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. Proteins are the molecular machines of cells. They are produced in protein factories called ribosomes based on their blueprint—the genetic information. Here, the basic building blocks of proteins, amino acids, are assembled into long protein chains. Like the building blocks of a machine, individual proteins must have a specific three-dimensional structure to properly fulfill their functions. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-cell-tracking-reveals-dynamic-interaction.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 05 Feb 2026 16:07:47 EST news689530022 No ears, no problem. The tobacco hornworm caterpillar, a common garden pest, can actually detect airborne sound via microscopic hairs on its body, according to a team of faculty and graduate students at Binghamton University. The research could have implications for improving microphone technology. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-caterpillars-tiny-body-hairs-microphones.html Plants & Animals Wed, 28 Jan 2026 16:47:30 EST news688841222 A remarkable prehistoric hammer made from elephant bone, dating back nearly half a million years ago, has been uncovered in southern England and analyzed by archaeologists from UCL and the Natural History Museum, London. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-prehistoric-tool-elephant-bone-oldest.html Archaeology Wed, 21 Jan 2026 14:51:30 EST news688229461 Quantum mechanics is rich with paradoxes and contradictions. It describes a microscopic world in which particles exist in a superposition of states—being in multiple places and configurations all at once, defined mathematically by what physicists call a "wavefunction." But this runs counter to our everyday experience of objects that are either here or there, never both at the same time. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-twitch-quantum-collapse-hint-tiny.html General Physics Tue, 20 Jan 2026 15:02:16 EST news688143721 To ensure our bodies function correctly, the cells that compose them must operate properly. Imagine a cell as a bustling city where tiny parts called organelles move, reorganize, and respond to external stresses. To understand how our bodies stay healthy, or what goes wrong during disease, scientists need a way to "peek" inside the cell and observe this movement in real-time. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-virtual-advances-ai-cell-context.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 20 Jan 2026 13:04:31 EST news688136641 Taking images of tiny structures within cells is tricky business. One technique, cryogenic electron tomography (cryoET), shoots electrons through a frozen sample. The images formed by the electrons that emerge allow researchers to reconstruct the internal architecture of a cell in 3D with near-atomic resolution. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-tightening-focus-subcellular-snapshots-combined.html Cell & Microbiology Sat, 17 Jan 2026 15:20:01 EST news687712695 An international group of researchers led by Pompeu Fabra University has discovered the nanomachine that controls constitutive exocytosis: the uninterrupted delivery of spherical molecular packages to the cell surface. This is an essential activity present in virtually all organisms to preserve cell fitness and other vital functions such as communication with the cell's exterior, cell growth and division. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-revealing-cell-nanocourier.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 16 Jan 2026 11:00:05 EST news687697561 Foams are everywhere: soap suds, shaving cream, whipped toppings and food emulsions like mayonnaise. For decades, scientists believed that foams behave like glass, their microscopic components trapped in static, disordered configurations. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-physics-foam-strangely-resembles-ai.html Soft Matter Wed, 14 Jan 2026 10:00:03 EST news687605317 Air-polluting microplastics have been found in rural environments in greater quantities than in urban locations, researchers say. Scientists led by the University of Leeds detected up to 500 microscopic particles of plastic per square meter per day in an area of woodland during the three-month study—almost twice as much as in a sample collected in a city center. The findings are published in the journal Environmental Pollution. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-microplastics-rural-woodland-higher-city.html Environment Mon, 12 Jan 2026 11:18:44 EST news687439081 To ensure that the tissue structures of biological samples are easily recognizable under the electron microscope, they are treated with a staining agent. The standard staining agent for this is uranyl acetate. However, some laboratories are not allowed to use this highly toxic and radioactive substance for safety reasons. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-coffee-agent-substitute-electron-microscopy.html Biotechnology Thu, 08 Jan 2026 09:00:03 EST news687085062 Stanford researchers have developed a flexible material that can quickly change its surface texture and colors, offering potential applications in camouflage, art, robotics, and even nanoscale bioengineering. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-flexible-material-mimics-octopus-skin.html Nanophysics Wed, 07 Jan 2026 14:20:04 EST news687017423 For centuries, scientists have known that plants "breathe" through microscopic pores on their leaves called stomata. These tiny valves are the gatekeepers that balance the intake of carbon dioxide into the leaf for photosynthesis against the loss of water vapor from the leaf to the atmosphere. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-stomata-sight-scientists-real.html Biotechnology Tue, 06 Jan 2026 11:36:26 EST news686921761 Ancient Nubians who lived between the 7th and 9th centuries tattooed the cheeks and foreheads of their infants and toddlers. This surprising discovery was made during a systematic survey of more than 1,000 human remains from the Nile River Valley, an area once part of ancient Nubia and now in present-day Sudan. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-toddlers-facial-tattoos-christianity-body.html Archaeology Mon, 22 Dec 2025 09:30:01 EST news685617695 Scientists at NYU Abu Dhabi have developed a powerful new artificial intelligence tool called LA⁴SR that can rapidly identify previously overlooked proteins in microalgae—tiny organisms that produce much of Earth's oxygen and support entire aquatic ecosystems. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-ai-tool-discovery-life-microbes.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 16 Dec 2025 16:59:17 EST news685126698 The microscopic processes taking place in superconductors are difficult to observe directly. Researchers at the RPTU University of Kaiserslautern-Landau have therefore implemented a quantum simulation of the Josephson effect: They separated two Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) by means of an extremely thin optical barrier. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-atomic-josephson-contacts-bose-einstein.html Superconductivity Fri, 12 Dec 2025 11:39:27 EST news684761941 Every clonal raider ant lives a nearly identical life. Each new generation of these blind, queenless ants is born at the same time, eats the same things, lives in the same environment, and—as an asexually reproducing species—has the exact same genes. It's hard to find a more textbook example of a society where the individual matters less than the collective. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-brain-clonal-raider-ant-species.html Plants & Animals Wed, 10 Dec 2025 16:31:52 EST news684606695 A collaboration between the University of Konstanz and Forschungszentrum Jülich has achieved the first fully tunable experimental realization of a long predicted "swarmalator" system. The study, published in Nature Communications, shows how tiny, self-propelled particles can simultaneously coordinate their motion and synchronize their internal rhythms—a behavior reminiscent of flashing fireflies, Japanese tree frogs or schooling fish. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-rhythm-swarms-tunable-particles-synchronize.html General Physics Wed, 10 Dec 2025 12:19:25 EST news684591541 Researchers from the Physical Chemistry and Theory departments at the Fritz Haber Institute have found a new way to image layers of boron nitride that are only a single atom thick. This material is usually nearly invisible in optical microscopes because it has no optical resonances. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-sum-frequency-microscope-image-invisible.html Nanophysics Mon, 08 Dec 2025 14:09:06 EST news684425317 When ice melts into water, it happens quickly, with the transition from solid to liquid being immediate. However, very thin materials do not adhere to these rules. Instead, an unusual state between solid and liquid arises: the hexatic phase. Researchers at the University of Vienna have now succeeded in directly observing this exotic phase in an atomically thin crystal. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-hexatic-phase-ultra-thin-2d.html Condensed Matter Fri, 05 Dec 2025 11:01:16 EST news684154849 Male infertility is a major issue worldwide and its causes remain unclear. Now, an international team of researchers led by Hiroki Shibuya at the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research (BDR) in Japan has discovered a key structure in the germ cells of male mice, that when disturbed, leads to deformations in sperm flagellum—the tail that allows sperm to swim. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-sperm-tails-male-infertility-critical.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 03 Dec 2025 14:00:04 EST news683909341 Male nursery web spiders (Pisaura mirabilis) use the sense of smell in their legs to find mates. Researchers at the University of Greifswald used an electron microscope to discover "olfactory hairs" on the legs of adult males. Behavioral studies prove it: these hairs help the spiders to perceive the scent of potential mates. How spiders take in and process odors is crucial to a better understanding of natural ecological relationships. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-nursery-web-spider-legs-partners.html Plants & Animals Wed, 03 Dec 2025 10:10:08 EST news683978736 In hydrogen production catalysts, water droplets must detach easily from the surface to prevent blockage by bubbles, allowing for faster hydrogen generation. In semiconductor manufacturing, the quality of the process is determined by how evenly water or liquid spreads on the surface, or how quickly it dries. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-success-nano-droplets-real-images.html Nanophysics Wed, 03 Dec 2025 09:40:33 EST news683977201 Researchers at LMU in collaboration with the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg have discovered how the parasite Toxoplasma gondii builds a specialized structure that allows it to move and invade host cells. The study, published in Nature Communications, provides new insight into how this widespread parasite prepares itself for infection. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-toxoplasmosis-deadly-parasite-infects-host.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 02 Dec 2025 14:50:20 EST news683909395 The ability to precisely study and manipulate electrons in electron microscopes could open new possibilities for the development of both ultrafast imaging techniques and quantum technologies. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-energy-patterns-electron-pairs-ultrafast.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 19 Nov 2025 06:30:01 EST news682683412 Researchers at the University of Tokyo have built a microscope that can detect a signal over an intensity range 14 times wider than conventional microscopes. Moreover, the observations are made label-free, that is, without the use of additional dyes. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-great-microscope-micro-nanoscale.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 14 Nov 2025 05:00:06 EST news682237847 A long-term analysis shows that a major Oregon reservoir abruptly swapped one type of toxic algae for another midway through the 12-year study period, absent any obvious cause. The project provides a novel look at harmful algal blooms (HABs), which pose multiple health risks to people and animals worldwide. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-term-analysis-yields-clearer-picture.html Ecology Tue, 11 Nov 2025 22:20:01 EST news682100323 A NIMS research team has developed an automated high-throughput system capable of generating datasets from a single sample of a superalloy used in aircraft engines. The system successfully produced an experimental dataset containing several thousand records—each consisting of interconnected processing conditions, microstructural features and resulting yield strengths (referred to as "Process–Structure–Property datasets" below)—in just 13 days. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-automated-high-throughput-generate-materials.html Analytical Chemistry Tue, 11 Nov 2025 19:20:02 EST news682099955 Children and bacteria—normally they're a parental nightmare, a cocktail of late-night pediatrician calls and ruined weekends. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-tamagotchi-alive-toy-prototype-full.html Cell & Microbiology Sat, 08 Nov 2025 16:30:01 EST news681733642 Nonlinear optical dynamics—intensity-dependent response of light upon interaction with materials under high-intensity light sources—are of huge significance in modern photonics, finding applications in fields ranging from lasers, amplifiers, modulators, and sensors to the study of topics including quantum optics, nonlinear system dynamics, as well as light-matter interactions. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-team-photonics-advances-free-electron.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 31 Oct 2025 12:22:09 EDT news681132123 Ochre is an iron-rich mineral pigment that was used by many ancient civilizations for color, decoration and practical tasks such as preserving animal hides and tanning clothing. Recent analysis of fragments of ochre at several Neanderthal sites is adding something new to the picture: that Neanderthals used ochre for symbolic purposes like drawing and marking surfaces. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-ancient-ochre-crayons-crimea-reveal.html Archaeology Thu, 30 Oct 2025 10:21:07 EDT news681038460