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. Inserting, removing or swapping individual atoms from the core of a molecule is a long-standing challenge in chemistry. This process, called skeletal editing, can dramatically speed up drug discovery or be applied for upcycling of plastics. Consequently, the field is witnessing a surge of interest spanning from fundamental chemical research to applications in the pharmaceutical industry. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-molecular-surgery-deleting-atom-molecule.html Analytical Chemistry Thu, 22 Jan 2026 16:28:20 EST news688321681 An environmental chemistry laboratory at Duke University has solved a longstanding mystery of the origin of high levels of PFAS—so-called "forever chemicals"—contaminating water sources in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-uncover-source-widespread-chemical-contamination.html Environment Thu, 20 Nov 2025 16:08:06 EST news682877278 Arynes are highly reactive organic intermediates featuring a triple bond within an aromatic ring. Their strong reactivity enables them to form bonds with a wide range of functional groups, making them valuable tools for the synthesis of complex aromatic molecules in drug discovery and agricultural chemistry. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-pot-method-blue-responsive-aryne.html Biochemistry Tue, 11 Nov 2025 07:00:01 EST news681994829 A team of researchers from the National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST) and Tokyo Metropolitan University has developed a biomaterial that could change how we treat muscle degeneration and metabolic disorders. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-soft-gel-advance-enables-lab.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 03 Nov 2025 15:20:04 EST news681405602 A new study reveals how Lactococcus lactis (L. lactis), a common food bacterium, regulates the production of a key precursor in vitamin K₂ (menaquinone) biosynthesis. The bacteria produce enough of this precursor to support their growth while preventing toxic buildup. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-common-food-bacteria-vitamins-cheaper.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 11 Aug 2025 12:52:04 EDT news674135521 Nitrates in the atmosphere reduce air quality and play an important role in climate change. An international team led by Hokkaido University researchers has revealed how chemical processes in the atmosphere have led to persistently high nitrate levels despite a reduction in emissions over the past few decades. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-pollutants-aloft-emissions.html Earth Sciences Wed, 04 Jun 2025 11:19:03 EDT news668254741 Natural products are among the most promising candidates for the development of new drugs. However, due to their structural complexity, they are often difficult to access. https://phys.org/news/2025-05-enzymatic-genetic-advances-synthesis-natural.html Biochemistry Mon, 12 May 2025 14:16:40 EDT news666278193 A joint team from National Taiwan University and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology has developed a novel hydrogel actuator whose movement can be programmed using UV light, enabling precise spatial control of thermoresponsive deformation for presenting a potential application in soft robotics and in vitro muscle models. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-uv-programmable-hydrogel-actuator-bioinspired.html Polymers Thu, 24 Apr 2025 07:28:03 EDT news664698481 Inactive ingredients in agricultural, pharmaceutical, and other common products have typically been excluded from consideration as potential contaminants in drinking water. However, while these chemicals are inert in certain products, they can still pose hazards when combined with other materials during the drinking water treatment process. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-inactive-components-agricultural-runoff-hidden.html Environment Tue, 15 Apr 2025 16:15:04 EDT news663952501 Researchers in Korea have developed a technology that automatically identifies the necessary precursor materials to synthesize specific target materials. https://phys.org/news/2025-02-ai-precursor-materials-material-synthesis.html Analytical Chemistry Tue, 11 Feb 2025 12:32:04 EST news658499522 Nylon, the durable and elastic material, is like other plastics made from chemicals found in fossil fuels. Biodegradable plastics based on biomass-derived compounds are attracting attention as an alternative to conventional plastics, and Osaka Metropolitan University scientists have now synthesized biodegradable nylon precursors. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-scientists-biodegradable-nylon-precursor-artificial.html Biochemistry Wed, 22 Jan 2025 12:19:03 EST news656770741 The TOC (Translocon at the Outer envelope of Chloroplasts)-TIC (Translocon at the Inner envelope of Chloroplasts) supercomplex is responsible for mediating the transport of most precursor proteins from the cytoplasm into the chloroplast. The chloroplast protein transport system includes a motor protein complex, which plays a critical driving role in the translocation of precursor proteins across the chloroplast membrane. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-scientists-reveal-basis-precursor-protein.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 12 Nov 2024 12:02:02 EST news650635321 A team of materials scientists, medical researchers and engineers affiliated with a large number of institutions across Australia has developed a new way to conduct digital light manufacturing that overcomes problems with current methods. In their paper published in the journal Nature, the group describes their new technique, how it works and ways it might be used. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-digital-approach-common-problems-3d.html Biotechnology Sat, 02 Nov 2024 10:40:01 EDT news649690563 Many people are aware that large earthquakes are often followed by a sequence of aftershocks as stresses are redistributed in the surrounding area. Many may not be aware that there are also sequences of earthquakes that occur before most large earthquakes. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-algorithms-precursory-scale-big-quakes.html Earth Sciences Fri, 11 Oct 2024 12:36:03 EDT news647868961 A new technology has been developed to convert common seaweeds such as Kkosiraegi, which are often used in cooking, into high-quality sources for both bio-aviation fuels and energy storage devices. The results were published in the Chemical Engineering Journal. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-seaweeds-raw-materials-aviation-fuel.html Biochemistry Mon, 30 Sep 2024 12:53:13 EDT news646919583 Physicists from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have achieved controlled conformational arrangements in nanostructures using a flexible precursor and selenium doping, enhancing material properties and structural homogeneity. Their method advances on-surface synthesis for the design and development of engineered nanomaterials. