semiconductors and quantum computers rest on the study of quantum mechanics. However, the field has predominantly focused on (sub)atomic phenomena far removed from our human senses. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-quantum-shifting-centimeter-scale-lab.html General Physics Wed, 07 Oct 2026 14:00:50 EDT news710514722 For decades, paleontologists have held up uintatheres as a prime illustration of sexual dimorphism, or the tendency for males and females of a species to be physically different. Notable for their large size, prominent horns and canine teeth, uintatheres emerged about 58 million years ago, fewer than 10 million years after a space rock killed the dinosaurs, and show up in the fossil record for the next 20 million years or so. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-classic-sexual-dimorphism-fossil-nuance.html Plants & Animals Wed, 07 Oct 2026 14:00:12 EDT news710519881 Unconventional superconductors can host unusual electronic states, but understanding what drives their superconductivity becomes difficult when different forms of order coexist. The kagome metal CsV3Sb5 has become a particularly debated example. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-quantum-material-superconducting-states-conflicting.html Condensed Matter Wed, 07 Oct 2026 13:00:09 EDT news710593381 Today, many physicists are actively exploring how light could be used to link objects through quantum entanglement. By fully harnessing the effect, they hope to unlock a wide array of applications, from secure communication networks spanning vast distances to sensitive new tests of the fundamental laws of physics. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-levitating-glass-sphere-entangled-room.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 07 Oct 2026 12:40:13 EDT news710587355 Playing with peers is a crucial part of growing up—so crucial that orangutan mothers will go out of their way to arrange playdates for their young, according to a 15-year study of wild Bornean orangutans. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-orangutan-mothers-playmates-young.html Plants & Animals Wed, 07 Oct 2026 12:00:07 EDT news710590501 More than 80 years ago, scientists discovered that differences in yellow pigmentation were critical to courtship success and failure for fruit flies. It was one of the first demonstrations linking genes to complex behavior, and ever since, the Yellow proteins that paint these shades in nature have been a fruitful source of scientific inquiry. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-tortoise-beetles-pigmentation-protein-shield.html Ecology Wed, 07 Oct 2026 11:40:08 EDT news710590201 While lithium has been used as a first-line treatment for the long-term management of bipolar disorder for more than 70 years, scientists still do not fully understand how it produces its therapeutic effects in the brain.In a new study published in PLOS ONE, Surrey researchers used computational chemistry and quantum simulations to investigate whether part of the answer could lie in "nuclear spin"—a quantum property that makes an atom's nucleus behave like a tiny magnet, allowing it to influence nearby electrons and potentially change the outcome of chemical reactions. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-quantum-simulations-lithium-isotopes-affect.html Biochemistry Wed, 07 Oct 2026 11:20:11 EDT news710590142 As waves of humans left Africa tens of thousands of years ago, eventually populating the entire planet, they were joined on their world-conquering ride by the trillions of microorganisms that compose the gut microbiome. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-gut-bacteria-reveal-ancient-human.html Evolution Wed, 07 Oct 2026 11:01:10 EDT news710523661 Scientists using the European Space Agency's Mars Express, in combination with a state-of-the-art meteorological model of the Red Planet, have found that there may be some exotic physics behind Mars' most curious cloud. The paper, "Homogeneous ice Nucleation from Water Vapour Suggested by Elongated Clouds on Mars," is published in Nature Geoscience. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-mars-oddest-cloud-odder-previously.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 07 Oct 2026 11:01:01 EDT news710520301 For decades, researchers around the world have been working toward this goal—and now major advances are following in rapid succession. Vienna is now home to the world's first nuclear clock that stabilizes itself, as atomic clocks typically do. This system has been shown to remain stable for more than 24 hours without intervention, and the related findings are published in the journal Nature. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-nuclear-clock-vienna.html General Physics Wed, 07 Oct 2026 11:00:51 EDT news710523241 A University of Texas at Dallas scientist and her colleagues have discovered an unusual atomic pattern in a uranium-based material that gives it a rare combination of magnetic properties, a finding that could open new pathways for designing advanced electronic and computer memory devices. