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81 articles from PhysOrg

Study shows a whale of a difference between songs of birds and humpbacks

Decades of research have been dedicated to understanding humpback whale songs. Why do they sing? What and where is the intended audience of these songs? To help uncover the answers, many scientists have framed whale songs as something similar to bird songs: vocalizations designed for attracting potential mates, or warnings to competitors.

Palm tree disease in Florida transmitted by traveling bug from Jamaica

What began as a curious survey of an insect in Florida revealed a much larger network of movement across the Caribbean basin. Haplaxius crudus, commonly known as the American palm cixiid, transmits phytoplasmas (bacteria that cause plant diseases) in palm. The American palm cixiid is known to transmit lethal yellowing disease and lethal bronzing disease, both of which are lethal to a variety of...

Physicists find 'magnon' origins in 2D magnet

Rice physicists have confirmed the topological origins of magnons, magnetic features they discovered three years ago in a 2D material that could prove useful for encoding information in the spins of electrons.

Long-lasting disinfectant promises to help fight pandemics

University of Central Florida researchers have developed a nanoparticle-based disinfectant that can continuously kill viruses on a surface for up to seven days—a discovery that could be a powerful weapon against COVID-19 and other emerging pathogenic viruses.

Organic 2-oxocarboxylic acids provide link to formation of radicals and reactive oxygen species in atmospheric particles

When the humidity in the atmosphere is relatively high, the particles naturally present, also known as aerosol droplets, grow to play a significant role in the chemistry and climate of Earth. These particles are produced from either clean or polluted air, after emissions of gases that nucleate and condense while in the atmosphere. Many times this process is affected by the presence of organic...

NASA's Deep Space Network looks to the future

When NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover touched down on the Red Planet, the agency's Deep Space Network (DSN) was there, enabling the mission to send and receive the data that helped make the event possible. When OSIRIS-REx took samples of asteroid Bennu this past year, the DSN played a crucial role, not just in sending the command sequence to the probe, but also in transmitting its stunning...

Vanity plates in Greece may be a form of 'conspicuous corruption'

In Greece, drivers cannot legally purchase custom vanity plates. However, a new study confirms an open secret: that the country has an illegal market for acquiring license plates with distinctive number patterns, perhaps as a form of "conspicuous corruption." Panos Louridas and Diomidis Spinellis of the Athens University of Economics and Business, Greece, report their findings in the open-access...

Illegal cannabis farms infringe on crucial habitat for sensitive birds and mammals

Sites favored by illegal cannabis farmers on the West Coast of the United States overlap with the habitat ranges of three threatened predators, potentially exposing them to toxic pesticides, according to a study by Greta Wengert at the Integral Ecology Research Center in California and colleagues, publishing September 1 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE.

Dutch probe mystery porpoise deaths

Dutch scientists were on Wednesday probing the mysterious deaths of dozens of harbour porpoises whose carcasses have been washing up on the country's northern beaches since last week.

What young stars teach us about the birth of our solar system

The familiar star at the center of our solar system has had billions of years to mature and ultimately provide life-giving energy to us here on Earth. But a very long time ago, our sun was just a growing baby star. What did the sun look like when it was so young? That's long been a mystery that, if solved, could teach us about the formation of our solar system—so-named because sol is the Latin...

Deadwood in the global carbon cycle

Living trees absorb a considerable amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and therefore play an important role in the protection of our climate. Little is known about the role of dead trees in the global carbon cycle, though. The decomposition of wood and the recycling of the nutrients it contains are among the most important processes to take place in forests.