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-physicists-high-nanostructures-selenium-doping.html Nanophysics Mon, 16 Sep 2024 09:27:04 EDT news645697622 Ice is far more complicated than most of us realize, with over 20 different varieties known to science, forming under various combinations of pressure and temperature. The kind we use to chill our drinks is known as ice I, and it's one of the few forms of ice that exist naturally on Earth. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-ice-mechanism-formation.html Analytical Chemistry Fri, 26 Jul 2024 05:00:02 EDT news641116261 MicroRNAs can make plants more capable of withstanding drought, salinity, pathogens and more. However, in a study published in Nature Plants, Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientists show just how much we didn't know about the intricate processes plants use to produce them. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-microrna-stage-crop.html Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 19 Jul 2024 09:20:04 EDT news640599602 A team of marine biologists, Earth scientists and evolutionary specialists affiliated with several institutions in the U.K., has found that prior researchers studying a fossil of an ancient sea creature called Pikaia were looking at it upside down. In their study, published in the journal Current Biology, the group found that a blood vessel running along what was reported to be its belly was actually a dorsal nerve cord. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-prior-ancient-sea-creature-pikaia.html Plants & Animals Wed, 12 Jun 2024 10:30:01 EDT news637406438 The increasing concentration of ozone (O3) is a key factor contributing to the deterioration of air quality in China. O3 and its precursors, especially volatile organic compounds (VOCs), could be transported by air masses, leading to interactions of O3 precursors from biogenic and anthropogenic sources. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-volatile-compounds-worsening-regional-ozone.html Earth Sciences Mon, 05 Feb 2024 11:05:17 EST news626353515 A new method for the derivatization of antibiotics has been developed by Professor Dr. Yvonne Mast, head of the Department of Bioresources for Bioeconomy and Health Research, and her working group at the Leibniz Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-german-scientists-mutasynthesis-approach-derivatization.html Biochemistry Mon, 15 Jan 2024 10:28:02 EST news624536881 One of the important breakthroughs that made it possible to program or reprogram cell fate more efficiently and with higher fidelity in a dish was discovering how to make use of a small set of molecular cowboys called pioneer transcription factors (TFs). https://phys.org/news/2024-01-transcription-factors-blaze-trail-cell.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 10 Jan 2024 11:00:10 EST news624106807 The building blocks for new drugs that help fight bacteria that are resistant to known antibiotics, for example, should be as cost-effective and environmentally friendly as possible. Enzymes are ideal for this purpose. For example, they can produce or combine different components of active substances. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-characterizes-enzymes-nn-bonds-antibacterial.html Biochemistry Fri, 08 Dec 2023 13:11:03 EST news621263461 When life gets tough, nature usually finds a way to help the little guys. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-bryophytes-gibberellin.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 03 Oct 2023 14:39:36 EDT news615562774 The organisms that cause visceral leishmaniasis, a potentially deadly version of the parasitic disease that most often affects the skin to cause disfiguring disease, appear to have a secret weapon, new research suggests: They can infect non-immune cells and persist in those uncommon environments. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-infecting-non-immune-cells-defies-textbook.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 29 Sep 2023 08:31:46 EDT news615195093 An advancement in 3D bioprinting of native-like skeletal muscle tissues has been made by scientists at the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation (TIBI). The key to the TIBI scientists' approach lies in their specially formulated bioink, which contains microparticles engineered for sustained delivery of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1). https://phys.org/news/2023-08-bioink-3d-bioprinted-skeletal-muscle.html Biotechnology Tue, 29 Aug 2023 15:45:03 EDT news612542701 A group of genomic researchers at the Center for Genomic Sciences, in Mexico, working with a colleague from the Institute of Biotechnology, also in Mexico, has found a type of bacteria that might be the closest modern relative of the mitochondria precursor. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-bacteria-hot-closest-mitochondria-precursor.html Evolution Thu, 10 Aug 2023 08:48:35 EDT news610876111 A pair of seismologists at Côte d'Azur University has found what might turn out to be an accurate way to predict earthquakes. In their study, reported in the journal Science, Quentin Bletery and Jean-Mathieu Nocquet looked at high-rate GPS time series data that was gathered in the time leading up to the moment earthquakes of magnitude 7 or above occurred. Roland Bürgmann with the University of California, Berkeley, has published a Perspectives piece in the same journal issue outlining the work done by the team on this new effort. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-gps-earthquake-predictor.html Earth Sciences Fri, 21 Jul 2023 10:30:01 EDT news609153619 In an effort to discover new 2D materials, a team of scientists from Ames National Laboratory determined the structure of boron monoxide. This compound was first discovered in the 1940s and maintained research interest throughout the years. Scientists were, however, unable to determine the structure of the material due to technological limitations of the time. Using new NMR methods and previously unavailable analytical tools, the team from Ames Lab finally solved the structure of this deceptively simple material. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-elusive-boron-monoxide-years.html Analytical Chemistry Tue, 18 Jul 2023 09:42:02 EDT news608892115 Precursors of the molecules needed for the origin of life may have been generated by chemical reactions promoted by iron-rich particles from meteors or volcanic eruptions on Earth approximately 4.4 billion years ago, according to a study published in Scientific Reports. https://phys.org/news/2023-05-meteoritic-volcanic-particles-life-reactions.html Astrobiology Thu, 25 May 2023 11:00:11 EDT news604228560