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. Most Americans can expect wetter winters in the future due to global warming, according to a new study led by a University of Illinois Chicago scientist. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-climate-wetter-winters.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 26 Sep 2024 17:03:49 EDT news646589025 The reason we call dark matter dark isn't that it's some shadowy material. It's because dark matter doesn't interact with light. The difference is subtle, but important. Regular matter can be dark because it absorbs light. It's why, for example, we can see the shadow of molecular clouds against the scattered stars of the Milky Way. This is possible because light and matter have a way to connect. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-dark-slight-interaction-regular.html Astronomy Thu, 26 Sep 2024 15:10:05 EDT news646582201 Transport proteins are responsible for the ongoing movement of substrates into and out of a biological cell. However, it is difficult to determine which substrates a specific protein can transport. Bioinformaticians at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) have developed a model—called SPOT—that can predict this with a high degree of accuracy using artificial intelligence (AI). https://phys.org/news/2024-09-ai-substrate-movement-cells.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 26 Sep 2024 14:46:10 EDT news646580759 Like people, bacteria have their preferences when it comes to relationships. Some are totally independent, while others prefer company. Salmonella and many other kinds of bacteria are of the social type: They can live and even thrive inside a host cell. But unlike us, these bacteria do not spend a long time wooing the cell in the hope that it will welcome them in. Instead, they inject proteins that take control of the host cell's systems. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-sequencing-method-unprecedented-glimpse-relationship.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 26 Sep 2024 14:45:59 EDT news646580753 Given how unfathomably large the universe is, it is perhaps understandable that we haven't yet cracked all its secrets. But there are actually some pretty basic features, ones we used to think we could explain, that cosmologists are increasingly struggling to make sense of. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-universe-smoother-standard-cosmology-theory.html Astronomy Thu, 26 Sep 2024 14:35:05 EDT news646580101 For the first time, University of Queensland scientists have been able to make a prediction about the severity of upcoming tick seasons to help vet surgeries and pet owners prepare. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-cases-australian-pets.html Molecular & Computational biology Veterinary medicine Thu, 26 Sep 2024 13:16:03 EDT news646575361 In the past months, the planet has experienced the hottest months of June and August, boreal summer and day on record, with a global average temperature of 17.16°C on 22 July. While many have been getting on with their lives as best as they can, there are many more who are feeling the heat, as levels of climate anxiety continue to rise. At risk are people experiencing climate impacts in the Global South, but also professionals in the Earth sciences documenting and modeling them. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-eco-anxiety-qa-ipcc-vice.html Environment Thu, 26 Sep 2024 13:10:01 EDT news646572753 Prime Minister Christopher Luxon sparked debate on the future of work in New Zealand this week when he ordered public service employees back to the office. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-hybrid-worlds-worker-productivity.html Economics & Business Thu, 26 Sep 2024 13:00:01 EDT news646572736 After a decade of preparation and two years of active experiments in space, a facility that Purdue University and NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland designed, built and tested has completed its test campaign on the International Space Station. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-international-space-station-condensation.html Space Exploration Thu, 26 Sep 2024 12:37:05 EDT news646573017 Deep-learning models are being used in many fields, from health care diagnostics to financial forecasting. However, these models are so computationally intensive that they require the use of powerful cloud-based servers. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-protocol-leverages-quantum-mechanics-shield.html General Physics Quantum Physics Thu, 26 Sep 2024 10:32:58 EDT news646565567 The theory of indirect reciprocity holds that people who earn a good reputation by helping others are more likely to be rewarded by third parties, but widespread cooperation depends on agreement about reputations. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-method-sustain-social-cooperation.html Mathematics Social Sciences Thu, 26 Sep 2024 10:28:04 EDT news646565282 Australian climatologists closely monitor atmospheric and oceanic conditions to assess the risk of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events occurring, which can lead to devastating natural disasters, however these predictions have become somewhat delayed in recent years. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-climatologists-accurate-el-nio-southern.html Earth Sciences Environment Wed, 25 Sep 2024 12:50:01 EDT news646485968 Increasing frequency and burn severity of forest fires may be increasing land surface warming, according to an analysis of over a decade of satellite data published in Nature. The findings highlight a previously overlooked factor that could affect future climate and fire dynamics. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-global-brought-frequent-bigger-fiercer.html Environment Wed, 25 Sep 2024 12:16:56 EDT news646485413 Human-caused climate change doubled the likelihood and intensified the heavy rains that led to devastating flooding in Central Europe earlier this month, a new flash study found. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-deadly-central-europe-climate.html Environment Wed, 25 Sep 2024 04:01:50 EDT news646455703 River floods are environmental hazards that can have devastating effects on human life, agriculture, and infrastructure. Hydrologic models are used to map flood hazards to better understand risk, dictate insurance costs, and inform land-use planning. However, new research being presented Wednesday at the Geological Society of America's GSA Connects 2024 meeting suggests that these models may be missing a key variable that could underestimate risk. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-channel-conveyance-current.html Earth Sciences Environment Tue, 24 Sep 2024 15:08:03 EDT news646409282 Since the late 1960s, the Laboratoire Aimé Cotton (LAC) in Orsay, France, has made significant progress in the classification of complex atomic spectra. These advances have been driven both by the development of Fourier transform spectroscopy, and through novel theoretical interpretations of atomic spectra. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-energy-atomic-hyperfine.html General Physics Tue, 24 Sep 2024 12:33:52 EDT news646400023 A small team of archaeologists at Yamagata University, working with a colleague from Université Paris, and a pair of AI researchers from the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, used an AI model to find more geoglyphs on the floor of Peru's Nazca Desert. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-archaeologists-ai-hundreds-geoglyphs-peru.html Archaeology Tue, 24 Sep 2024 10:29:37 EDT news646392570 University of Adelaide researchers have developed a new theoretical model to predict the distances ocean waves can travel to break up sea ice. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-importance-climate-effect-sea-ice.html Earth Sciences Environment Tue, 24 Sep 2024 10:12:04 EDT news646391522 Scientists at CERN have discovered an ultra-rare particle decay process, opening a new path to find physics beyond our understanding of how the building blocks of matter interact. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-ultra-rare-particle-decay-uncover.html General Physics Tue, 24 Sep 2024 06:00:01 EDT news646303120 At the International Space station, researchers are making strides in everything from Earth science to chemical properties. Here's what they're up to and why it matters. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-abounds-international-space-station.html Space Exploration Tue, 24 Sep 2024 04:48:34 EDT news646372110 A Doppler shift is defined as a change of frequency of light or sound when an object is moving toward or away from an observer. Edwin Hubble observed in 1929 that galaxies appear on average to be moving away from us (see figure above), which could indicate that the universe is expanding, an effect that became known as the Hubble Law. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-quantized-redshift-big-hypothesis.html Astronomy Mon, 23 Sep 2024 12:40:01 EDT news646303513 Earth's average global temperatures have been steadily increasing since the Industrial Revolution. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA), Earth has been heating up at a rate of 0.06°C (0.11°F) per decade since 1850—or about 1.11°C (2°F) in total. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-advanced-civilizations-overheat-planets-years.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Mon, 23 Sep 2024 12:15:04 EDT news646312501 The food system is one of the most significant sources of greenhouse gas emissions on the planet, making the reduction of emissions in this sector a priority for policymakers around the world. IIASA researchers explored the potential of carbon sequestration on farmland to combat climate change, offering insights into economic effects as well as its climate change mitigation potential. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-agriculture-carbon-source-potential-sequestration.html Agriculture Mon, 23 Sep 2024 11:59:14 EDT news646311548 Researchers working in Finland propose that the unique light environment of the Earth's polar regions creates conditions that result in circumpolar hybrid zones around the North and the South Poles. These extreme conditions increase the synchrony of reproductive phenology among species, i.e., force all species into a smaller window for reproduction. This will sustain biodiversity in the long term. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-extreme-polar-environment-north-south.html Evolution Ecology Mon, 23 Sep 2024 11:07:04 EDT news646308421 Election polls often tighten up remarkably as the election date draws near. "Leave" (the European Union) won the UK election of May 2016 with a majority of 51.9%, but earlier the polls weren't nearly as tight—in January 2011 "Remain" was up by about 20 percentage points. In the 2020 presidential election in Poland, Andrzej Duda won with 51.0% of the votes, whereas he was up by about 5 percentage points just eight weeks earlier. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-large-electorates-tend-evenly-results.html Mathematics Political science Mon, 23 Sep 2024 10:00:01 EDT news646304327 In spring, stretches of Antarctic sea ice melt to form pockets of open water called polynyas, which make perfect homes for phytoplankton. These marine microbes can become so abundant that they turn the water green. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-phytoplankton-shield-ice-shelves-summer.html Environment Mon, 23 Sep 2024 07:35:29 EDT news646295725 A study led by the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory details how artificial intelligence researchers have created an AI model to help identify new alloys used as shielding for housing fusion applications components in a nuclear fusion reactor. The findings mark a major step towards improving nuclear fusion facilities. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-ai-database-alloys-nuclear-fusion.html General Physics Plasma Physics Thu, 19 Sep 2024 16:40:34 EDT news645982822 By cleverly applying a computational technique, scientists have made a breakthrough in understanding the "pseudogap," a long-standing puzzle in quantum physics with close ties to superconductivity. The discovery, presented in Science, will help scientists in their quest for room-temperature superconductivity, a holy grail of condensed matter physics that would enable lossless power transmission, faster MRI machines and superfast levitating trains. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-mysteries-bizarre-pseudogap-quantum-physics.html Superconductivity Quantum Physics Thu, 19 Sep 2024 14:55:04 EDT news645976501 A new study co-led by the Smithsonian and the University of Arizona offers the most detailed glimpse yet of how Earth's surface temperature has changed over the past 485 million years. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-earth-global-temperature-drastically-million.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 19 Sep 2024 14:00:01 EDT news645954301 By staring into the hellish landscape of Jupiter's moon Io—the most volcanically active location in the solar system—Cornell astronomers have been able to study a fundamental process in planetary formation and evolution: tidal heating. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-volcanoes-reveal-interior-jupiter-moon.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Thu, 19 Sep 2024 12:28:03 EDT news645967681