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. 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 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 Moiré materials, such as twisted bilayer graphene, are materials generally formed by stacking two or more layers of 2D materials on top of each other with a small lattice mismatch. This slight mismatch creates a unique pattern known as the moiré pattern, which is associated with desirable optical and electronic properties. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-quasiperiodicity-ground-state-properties-1d.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Thu, 07 Nov 2024 09:30:01 EST news650193671 A team of microbiologists and virologists at Wuhan University, working with colleagues from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the University of Washington and Humabs BioMed SA, has found that it is possible to use coronavirus DNA to create receptors that can be added to the membranes of human or animal cell membranes for research efforts. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-artificial-receptors-coronavirus-dna-avenues.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 06 Nov 2024 16:00:24 EST news650131220 A trio of physicists, two with Coventry University, in the U.K., and the third with Laboratoire National des Champs Magnétiques Intenses, in France, has demonstrated how Earth's magnetic field may be influencing internal flow, using what they describe as a Little Earth Experiment. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-reveals-earth-magnetic-field-planet.html General Physics Soft Matter Wed, 06 Nov 2024 14:55:26 EST news650127320 An international group of researchers led by the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria have uncovered the earliest evidence of Ephedra use from the charred remains of the plant in a 15,000-year-old human burial site in northeastern Morocco. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-earliest-evidence-ephedra-year-moroccan.html Archaeology Wed, 06 Nov 2024 14:55:14 EST news650127310 A pair of biologists at the University of Toronto has found that vampire bats are able to burn amino acids as a fuel source similarly to blood-sucking insects. In their study published in the journal Biology Letters, Giulia Rossi and Kenneth Welch coaxed vampire bats in their lab to run on a treadmill as a way to measure their metabolism. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-vampire-metabolism-mirrors-blood-insects.html Plants & Animals Wed, 06 Nov 2024 10:56:34 EST news650112982 Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), an international team of astronomers have observed a giant spiral galaxy designated ADF22.A1. Results of the observational campaign, published October 29 on the pre-print server arXiv, provide more insights into its inner structure. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-astronomers-jwst-alma-explore-giant.html Astronomy Wed, 06 Nov 2024 10:09:42 EST news650110179 A small team of horticulturists in China and the U.S. has found that spraying rice plants with a zinc oxide nanoparticle solution helps them better handle the stress of a heat wave. In their study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group conducted experiments involving spraying rice plants in a heated greenhouse. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-spraying-rice-zinc-oxide-nanoparticles.html Biotechnology Agriculture Tue, 05 Nov 2024 09:00:02 EST news650019223 Using the Gemini-South telescope, astronomers have performed high-resolution near-infrared spectroscopy of stars in a Galactic globular cluster known as Gran 5. They found that this cluster harbors two stellar populations with different metallicities. The finding was reported in a paper published October 28 on the pre-print server arXiv. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-globular-cluster-gran-hosts-stellar.html Astronomy Tue, 05 Nov 2024 09:00:02 EST news650019248 A trio of geologists and environmental scientists from Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and the University of Minnesota has found evidence suggesting that the Haasttse-baad Tessera formation on Venus was likely formed due to two large impacts early in the planet's history. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-venus-haasttse-baad-tessera-formation.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 05 Nov 2024 09:00:02 EST news650019008 A multi-institutional team of environmental scientists and physical limnologists has found that there may be a scientific explanation for Jesus' "miraculous catch of fish"—one that does not involve miracles. In their paper published in the journal Water Resources Research, the group describes their study of natural fish die-offs in Lake Kinneret, which is believed to be the Biblical Sea of Galilee mentioned in the Bible. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-jesus-miraculous-fish-explanation.html Ecology Other Mon, 04 Nov 2024 10:39:55 EST news649939191 A collaborative study by researchers from Baylor College of Medicine and Illumina has showcased the exceptional capabilities of the DRAGEN (Dynamic Read Analysis for GENomics) platform in comprehensive genome analysis. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-validation-gen-genome-analysis-platform.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 04 Nov 2024 10:10:21 EST news649937407 A team of biologists, environmental scientists and geneticists affiliated with multiple institutions across the U.S. has learned more about how mutations occur in clonally reproducing organisms by sequencing one of the oldest trees in the world. The group has posted their paper on the bioRxiv preprint server. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-sequencing-world-oldest-trees-mutations.html Evolution Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 04 Nov 2024 09:40:01 EST news649935107 A recent preliminary study by Ph.D. student Leonie Hoff of the University of Oxford, published in the Oxford Journal of Archaeology, provides insight into how ancient fingerprints left on terracotta figurines reveal the age and sex of their makers. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-fingerprints-ancient-terracotta-figurines-men.html Archaeology Mon, 04 Nov 2024 09:40:01 EST news649935414 Using the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST), Chinese astronomers have identified nearly 300 candidate supergiant stars in the Andromeda and Triangulum galaxies. The finding was reported in a research paper published October 25 on the pre-print server arXiv. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-hundreds-supergiant-stars-nearby-galaxies.html Astronomy Mon, 04 Nov 2024 09:31:58 EST news649935113 Carbon sinks are important in the fight against climate change as they draw down atmospheric carbon dioxide levels by storing organic carbon in the oceans and soil, for example. Within tropical and subtropical intertidal locations, wetland plant communities, known as mangrove forests, are key carbon sinks of organic matter. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-mangrove-degradation-threatens-carbon-storage.html Earth Sciences Environment Mon, 04 Nov 2024 09:31:46 EST news649935101 A team of biochemists at the University of California, San Diego, working with a group of biochemical engineers from the University of California, Los Angeles, has found that the development of short lipids might have led to the development of the first cell membranes on early Earth. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-biochemists-protocells-explore-lipids-cell.html Biochemistry Sun, 03 Nov 2024 07:40:01 EST news649611343 A team of researchers led by Duke University, the University of California San Francisco, and the Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope have engineered odorant receptors to reveal the molecular basis of odor discrimination. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-lab-receptors-illuminate-odor.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Sun, 03 Nov 2024 07:30:01 EST news649675404 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 Africa's Sahara Desert may be considered a vast expanse of barren sand with limited vegetation, an extreme environment for plants and animals to thrive, but life always finds a way. Indeed, vegetation growth in the desert has waxed and waned over millennia, with periods of enhanced growth termed "greening." https://phys.org/news/2024-11-african-sahara-greening-northern-hemisphere.html Earth Sciences Environment Sat, 02 Nov 2024 10:00:02 EDT news649673954 This week, researchers reported the world's second-tiniest toad, winning the silver in the Brachycephalus contest. Chemists at UCLA disproved a 100-year-old organic chemistry rule. And researchers in Kenya report that elephants don't like bees, which could be a conservation boon (for the elephants. And maybe also the bees?). Additionally, scientists addressed an old thought experiment about monkeys and the theater, physicists correlated dark energy with the black hole population in the universe, and a group of Antarctic seals were found to be highly strategic and also adorable: https://phys.org/news/2024-11-saturday-citations-chimpanzee-playwrights-nature.html Other Sat, 02 Nov 2024 08:30:01 EDT news649678408 A trio of atmospheric scientists at Colorado State University has found evidence suggesting that western boundary currents have a bigger impact on local climate variability than has been previously thought. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-western-boundary-currents-bigger-impact.html Earth Sciences Environment Fri, 01 Nov 2024 09:35:06 EDT news649672498 Why are there atomic clocks but no nuclear clocks? After all, an atom's nucleus is typically surrounded by many electrons, so in principle it should be less susceptible to outside noise (in the form of light). A nucleus, for high-atomic number atoms, contains more particles than does the element's electrons. It holds nearly the entire mass of the atom while taking up only about 1/100,000th of the atom's space. While the first atomic clock was invented in 1949, no nuclear clock has yet been feasible. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-state-thorium-possibility-nuclear-clock.html General Physics Thu, 31 Oct 2024 12:30:01 EDT news649591431 The efficiency and performance of photovoltaics (PVs) have improved significantly over the past decades, which has led to an increase in the adoption of solar technologies. To further enhance the performance of solar cells, energy researchers worldwide have been devising and testing alternative design strategies, leveraging different materials and cell structures. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-mesoporous-mos-strategy-boosts-efficiency.html Nanomaterials Thu, 31 Oct 2024 11:40:01 EDT news649514443 To effectively adapt to change, living organisms rely on their ability to rapidly detect and process sensory information in their surroundings. The sensory information available at a given time continuously changes, which means that it can typically only be observed partially and for a limited amount of time. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-theoretical-framework-biological.html General Physics Thu, 31 Oct 2024 11:03:43 EDT news649591406 A team of computer scientists, astronomers and historians in Berlin has used machine-learning applications to learn more about the evolutionary history of European astronomical thought in the 15th and 16th centuries. In their study published in the journal Science Advances, the group trained machine-learning applications to make sense of hand-written texts, graphs, charts and other data from textbooks of the era. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-machine-analysis-tracks-evolution-16th.html Astronomy Thu, 31 Oct 2024 09:56:19 EDT news649587368 A team of computer scientists, ecologists and statisticians at Stony Brook University, working with a colleague from the U.S. Geological Survey, has found that it is possible to use AI applications to find images captured by ecotourists for use in studying remote animal species. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-ai-method-captures-ecotourism-photos.html Ecology Biotechnology Thu, 31 Oct 2024 09:42:47 EDT news649586549 Astronomers from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) have inspected a Galactic open cluster known as NGC 2506 as part of the WIYN Open Cluster Study. Results of the study, published October 14 in The Astronomical Journal, shed more light on the properties of this cluster. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-astronomers-properties-cluster-ngc.html Astronomy Thu, 31 Oct 2024 09:25:07 EDT news649585502 Recent experiments at CERN have shed new light on the nuclear properties of atomic nuclei (i.e., the central regions of atoms accounting for most of their mass). A key objective of recent research into atomic nuclei has been to better understand the properties of Tin-100 (100Sn), a rare isotope with 50 protons and 50 neutrons. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-strong-evidence-doubly-magic-nature.html General Physics Thu, 31 Oct 2024 09:00:01 EDT news649511820