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 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 A team of chemists at the University of Bremen, in Germany has developed a new type of nitrene capable of slow reactions that can last for up to three days. Their paper is published in the journal Science. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-chemists-technique-nitrene-reactions-days.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Thu, 20 Jun 2024 09:31:26 EDT news638094683 A team of geneticists and archaeologists affiliated with multiple institutions in France has uncovered skeletons in an ancient gravesite not far from Paris that show evidence of steppe migrant integration with Late Neolithic Europeans. The study is published in the journal Science Advances. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-gravesite-france-evidence-steppe-migrant.html Archaeology Thu, 20 Jun 2024 09:31:18 EDT news638094668 Using the Magellan Telescopes in Chile, astronomers have performed photometric observations of a giant elliptical galaxy known as NGC 4696. The observations reveal that the galaxy has a complex globular cluster system. The finding was detailed in a paper published June 12 on the pre-print server arXiv. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-galaxy-ngc-hosts-complex-globular.html Astronomy Thu, 20 Jun 2024 09:30:55 EDT news638094651 A new study published in Physical Review Letters (PRL) explores the potential of quadratic electron-phonon coupling to enhance superconductivity through the formation of quantum bipolarons. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-high-temperature-superconductivity-exploring-quadratic.html Superconductivity Thu, 20 Jun 2024 07:00:02 EDT news638006587 A new study published in Physical Review Letters explores the possibility that a strongly supercooled, first-order phase transition in the early universe could explain gravitational wave signals observed by pulsar timing arrays (PTAs). https://phys.org/news/2024-06-supercooled-phase-transitions-gravitational.html Astronomy Wed, 19 Jun 2024 09:30:02 EDT news638006608 Astronomers from India and Thailand have observed a young nearby open cluster known as Berkeley 59. Results of the observational campaign, published June 12 on the pre-print server arXiv, deliver essential information regarding low-mass stellar and substellar content of this cluster. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-explore-stellar-content-nearby-young.html Astronomy Wed, 19 Jun 2024 08:47:16 EDT news638005631 Photonic alloys, alloy-like materials combining two or more photonic crystals, are promising candidates for the development of structures that control the propagation of electromagnetic waves, also known as waveguides. Despite their potential, these materials typically reflect light back in the direction where it originated. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-photonic-alloy-topological-properties.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 19 Jun 2024 08:00:01 EDT news637947432 A team of zoologists and marine biologists affiliated with several institutions in Indonesia, working with a colleague from Germany, has discovered previously unknown instances of fluorescence in 27 marine creatures. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-team-biologists-fluorescence-marine-creatures.html Plants & Animals Ecology Tue, 18 Jun 2024 12:50:01 EDT news637933494 A team of medical researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and ReCode Therapeutics has developed a way to send gene-editing tools to the lungs to repair the faulty gene associated with cystic fibrosis. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-lung-lipid-nanoparticles-crispr-components.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 18 Jun 2024 09:40:01 EDT news637921664 A multidisciplinary, multi-institutional team of researchers in the U.S. has found that starlings that fly in a follower position expend 25% less energy than when they fly solo. In their study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group designed complex experiments to learn more about the amount of energy savings for birds following another bird in flight rather than going it alone. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-starlings-expend-energy-position-flying.html Plants & Animals Ecology Tue, 18 Jun 2024 09:30:01 EDT news637921650 Astronomers have performed a comprehensive chemical study of a Galactic globular cluster known as Terzan 6. Results of the study, presented in a research paper published June 11 on the pre-print server arXiv, could advance our knowledge about the properties and nature of this cluster. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-chemical-composition-globular-cluster-terzan.html Astronomy Tue, 18 Jun 2024 09:27:22 EDT news637921637 The so-called Casimir force or Casimir effect is a quantum mechanical phenomenon resulting from fluctuations in the electromagnetic field between two conducting or dielectric surfaces that are a short distance apart. Studies have shown that this force can be either be attractive or repulsive, depending on the dielectric and magnetic properties of the materials used in experiments. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-method-reversibly-casimir-external-magnetic.html Condensed Matter Quantum Physics Tue, 18 Jun 2024 07:30:01 EDT news637857959 Europe experienced its coldest winter in 600 years during 1739–1740, ~4 °C cooler than the present average, also coinciding with negative temperature anomalies across North America and Eurasia. Indeed, for northern midlatitudes (35–70 °N) as a whole, it may have been the coldest season in the last 300 years. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-year-coldest-central-europe-years.html Earth Sciences Environment Tue, 18 Jun 2024 06:40:01 EDT news637846554 A multi-institutional team of planetary scientists has learned more about the early composition of the solar system by studying a meteorite named Northwest Africa 14250. In their study, published in the journal Science Advances, the group used a scanning tunneling microscope to learn more about the isotopic makeup of clasts inside the sample. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-meteorite-northwest-africa-reveals-composition.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 17 Jun 2024 10:30:01 EDT news637838534 A multidisciplinary team of scientists from several institutions in Japan, working with colleagues at the American Museum of Natural History, has found evidence that some types of ants that lived during the Cretaceous Period had sensory organs for communication similar to those used by many modern ant species. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-ants-millions-years-sensory-modern.html Evolution Paleontology & Fossils Mon, 17 Jun 2024 08:58:14 EDT news637833489 Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers from the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) have discovered a new supernova. Designated SN 2023adsy, the newfound stellar explosion is the most distant Type Ia supernova so far detected. The finding was detailed in a research paper published June 7 on the pre-print server arXiv. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-ia-supernova.html Astronomy Mon, 17 Jun 2024 08:54:15 EDT news637833250 There's a lot of science news in seven days, so just because a new study isn't cited here on Saturday morning doesn't mean it didn't happen. A lot more has happened. But also, check out these four stories: https://phys.org/news/2024-06-saturday-citations-bacterial-warfare-language.html Other Sat, 15 Jun 2024 09:00:01 EDT news637600172 Psychologists Benjamin Jones and Josep Call at the University of St Andrews, in the U.K., have found via behavioral experiments that chimpanzees know that they rely on luck when making guesses about certain things. Their paper is published in the journal Biology Letters. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-chimpanzees-luck.html Plants & Animals Fri, 14 Jun 2024 10:00:01 EDT news637577624 An international team of astronomers reports the discovery of a new Earth-sized exoplanet that orbits an ultracool dwarf star located just 54.6 light years away. The newfound alien world, designated SPECULOOS-3 b, is slightly smaller but much hotter than our planet. The finding was reported in a paper published May 15 in the journal Nature Astronomy. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-astronomers-earth-sized-exoplanet-orbiting.html Planetary Sciences Fri, 14 Jun 2024 09:23:47 EDT news637575824 Halide perovskites are a class of materials with an underlying structure resembling that of mineral perovskites, but with X sites occupied by halide ions, while their A and B sites are occupied by cations. These materials have various advantageous properties that make them promising candidates for the development of photovoltaics (PVs), light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and other optoelectronic devices. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-exploring-polaron-formation-halide-perovskites.html Condensed Matter Quantum Physics Fri, 14 Jun 2024 08:20:01 EDT news637491282 A psychologist at CQUniversity, in Australia, has found that some fans of the long-running TV show "Neighbours" have been experiencing grief similar to the experience of losing a close friend. In his study, published on the open-access site PLOS ONE, Adam Gerace analyzed surveys taken by over 1,289 people. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-fans-tv-experienced-grief-similar.html Social Sciences Thu, 13 Jun 2024 10:00:01 EDT news637491302 A team of materials scientists from Tel Aviv University and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, both in Israel, working with a colleague from California Institute of Technology, in the U.S., has found that mixing a certain peptide with water results in the creation of a self-assembling and self-healing glass. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-accidentally-peptide-results-glass.html Materials Science Thu, 13 Jun 2024 09:55:23 EDT news637491318 Climate changes, but not always for the same reason. Today's rapid climate change is due entirely to man. The Holocene—the last 12,000 years—has been seen as having a stable climate, with a lack of chaos that allowed humans to settle down, develop agriculture, build civilizations and thrive. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-uncovering-prolonged-cooling-events-holocene.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 13 Jun 2024 08:00:01 EDT news637408553 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 Paleontology & Fossils Wed, 12 Jun 2024 10:30:01 EDT news637406438 Using the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, astronomers have observed the halo of a nearby giant elliptical galaxy known as Centaurus A. Results of the observational campaign, published June 1 on the pre-print server arXiv, yield important insights into star formation history of the investigated halo. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-explore-halo-centaurus.html Astronomy Wed, 12 Jun 2024 10:12:27 EDT news637405943 Global warming is an omnipresent issue, with widespread initiatives to draw down emissions and mitigate against the International Panel on Climate Change's worse-case scenario predictions of 3.2°C of warming by 2100 (relative to pre-Industrial levels). Current measurements stand at 1.1°C of warming across Earth, but polar regions are experiencing enhanced surface warming compared to the rest of the planet. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-arctic-global-patterns.html Earth Sciences Environment Wed, 12 Jun 2024 07:50:01 EDT news637315541 A new study published in Nature Physics introduces a theory of electron-phonon coupling that is affected by the quantum geometry of the electronic wavefunctions. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-theory-links-quantum-geometry-electron.html Condensed Matter Superconductivity Wed, 12 Jun 2024 06:50:01 EDT news637231783 A small team of sociologists from The University of Texas at San Antonio, Texas A&M University, and Florida State University has tested the supposition that men who are unhappy with the size of their penis are more apt to buy a gun—presumably as a way to make up for their perceived shortcomings. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-men-dissatisfied-penis-size-gun.html Social Sciences Tue, 11 Jun 2024 10:20:01 EDT news637318817 A team of chemists at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, working with a pair of colleagues from the Jawaharlal Nehru Center for Advanced Scientific Research, both in India, has found that particles of minerals sometimes break down spontaneously when immersed in charged microdroplets, leading to the formation of nanoparticles. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-chemists-spontaneous-nanoparticle-formation-microdroplets.html Nanomaterials Tue, 11 Jun 2024 09:06:06 EDT news637315555