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. A team of physicists and engineers at the University of Strathclyde, in Scotland, working with a colleague from the University of Glasgow, has developed the means for 3D printing a microscope, including the lens, for under $60. In their paper posted on the bioRxiv preprint server, the group describes how they came up with the plans for the microscope and notes that the end result has a resolution strong enough to make out individual blood cells in test samples. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-team-3d-microscope-lens.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 14 Jan 2025 10:15:41 EST news656072136 The operation and performance of quantum computers relies on the ability to realize and control entanglement between multiple qubits. Yet entanglement between many qubits is inherently susceptible to noise and imperfections in quantum gates. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-quantum-generates-range-entanglement-qubit.html Quantum Physics Tue, 14 Jan 2025 09:59:24 EST news656071152 An international team of astronomers has reported the detection of a new exoplanet orbiting a bright late F-type star. The newfound alien world, designated TOI-6038 A b, is about six times larger and nearly 80 times more massive than Earth. The finding is detailed in a paper published Jan. 4 on the arXiv preprint server . https://phys.org/news/2025-01-astronomers-dense-saturn-exoplanet.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 14 Jan 2025 08:30:01 EST news656008028 Neutron stars, the remnants of massive stars after a supernova explosion, have often been the focus of studies aimed at testing and unveiling exotic physics. This is because these stars are among the densest objects in the universe, so they host extremely high temperatures and pressures. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-neutron-star-cooling-simulations-constraints.html Astronomy Tue, 14 Jan 2025 07:00:02 EST news655991166 A study by Michael Gerlich at SBS Swiss Business School has found that increased reliance on artificial intelligence (AI) tools is linked to diminished critical thinking abilities. It points to cognitive offloading as a primary driver of the decline. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-ai-linked-eroding-critical-skills.html Social Sciences Education Mon, 13 Jan 2025 15:10:01 EST news656002968 A small team of physicists at the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, working with a colleague from Universitat de Barcelona and another from the Institute of Science and Technology Austria, has developed what they describe as a foolproof recipe for cacio e pepe. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-physicists-recipe-italian-pasta-dish.html Soft Matter Mon, 13 Jan 2025 11:50:01 EST news655991143 A biomedical engineer at the University of Michigan has found that just a fraction of all known bacteria species has ever been the main focus of a scientific research effort and subsequent paper. In his research posted on the bioRxiv preprint server, Paul Jensen describes how he searched for information on bacteria species in the PubMed database and found most bacterial research explores only a few species. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-species-bacteria-unstudied-scientific.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 13 Jan 2025 09:30:10 EST news655982698 An international team of astronomers has conducted multiwavelength observations of a variable star designated Gaia22ayj. Results of the observation campaign indicate that this star is a magnetic accreting white dwarf. The findings are detailed in a paper published Jan. 2 on the pre-print server arXiv. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-gaia22ayj-magnetic-accreting-white-dwarf.html Astronomy Mon, 13 Jan 2025 09:30:01 EST news655982738 Melting ice sheets are often considered synonymous with climate change in the media, with evocative images of lone polar bears floating on ever-shrinking rafts of ice. While impacts such as sea level rise and salinity changes are commonly reported, one lesser-known consequence is the effect on volcanoes. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-antarctic-ice-sheets-larger-volcanic.html Earth Sciences Environment Sun, 12 Jan 2025 09:00:01 EST news655464755 Dark matter, predicted to account for most of the universe's mass, remains highly elusive. Physicists have been searching for various particles that could be promising dark matter candidates, such as dark photons and axions, focusing on signatures associated with their presence or interactions with other particles under specific conditions. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-exploring-earth-ionosphere-dark-conversion.html Astronomy Sat, 11 Jan 2025 09:50:01 EST news655738467 This week, researchers at the Desert Research Institute reported that lead pollution likely caused widespread IQ declines in ancient Rome. An archaeological study in northern Israel challenged popular wisdom about prehistoric diets, finding that hunter-gatherers relied heavily on starchy plants for nutrition. And geophysicists at ETH Zurich modeled the Earth's lower mantle, finding areas in the planet's interior that appear to be the remains of submerged tectonic plates. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-saturday-citations-hydroclimate-whiplash-catastrophic.html Other Sat, 11 Jan 2025 09:00:02 EST news655729407 A large team of renewable energy researchers, natural resource analysts and energy specialists affiliated with a large number of institutions across the U.S. has attempted to assess the impact of the latest and final standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as the Biden Administration winds down and new rules loom with the arrival of the Trump administration. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-impact-epa-power-greenhouse-gas.html Environment Fri, 10 Jan 2025 12:39:37 EST news655735173 Alexander Hartmann, a physicist at the University of Oldenburg, in Germany, has introduced a new model to explain a common word puzzle phenomenon. In his paper published in the journal Physical Review E, he suggests that instances where a puzzle solver experiences a sudden insight that allows them to begin finding solutions that seemed hidden are similar in some respects to the type of percolation seen when water percolating through a teabag suddenly makes its way out of the bottom of the bag. He has developed what he describes as a percolation model for word puzzles. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-physicist-percolation-word-puzzle-behavior.html General Physics Fri, 10 Jan 2025 09:17:21 EST news655723037 Multiterminal Josephson junctions, nanoscale devices with unique electronic properties, comprise non-superconducting metallic material coupled to three or more superconducting leads. These devices have proved to be promising platforms for the exploration of topological phenomena in condensed matter physics. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-resistance-approach-successfully-topological-signatures.html Condensed Matter Superconductivity Fri, 10 Jan 2025 07:30:01 EST news655643801 A combined team of chemists and nano-scientists at Cornell University has developed a wireless microelectronic device powered by light that can convert a well plate into an array of small electrochemical reactors. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-wireless-electrochemical-synthesis-microelectronics-plate.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Thu, 09 Jan 2025 13:31:44 EST news655651899 Helen Gittos, a professor of medieval history at Oxford University, in the U.K., has developed a new theory regarding the identity of the remains found at a famous burial site near Suffolk, England. She has published a paper in the journal English Historical Review outlining her ideas. Called Sutton Hoo, the burial site was discovered almost a century ago, and has since that time become the subject of much debate. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-professor-graves-sutton-hoo-british.html Archaeology Thu, 09 Jan 2025 11:20:02 EST news655643816 Two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals are made of atomically thin layers, held together by weak van der Waals forces. These materials have been the focus of numerous studies, as their unique properties make them ideal for studying various exotic and rare physical phenomena. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-domain-wall-fluctuations-2d-materials.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Thu, 09 Jan 2025 11:16:39 EST news655643794 Archaeologists Dr. Jess Thompson and her colleagues have published a study dealing with the possible identification of human skulls used in ancestral veneration in the European Journal of Archaeology. The discovery at Masseria Candelaro (Puglia, Italy), an ancient village in Puglia, provides rare insight into how Neolithic people maintained connections with their ancestors. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-neolithic-italian-skull-cache-centuries.html Archaeology Thu, 09 Jan 2025 09:20:01 EST news655636690 Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers have characterized the atmosphere of a hot super-Neptune exoplanet designated WASP-166 b. As a result, they found that the atmosphere of this alien world contains water and carbon dioxide. Their findings were reported Dec. 31 on the arXiv preprint server. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-carbon-dioxide-atmosphere-hot-super.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 09 Jan 2025 08:30:01 EST news655617847 A small international team of marine mammal scientists has found evidence that just 7% of the male humpback whales residing near New Caledonia, in the southwest Pacific, may have fathered offspring. For their project, reported in the journal Royal Society Open Science, the group studied photographs of the whales and conducted a genetic analysis from samples collected over the years 1995 to 2019. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-male-humpback-whales-caledonia-fathered.html Plants & Animals Ecology Wed, 08 Jan 2025 11:21:53 EST news655557709 A bio-archaeologist with the University of Reading, in the U.K., has found an ancient dog's red-painted penis bone along with a trove of other bones, in an ancient Roman era quarry shaft. In her paper published in the Oxford Journal of Archaeology, Ellen Green describes where the bone was found, its condition, and possible reasons for it being painted red. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-roman-era-dog-penis-bone.html Archaeology Wed, 08 Jan 2025 10:50:01 EST news655555015 A trio of Earth and atmospheric scientists at the University of Houston, working with a geoscientist from the University of Arizona, has found evidence that a geographic hotspot laid the groundwork for the formation of the Great Lakes. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-scientists-evidence-ancient-hotspot-played.html Earth Sciences Wed, 08 Jan 2025 10:00:01 EST news655552367 Using NASA's Fermi space telescope, Italian astronomers have observed a radio source known as 3C 216. As a result, they detected increased gamma-ray activity from this source, including a strong outburst. The finding is reported in a research paper published on the arXiv preprint server. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-gamma-ray-outburst-radio-source.html Astronomy Wed, 08 Jan 2025 08:30:01 EST news655488450 The LUX ZEPLIN (LZ) Dark Matter experiment is a large research effort involving over 200 scientists and engineers at 40 institutions worldwide. Its key objective is to search for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) by analyzing data collected by the LZ detector, situated at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in South Dakota. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-lz-science-constraints-dark-interactions.html Astronomy Wed, 08 Jan 2025 06:40:01 EST news655464843 A team of ecologists, evolutionary biologists and resource managers affiliated with several institutions across the U.S. has found that the snail darter, which was famously used by environmentalists in the 1970s to block construction of a dam, is not actually a distinct fish species. In their study, published in the journal Current Biology, the group used standard species determination testing to investigate the distinctiveness of the snail darter. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-snail-darter-revisited-famous-fish.html Ecology Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 07 Jan 2025 15:50:01 EST news655487078 An international team of astronomers have investigated a large Galactic supernova remnant designated G278.94+1.35. Results of the study, published Dec. 30 on the pre-print server arXiv, shed more light on the properties of this remnant. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-astronomers-massive-supernova-remnant-closer.html Astronomy Tue, 07 Jan 2025 09:40:01 EST news655464905 A team of biologists, neurologists and chemists at Indiana University has discovered why the velvet ant's sting is so painful to so many different types of creatures. In their paper published in Current Biology, the group describes their study of all of the peptides found in the insect's venom. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-scarlet-velvet-ant-painful-species.html Plants & Animals Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 07 Jan 2025 09:35:00 EST news655464896 Quantum computing holds the promise of outperforming classical computing on some optimization and data processing tasks. The creation of highly performing large-scale quantum computers, however, relies on the ability to support controlled interactions between qubits, which are the units of information in quantum computing, at a range of distances. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-domain-oscillations-distant-semiconductor-qubits.html Quantum Physics Tue, 07 Jan 2025 09:34:00 EST news655464833 Dipole toroidal modes are a unique set of excitations that are predicted to occur in various physical systems, ranging from atomic nuclei to metamaterials. What characterizes these excitations, or modes, is a toroidal distribution of currents, which results in the formation of vortex-like structures. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-nickel-nucleus-host-elusive-toroidal.html General Physics Tue, 07 Jan 2025 08:00:02 EST news655395881 Courtship and procreative behavior in many species of elasmobranchs—cartilaginous fish including rays, sawfish, sharks, and skates—may include following and biting. However, there has been little research on procreative behavior specific to whale sharks (Rhincodon typus). Now a multi-institutional research team from Australia has observed a sexually mature male whale shark following and biting a smaller female in the wild. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-rare-video-captures-courtship-behavior.html Plants & Animals Ecology Tue, 07 Jan 2025 07:40:02 EST news655382032