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82 articles from PhysOrg

Surprising sand fly find yields new species of bacteria

Researchers at North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina Greensboro made a surprising finding while examining areas where sand flies rear their young: a new species of bacteria that is highly attractive to pregnant, or gravid, sand flies. The findings could advance the production of ecologically safe baits or traps to reduce sand fly populations.

International SWOT satellite to survey the world's water

How much water sloshes around in Earth's lakes, rivers, and oceans? And how does that figure change over time? The upcoming Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission plans to find out. Targeting a late-2022 launch date, this SUV-size satellite will measure the height of Earth's water. SWOT will help researchers understand and track the volume and location of water—a finite...

The longer the yawn, the bigger the brain

Yawning doesn't need be a sign of boredom. Rather, it appears to be a measure of brain size. Vertebrates with larger brains yawn longer, according to a study of more than one hundred species of mammals and birds. The findings of the study, which was conducted by an international team of scientists centered around biologist Jorg Massen of Utrecht University (NL) and Andrew Gallup of the State...

'Molecular glue' makes perovskite solar cells dramatically more reliable over time

A research team from Brown University has made a major step toward improving the long-term reliability of perovskite solar cells, an emerging clean energy technology. In a study to be published on Friday, May 7 in the journal Science, the team demonstrates a "molecular glue" that keeps a key interface inside cells from degrading. The treatment dramatically increases cells' stability and...

Team directs and measures quantum drum duet

Like conductors of a spooky symphony, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have "entangled" two small mechanical drums and precisely measured their linked quantum properties. Entangled pairs like this might someday perform computations and transmit data in large-scale quantum networks.

Review: Most human origins stories are not compatible with known fossils

In the 150 years since Charles Darwin speculated that humans originated in Africa, the number of species in the human family tree has exploded, but so has the level of dispute concerning early human evolution. Fossil apes are often at the center of the debate, with some scientists dismissing their importance to the origins of the human lineage (the "hominins"), and others conferring them starring...

Cells are more resilient to environmental changes than previously thought

Cells are more resilient to environmental perturbations than previously thought, Toronto researchers have found. The finding will enable scientists to translate observations of the effects of drugs or mutations on cells grown in a lab setting as they seek to gain a better understanding of cellular function and to develop new diagnostics and treatments.

Shuvuuia: A dinosaur that hunted in the dark

Today's 10,000 species of birds live in virtually every habitat on Earth, but only a handful have adaptations enabling them to hunt active prey in the dark of night. Scientists have long wondered whether theropod dinosaurs—the group that gave rise to modern birds—had similar sensory adaptations.

Evading the uncertainty principle in quantum physics

The uncertainty principle, first introduced by Werner Heisenberg in the late 1920's, is a fundamental concept of quantum mechanics. In the quantum world, particles like the electrons that power all electrical product can also behave like waves. As a result, particles cannot have a well-defined position and momentum simultaneously. For instance, measuring the momentum of a particle leads to a...

Cutting methane emissions key to slowing warming: UN

Industry could cheaply and easily slash humanity's methane emissions by at least 30 percent in a decade, the United Nations said Thursday, adding that such cuts would slow global warming and prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths.

Physicists describe new type of aurora

For millennia, humans in the high latitudes have been enthralled by auroras—the northern and southern lights. Yet even after all that time, it appears the ethereal, dancing ribbons of light above Earth still hold some secrets.

Archaeal enzyme that produces membrane lipids is spectacularly promiscuous

Cells of all life forms are surrounded by a membrane that is made of phospholipids. One of these are the cardiolipins, which form a separate class due to their unique structure. When studying the enzyme that is responsible for producing cardiolipins in archaea (single-cell organisms that constitute a separate domain of life), biochemists at the University of Groningen made a surprising discovery....

Unusual semimetal shows evidence of unique surface conduction states

Scientists at Tokyo Institute of Technology experimentally verify the existence of exotic surface conduction states in topological semimetals (TSMs), materials that lie at the boundary between conductors and insulators, by performing voltage scans of these surface states on a thin film sample of a TSM. The findings can pave the way for future study and exploitation of such conduction states in...