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. Colors are widely used in communication within and among animal species. For example, peacocks proudly display their vibrant tails, adorned with iridescent eyespots, to attract peahens for courtship. This is a classic example of sexual selection using color signaling. Conspicuous colors are also displayed by toxic animal species, including many venomous snakes and the brilliantly colored poison frogs of Central and South America, as a warning to potential predators. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-vision-animals-million-year-explosion.html Evolution Ecology Thu, 07 Nov 2024 17:07:03 EST news650221621 From time to time, when Earth's tectonic plates shift, the planet emits a long, slow belch of carbon dioxide. In a new modeling study published in Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, R. Dietmar Müller and colleagues show how this gas released from deep Earth may have affected the climate over the past billion years. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-advances-plate-tectonics-view-deep.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 07 Nov 2024 16:09:30 EST news650218164 Plastics are not as safe and inert as previously thought. A new research study written by an international team of researchers uses the planetary boundaries framework to structure the rapidly mounting evidence of the effects of plastics on the environment, health and human well-being. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-plastics-pollution-worsens-impacts-planetary.html Environment Thu, 07 Nov 2024 16:09:21 EST news650218156 The radiation levels experienced by the frogs living in Chernobyl have not affected their age or their rate of aging. These two traits do not differ, in fact, between specimens captured in areas with high levels of radiation and those living in control areas without radiation. Nor have differences been found in the levels of corticosterone, a hormone associated with the response to stress, depending on the radiation received by these amphibians. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-chernobyl-frogs-exposed-aging-stress.html Plants & Animals Ecology Thu, 07 Nov 2024 15:35:17 EST news650216113 When it comes to electrically conductive nanomaterials, graphene—stronger and lighter than steel and more conductive than copper—has been shown to be an excellent choice for a wide range of technologies. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-physicists-reveal-layers-impact-graphene.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Thu, 07 Nov 2024 15:09:04 EST news650214541 The densely-populated island of Luzon is home to over half of the Philippines' population, many of whom consume shellfish on a regular basis. An international team of scientists has just confirmed the presence there of two species of Pseudo-nitzschia diatoms capable of producing a dangerous neurotoxin that can cause severe sickness and memory loss. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-amnesia-diatoms-luzon-shellfish-farms.html Ecology Cell & Microbiology Thu, 07 Nov 2024 14:58:05 EST news650213882 A Chinese rover has found new evidence to support the theory that Mars was once home to a vast ocean, including tracing some ancient coastline where water may once have lapped, a study said Thursday. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-chinese-rover-evidence-ancient-martian.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 07 Nov 2024 14:56:32 EST news650213785 Mirroring the mechanisms that make human faces and bodies—and those of many multicellular organisms—symmetrical, bee colonies build symmetrical nests when they are placed on either side of a double-sided comb. The finding, published in Current Biology, extends examples of symmetry in biology to the behavior of communities and the architectural structures that they build. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-symmetry-biology-bees-mirroring-patterns.html Evolution Ecology Thu, 07 Nov 2024 14:51:15 EST news650213472 A research team led by Lund University in Sweden has developed an AI tool that traces back the most recent places you have been to. The tool acts like a satellite navigation system, but instead of guiding you to your hotel, it identifies the geographical source of microorganisms. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-gps-microorganisms-forensic.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 07 Nov 2024 14:43:04 EST news650212982 University of Maryland entomologists have uncovered a unique relationship between two species of fungi known for their ability to invade, parasitize and kill insects efficiently. Instead of violently competing for the spoils of war, the two fungi peacefully cooperate and share their victims. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-insect-fungi-unexpected-harmony-war.html Evolution Ecology Thu, 07 Nov 2024 14:36:04 EST news650212562 Most research on plant stem cells focuses on the tips of roots and shoots, where growth occurs in height. But biologist Kirsten Ten Tusscher from Utrecht University explains that thickness growth is just as essential. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-uncovers-thickness-growth-mechanisms.html Plants & Animals Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 07 Nov 2024 14:30:04 EST news650212201 Scientists have developed a new method to compute how tides affect the interiors of planets and moons. Importantly, the new study looks at the effects of body tides on objects that don't have a perfectly spherical interior structure, which is an assumption of most previous models. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-spectral-method-tidal-effects-planet.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Thu, 07 Nov 2024 14:08:02 EST news650210881 The more a plant species invests in defense, the less potential it has for growth, according to a new study. Research made possible by open science provides new insights into plant adaptation and interspecies variation. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-defense-growth-allocate-resources.html Plants & Animals Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 07 Nov 2024 14:00:01 EST news650190482 Superconductivity is the phenomenon by which, at sufficiently low temperatures, electric current can flow in a metal with no resistance. While certain metals are excellent superconductors, other metals cannot superconduct at all. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-noble-metals-superconductors.html Condensed Matter Superconductivity Thu, 07 Nov 2024 13:30:01 EST news650208198 Since the launch of the Large Hadron Collider, there has been ongoing research there into Higgs bosons and a search for traces of physics beyond the existing model of elementary particles. Scientists working at the ATLAS detector have combined both goals: with the latest analysis it has been possible to expand our knowledge of the interactions of Higgs bosons with each other, and stronger constraints on the phenomena of "new physics" have been found. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-unknown-physics-interactions-higgs-bosons.html General Physics Thu, 07 Nov 2024 13:01:03 EST news650206859 A team of astrophysicists, led by scholars from the Institute for Advanced Study, has developed an innovative technique to search for black hole light echoes. Their novel method, which will make it easier for the mass and the spin of black holes to be measured, represents a major step forward, since it operates independently of many of the other ways in which scientists have probed these parameters in the past. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-astrophysicists-echoes-illuminate-black-holes.html Astronomy Thu, 07 Nov 2024 12:59:04 EST news650206742 Researchers led by Prof. Cunlan Guo at Wuhan University have pioneered a new approach to control the electrical properties of two-dimensional (2D) metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), specifically porphyrinic 2D MOF nanosheets, by constructing molecular heterojunctions that exhibit tunable rectification behaviors. Their findings could greatly impact the development of future functional electronic devices. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-approach-tuning-current-2d-mof.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Thu, 07 Nov 2024 12:42:45 EST news650205758 The theory of special relativity is rife with counterintuitive and surprising effects, the most famous of which are length contraction and time dilation. If an object travels at a relative speed, which is a non-negligible fraction of the speed of light, with respect to an observer, the length of the object in the travel direction will appear shorter to the observer than it actually is in the object's rest frame. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-fluids-thicken-theory-einstein-real.html General Physics Soft Matter Thu, 07 Nov 2024 12:42:30 EST news650205743 New research into a chemical produced by a caterpillar fungus that has shown promise as a possible cancer treatment has revealed how it interacts with genes to interrupt cell growth signals. The discovery is an important step towards developing new drugs that could be less damaging to healthy tissues than most currently available treatments. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-caterpillar-fungus-chemical-growth-cancer.html Biochemistry Thu, 07 Nov 2024 12:41:28 EST news650205685 Programmed cell death-1, or PD-1, has become a headline-grabbing molecule best known for its role in cancer immunotherapies called checkpoint inhibitors. A study from Georgia Tech and Emory University researchers is offering an improved understanding of why these inhibitors work—and how to make them effectively fight cancer for more patients. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-physical-affects-cancer-treatment-explores.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 07 Nov 2024 12:27:05 EST news650204821 Microplastics, plastics smaller than 5 millimeters, are littered across the world, contributing to global warming, disrupting food chains, and harming ecosystems with toxic chemicals. This is why Dr. Manish Shetty is working to break down plastics before they can get into the environment. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-catalysts-potential-microplastics-usable-fuel.html Polymers Analytical Chemistry Thu, 07 Nov 2024 12:22:03 EST news650204522 A University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign study is the first to describe an electrochemical strategy to capture, concentrate and destroy mixtures of diverse chemicals known as PFAS—including the increasingly prevalent ultra-short-chain PFAS—from water in a single process. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-pfas-aims-pollution-semiconductor-industry.html Polymers Materials Science Thu, 07 Nov 2024 12:12:03 EST news650203921 In 79 CE, the active volcanic system in southern Italy known as Somma-Vesuvius erupted, burying the small Roman town of Pompeii and everyone in it. The "Pompeii eruption" covered everything in a layer of ash that preserved many of the bodies. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-dna-evidence-rewrites-histories-people.html Archaeology Thu, 07 Nov 2024 12:10:07 EST news650203801 The ability to genetically engineer plants is largely thanks to a microscopic helper: a bacterium called Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Agrobacterium in the wild causes damaging tumors in flowering plants, including some economically important crops, but its ability to insert its own DNA into host plants is what makes it both a pest to farmers and a powerful tool for biotechnology. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-method-biofuel-bioproduct.html Biotechnology Agriculture Thu, 07 Nov 2024 12:08:05 EST news650203682 Electrons typically travel at high speeds, zipping through matter unbound. In the 1930s, physicist Eugene Wigner predicted that electrons could be coaxed into stillness at low densities and cold temperatures, forming an electron ice that would later be called the Wigner crystal. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-scientists-capture-images-quantum-phase.html Condensed Matter Quantum Physics Thu, 07 Nov 2024 12:05:03 EST news650203501 Using the CHIME telescope, an international team of astronomers has detected a new repeating fast radio burst (FRBs) source in the outskirts of a quiescent galaxy. The finding of a new FRB, which experienced 22 repeating bursts, was reported in a research paper published October 30 on the pre-print server arXiv. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-astronomers-fast-radio.html Astronomy Thu, 07 Nov 2024 11:30:01 EST news650200879 The cities of Santa Ana and Garden Grove have been placed under quarantine on Wednesday in light of an uninvited and unwelcome visitor: the oriental fruit fly, an invasive pest that attacks over 230 crops including fruits, nuts and vegetables. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-invasive-fruit-fly-species-southern.html Plants & Animals Agriculture Thu, 07 Nov 2024 11:30:01 EST news650200922 Scientists have spotted microplastics, tiny pieces of plastic smaller than 5 millimeters, in some of the most pristine environments on Earth, from the depths of the Mariana Trench to the snow on Mt. Everest to the mountaintop clouds of China and Japan. Microplastics have been detected in human brains, the bellies of sea turtles and the roots of plants. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-microplastics-impact-cloud-formation-affecting.html Environment Thu, 07 Nov 2024 11:22:02 EST news650200914 An international team of forest and resource management specialists, ecologists and conservationists has verified the claims of China's national greenhouse gas inventories regarding major forest biomass carbon gains. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-satellite-based-evidence-china-forestation.html Environment Thu, 07 Nov 2024 11:20:57 EST news650200852 Genes contain instructions for making proteins, and a central dogma of biology is that this information flows from DNA to RNA to proteins. But only two percent of the human genome actually encodes proteins; the function of the remaining 98% remains largely unknown. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-rna-crispr-reveals-hundreds-noncoding.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 07 Nov 2024 11:00:01 EST news650193702