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-uranium-compound-1960s-reveals-hidden.html Condensed Matter Wed, 07 Oct 2026 11:00:35 EDT news710524081 Collisions between particles at high energies can sometimes produce new particles and shed light on interactions between the fundamental constituents of matter. Simulating these collisions and their underlying processes could yield valuable insights into how matter behaves at extremely small scales. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-quantum-shortcut-particle-collisions-easier.html General Physics Wed, 07 Oct 2026 08:00:01 EDT news710065765 Scientists Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai won the Nobel Prize in chemistry Wednesday for untangling mysterious mirror images in molecules, a discovery that has been used to develop countless drugs and transformed modern medicine. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-nobel-prize-chemistry-awarded-kagan.html Other Wed, 07 Oct 2026 06:12:46 EDT news710572334 Some flowers have petals with small semitranslucent sections. Research in New Phytologist reveals that these "windows" alter the amount of light and heat entering the flower and create conditions that influence microbial abundance. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-petal-windows-affect-abundance-microbes.html Ecology Wed, 07 Oct 2026 03:10:18 EDT news710495281 Research into molecules that regulate sleep and appetite or methods for editing genes could be among the contenders for the Nobel Prize in chemistry, to be announced Wednesday, commentators say. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-appetite-gene-experts-contend-nobel.html Other Wed, 07 Oct 2026 03:00:01 EDT news710558901 For Dr. Jamaluddin Jompa, the ocean has never been simply a subject of scientific study. He was born in Takalar, a coastal region of South Sulawesi, Indonesia, and his connection with the sea was forged early. Witnessing the degradation of Indonesia's coastal waters made him wonder: What happens when the ecological relationships that sustain marine ecosystems begin to break down and, more importantly, can they be restored? https://phys.org/news/2026-10-coral-reef-climate-resilience-indonesia.html Ecology Tue, 06 Oct 2026 19:00:01 EDT news710518325 Four decades after the 1986 nuclear disaster, researchers at Leibniz University Hannover and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) examined six tiny, highly radioactive fragments that were released from the destroyed reactor in Ukraine in the wake of the incident. Analyses show that these "hot particles" are far more stable than had previously been assumed. The findings could allow for more precise assessments of the health risks posed by such radioactive particles. The paper is published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-chernobyl-particles-reveal-unexpectedly-stable.html General Physics Tue, 06 Oct 2026 18:20:05 EDT news710509501 A flash flood can devastate a community for years in a matter of minutes. These disasters account for roughly 85% of floods and cause thousands of deaths annually worldwide, with water levels capable of shooting up 30 feet (9 meters) and receding to normal levels in the span of a single, unpredictable day, according to the National Weather Service. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ai-techniques-image-creation-river.html Earth Sciences Tue, 06 Oct 2026 17:30:01 EDT news710525041 Creating a quantum device often begins by intentionally damaging a crystal. Scientists fire an ultrafast laser pulse into a material, knocking atoms out of place and leaving behind tiny imperfections called vacancies. Far from being flaws, these vacancies can behave as qubits—the fundamental building blocks of quantum information. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ray-technique-reveals-quantum-materials.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 06 Oct 2026 17:20:08 EDT news710508661 A research team has developed a highly sensitive electrochemical biosensor capable of rapidly and accurately diagnosing cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leaks that may occur following head surgery or trauma. The team established a diagnostic platform that uses enzymes to detect subtle differences in sugars attached to protein surfaces and converts these differences into measurable electrical signals. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-highly-sensitive-biosensor-enables-rapid.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 06 Oct 2026 17:20:01 EDT news710516761 Anyone who has ever tried and failed to swat a fly has experienced the speed of a tiny nervous system. Now, a new review brings together evidence that its secret lies partly in microscopic movements and shape changes within sensory cells and neurons, challenging conventional views of how brains process information. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-shifting-sensory-cells-insects-visual.html Plants & Animals Tue, 06 Oct 2026 16:20:12 EDT news710507162