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. Artificial intelligence continues to squirm its way into many aspects of our lives. But what about biology, the study of life itself? AI can sift through hundreds of thousands of genome data points to identify potential new therapeutic targets. While these genomic insights may appear helpful, scientists aren't sure how today's AI models come to their conclusions in the first place. Now, a new system named SQUID arrives on the scene, armed to pry open AI's black box of murky internal logic. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-tool-ai-genomics.html Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 21 Jun 2024 05:00:01 EDT news638112738 When a cell spreads out or changes its shape to adapt to its environment, the transport rate of proteins between the nucleus and cytoplasm changes. Previously, scientists assumed this change was caused by a shift in the size of the nuclear envelope's pores; however, recent research findings have discovered an alternate explanation. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-insights-cell-protein.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 20 Jun 2024 16:02:03 EDT news638118121 Researchers at ETH Zurich have shown that quantum states of single electron spins can be controlled by currents of electrons whose spins are evenly aligned. In the future, this method could be used in electronic circuit elements. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-alternative-quantum-states.html Condensed Matter Quantum Physics Thu, 20 Jun 2024 15:44:26 EDT news638117062 Scientists on the hunt for compact and robust sources of multicolored laser light have generated the first topological frequency comb. Their result, which relies on a small silicon nitride chip patterned with hundreds of microscopic rings, appears in the journal Science. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-photonic-chip-spawns-topological-frequency.html Optics & Photonics Quantum Physics Thu, 20 Jun 2024 15:42:04 EDT news638116921 University of Manchester scientists have linked one of the ways that cells respond to stressful conditions with restricted healthy hair growth. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-scientists-link-ancient-biology-restricted.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 20 Jun 2024 15:18:03 EDT news638115481 A more complete picture of how excited water molecules at an interface with air lose their energy has been uncovered by RIKEN scientists in a study published in the journal Nature Communications. This finding will be valuable for better understanding processes that occur at water surfaces. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-spectroscopic-technique-singles-molecules-surface.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Thu, 20 Jun 2024 14:50:02 EDT news638113801 Insecticide use is a major factor causing a decrease in the size and diversity of butterfly populations across the US Midwest, reports Braeden Van Deynze of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and colleagues in a study published June 20 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-insecticides-contribute-butterfly-species-midwest.html Plants & Animals Ecology Thu, 20 Jun 2024 14:00:02 EDT news638093342 Chimpanzees appear to consume plants with medicinal properties to treat their ailments, according to a study published on June 20 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Elodie Freymann from the University of Oxford, UK, and colleagues. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-wild-chimpanzees-medicinal-illness-injuries.html Plants & Animals Ecology Thu, 20 Jun 2024 14:00:02 EDT news638092921 The carbon stored globally by plants is shorter-lived and more vulnerable to climate change than previously thought, according to a new study. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-carbon-shorter-periods-thought.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 20 Jun 2024 14:00:02 EDT news638092682 Researchers led by Sophie Bavard at the University of Hamburg, Germany, found that people can infer hidden social preferences by observing how fast others make social decisions. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-behavioral-social-inferred-decision.html Social Sciences Thu, 20 Jun 2024 14:00:02 EDT news638094733 Family conditions—specifically, how similar one's social status and background is to one's parents' status—may play a bigger role in determining how easily an individual can shift into a wealthier socioeconomic class than gender inequality, according to a study of 153 countries published June 20, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Khanh Duong from Maynooth University, Ireland. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-family-conditions-impact-upward-social.html Social Sciences Economics & Business Thu, 20 Jun 2024 14:00:02 EDT news638093462 New strains of yeast for brewing lager beers, created by hybridizing wild strains of yeast from Patagonia with brewer's yeast, can yield novel flavors and aromas, reports a new study by Jennifer Molinet and Francisco Cubillos of the Universidad de Santiago de Chile, published June 20 in the journal PLOS Genetics. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-wild-yeasts-patagonia-yield-flavors.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 20 Jun 2024 14:00:02 EDT news638091421 A devastating hurricane transformed a monkey society by changing the pros and cons of interacting with others, new research shows. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-hurricane-game-monkey-society.html Plants & Animals Ecology Thu, 20 Jun 2024 14:00:02 EDT news638090481 The human eye can only see light at certain frequencies (called the visible spectrum), the lowest of which constitutes red light. Infrared light, which we can't see, has an even lower frequency than red light. Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have now fabricated a device to increase or "up-convert" the frequency of short infrared light to the visible range. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-infrared-visible-device-2d-material.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 20 Jun 2024 13:18:45 EDT news638108321 ESA's XMM-Newton and NASA's Chandra spacecraft have detected three young neutron stars that are unusually cold for their age. By comparing their properties to different neutron star models, scientists conclude that the oddballs' low temperatures disqualify around 75% of known models. This is a big step towards uncovering the one neutron star "equation of state" that rules them all, with important implications for the fundamental laws of the universe. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-young-cool-lessons-neutron-stars.html Astronomy Thu, 20 Jun 2024 12:52:03 EDT news638106721 For the first time, a phenomenon astronomers have long hoped to image directly has been captured by the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope's Near-InfraRed Camera (NIRCam). In this stunning image of the Serpens Nebula, the discovery lies in the northern area of this young, nearby star-forming region. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-webb-image-alignment-bipolar-jets.html Astronomy Thu, 20 Jun 2024 12:17:29 EDT news638104643 A team of international scientists led by the University of Ottawa have gone back to the kitchen cupboard to create a recipe that combines organic material and light to create quantum states. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-qa-method-confines-material-hybrid.html Optics & Photonics Quantum Physics Thu, 20 Jun 2024 12:17:00 EDT news638104614 A team of researchers from NIMS (National Institute for Materials Science), Hokkaido University and Meiji Pharmaceutical University has developed a gel electret capable of stably retaining a large electrostatic charge. The team then combined this gel with highly flexible electrodes to create a sensor capable of perceiving low-frequency vibrations (e.g., vibrations generated by human motion) and converting them into output voltage signals. This device may potentially be used as a wearable health care sensor. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-power-generating-gel-electret-based.html Nanomaterials Thu, 20 Jun 2024 12:16:11 EDT news638104568 A team of Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists plan to use artificial intelligence modeling to forecast, and better understand, a growing threat to water caused by toxic algal blooms. Fueled by climate change and rising water temperatures, these harmful algal blooms, or HABs, have grown in intensity and frequency. They have now been reported in all 50 U.S. states. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-ai-toxic-blue-green-tides.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 20 Jun 2024 12:15:48 EDT news638104544 Advanced technology tested nearly two years ago in the water treatment system that serves Toledo could prove valuable in efforts to protect the water that pours out of taps well beyond northwest Ohio, according to research published by The University of Toledo. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-advanced-algae-sensor-toledo-valuable.html Biotechnology Thu, 20 Jun 2024 12:02:04 EDT news638103721 A mechanism that could help scientists harness enzymes for use in drug discovery has been discovered in a research breakthrough at the University of Birmingham. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-uncover-enzyme-communication-mechanism-aid.html Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 20 Jun 2024 11:42:03 EDT news638102521 Four and a half billion years ago, our solar system was a cloud of gas and dust swirling around the sun, until gas began to condense and accrete along with dust to form asteroids and planets. What did this cosmic nursery, known as a protoplanetary disk, look like, and how was it structured? https://phys.org/news/2024-06-iron-meteorites-hint-infant-solar.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 20 Jun 2024 11:41:04 EDT news638102461 Advances in organoids and embryonic models of human development have the potential to prompt social and existential questions—e.g., what defines human individuality? However, bioethicist Insoo Hyun of Harvard Medical School and the Museum of Science in Boston says that these models have the potential to strengthen rather than weaken the concept of human individuality when considered within the philosophical frameworks of "personhood" and sentience. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-embryo-organoid-threaten-definition-personhood.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Thu, 20 Jun 2024 11:00:01 EDT news638094739 The discovery of a new, ancient, predatory reptile dubbed Parvosuchus aurelioi—part of a group of crocodile-like reptiles called pseudosuchians—in Brazil is described in a paper in Scientific Reports. The specimen, which dates to approximately 237 million years ago, during the Middle-Late Triassic, is the first small predatory reptile of its kind to be found in this country. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-small-ancient-crocodile-reptile-brazil.html Paleontology & Fossils Thu, 20 Jun 2024 11:00:01 EDT news638091182 Purdue University researchers are introducing a new biosensor technology to the agricultural industry inspired by advancements achieved during the COVID-19 pandemic. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-paper-based-biosensor-fast-easy.html Biotechnology Agriculture Thu, 20 Jun 2024 10:48:58 EDT news638099332 Drones are being raced against the clock at Delft University of Technology's "Cyber Zoo" to test the performance of neural-network-based AI control systems planned for next-generation space missions. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-drone-neural-network-ai-space.html Space Exploration Thu, 20 Jun 2024 10:48:15 EDT news638099289 Supermassive black holes pose unanswered questions for astronomers around the world, not the least of which is "How do they grow so big?" Now, an international team of astronomers, including researchers from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, has discovered a powerful rotating, magnetic wind that they believe is helping a galaxy's central supermassive black hole to grow. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-supermassive-black-hole-baby-star.html Astronomy Thu, 20 Jun 2024 10:48:02 EDT news638099278 Our planet was born around 4.5 billion years ago. To understand this mind-bendingly long history, we need to study rocks and the minerals they are made of. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-groundbreaking-discovery-remnants-earth-primordial.html Earth Sciences Thu, 20 Jun 2024 10:47:55 EDT news638099270 A laboratory-grown mini liver model uniquely created with liver cells and a synthetic nanoscaffold has shown to be effective in mimicking the liver, promising a new and more effective testing method for medicines that is more ethical than animal testing. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-mini-liver-effective-drug.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 20 Jun 2024 10:47:44 EDT news638099257 A team of medical researchers and infectious disease specialists affiliated with multiple institutions in China, working with a pair of colleagues, one from Singapore, the other from Canada, has found evidence bolstering theories that suggest as the planet warms, fungi could become more dangerous to humans. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-scientists-evidence-climate-fungi-dangerous.html Ecology Cell & Microbiology Thu, 20 Jun 2024 10:47:35 EDT news638099250