/ en-us Â鶹ÒùÔº internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Â鶹ÒùÔºics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Instead of a tempest in a teapot, imagine the cosmos in a canister. Scientists have performed experiments using nested, spinning cylinders to confirm that an uneven wobble in a ring of electrically conductive fluid like liquid metal or plasma causes particles on the inside of the ring to drift inward. Since revolving rings of plasma also occur around stars and black holes, these new findings imply that the wobbles can cause matter in those rings to fall toward the central mass and form planets. /news/2025-07-scientists-uncover-mechanism-formation-planets.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 07 Jul 2025 13:42:52 EDT news671114569 New research led by the University of Liverpool in collaboration with the University of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia) provides a significant step forward in understanding the micro-scale mechanisms that govern the behavior of soft materials. /news/2025-07-soft-material-behavior-clearer-scientists.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Mon, 07 Jul 2025 12:16:04 EDT news671109362 Porous materials have a wide range of applications due to their capacity to act as filters, or lightweight structural materials that use less material than a solid substance. Researchers, including those from the University of Tokyo, created a new material fine enough to filter things like viruses but is strong enough to be a rigid construction material for devices. The study is published in the journal Science. /news/2025-07-loofah-polymer-filter-viruses-flexibility.html Biochemistry Materials Science Thu, 03 Jul 2025 14:00:06 EDT news670679281 Keeping electronic devices cool is important when considering both their function and durability, as temperature influences material properties and energy flow. The temperature of "hot spots" that can be detected affects the performance of various technologies, from smartphones to electric vehicles. The ability for devices to work at faster speeds has stalled in recent years since adding more power to them has resulted in overheating. /news/2025-07-nanoscale-theoretical.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Wed, 02 Jul 2025 09:10:25 EDT news670666223 Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and India's National Center for Biological Sciences have found that yeast clusters, when grown beyond a certain size, spontaneously generate fluid flows powerful enough to ferry nutrients deep into their interior. /news/2025-06-large-yeast-clusters-generate-natural.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 24 Jun 2025 11:20:02 EDT news669980911 We rarely think about how liquids flow—why honey is thick, water is thin or how molten plastic moves through machines. But for scientists and engineers, understanding and predicting the viscosity of materials, especially polymers, is essential. /news/2025-06-atomistic-route-viscosity-glass-transition.html Condensed Matter Soft Matter Tue, 24 Jun 2025 10:20:03 EDT news669979001 Remote-controlled microflow using light-controlled state transitions within DNA condensates has been reported by scientists from the Institute of Science Tokyo, Japan. By switching between ultraviolet light (UV) and visible light irradiation, the researchers demonstrated that the novel DNA motifs containing azobenzene can dissociate or reassemble. Furthermore, localized photo-switching within a DNA liquid condensate generated two distinct directional motions. This study can fuel the development of innovative fluid-based diagnostic chips and molecular computers. /news/2025-06-photo-switchable-dna-condensates-enable.html Bio & Medicine Nanomaterials Mon, 23 Jun 2025 14:40:03 EDT news669908401 A condition long considered to be unfavorable to electrical conduction in semiconductor materials may actually be beneficial in 2D semiconductors, according to new findings by UC Santa Barbara researchers published in the journal Â鶹ÒùÔºical Review Letters. /news/2025-06-coupled-electrons-phonons-2d-semiconductors.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Mon, 23 Jun 2025 13:00:16 EDT news669902402 Water makes up around 60% of the human body. More than half of this water sloshes around inside the cells that make up organs and tissues. Much of the remaining water flows in the nooks and crannies between cells, much like seawater between grains of sand. /news/2025-06-intercellular-fluid-cell-tissues-physical.html Soft Matter Fri, 20 Jun 2025 05:00:03 EDT news669544425 In 1859, Darwin imagined evolution as a slow, gradual progress, with species accumulating small changes over time. But even he was surprised to find the fossil record offered no missing links: the intermediate forms which should have told this story step by step were simply not there. His explanation was as uncomfortable as it was unavoidable: basically, the fossil record is an archive where most of the pages have been torn out. /news/2025-06-earthworms-reveal-evolutionary-mechanism-defy.html Evolution Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 18 Jun 2025 09:00:05 EDT news669456001 In squash, the "nick shot" is an emphatic, point-ending play in which a player strikes a ball that ricochets near the bottom of the wall and rolls flat along the floor instead of bouncing, leaving an opponent with no chance to return it. /news/2025-06-potential-implications-mechanical-reveals-physics.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Thu, 12 Jun 2025 15:11:03 EDT news668959861 Since the time of the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, cancer has been recognized as being sensitive to heat. Today, this principle forms the basis of hyperthermia treatment—a promising cancer therapy that uses controlled heat to kill tumor cells while sparing healthy ones. /news/2025-06-cancer-cells-cholesterol-armor-survive.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 12 Jun 2025 11:40:03 EDT news668947121 A new molecule that lets energy hop around quickly within its structure makes the upcycling of light more efficient and tunable. The Kobe University development lays out a design strategy for better solar power harnessing as well as medical and sensor applications. /news/2025-06-molecular-hopscotch-boosts-upconversion.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Thu, 12 Jun 2025 09:10:01 EDT news668937630 Chemistry often conjures images of mixing fluids together in beakers, flasks, or test tubes. But often, chemistry happens on a much smaller scale. In many medical and industrial contexts, mixing fluids involves fractions of a milliliter, and for these applications, sometimes the best tool is a microscopic robot. /news/2025-06-magnetic-microrobot-mechanically-microscopic-materials.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Tue, 10 Jun 2025 11:00:01 EDT news668679065 An international research collaboration featuring scientists from the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory has discovered a fundamental universal principle that governs how microscopic whirlpools interact, collide and transform within quantum fluids, which also has implications for understanding fluids that behave according to classical physics. /news/2025-06-universal-law-quantum-vortex-dynamics.html Soft Matter Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Wed, 04 Jun 2025 14:47:04 EDT news668267221 Everything in nature has a geometric pattern—from the tiger's stripes and spirals in flowers to the unique fingerprints of each human being. While these patterns are sometimes symmetrical, most of such patterns lack symmetry, which leaves us with one major question: How do such unsymmetrical patterns emerge in nature? /news/2025-06-symmetry-meniscus-boundary-conditions-reveal.html Soft Matter Wed, 04 Jun 2025 14:37:14 EDT news668266629 Pounding on the bottom of a glass bottle of ketchup is one of life's small annoyances. Getting that sweet, red concoction from its solid phase to a liquid takes too long when you're hungry and could even require messy strategies with a butter knife. /news/2025-06-ketchup-solid-phase-properties-reveal.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Soft Matter Mon, 02 Jun 2025 10:39:48 EDT news668079579 Turbulence in nature refers to the complex, time-dependent, and spatially varying fluctuations that develop in fluids such as water, air, and plasma. It is a universal phenomenon that appears across a vast range of scales and systems—from atmospheric and oceanic currents on Earth, to interstellar gas in stars and galaxies, and even within jet engines and blood flow in human arteries. /news/2025-06-entropy-untangles-vortices-turbulent-plasmas.html Plasma Â鶹ÒùÔºics Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Mon, 02 Jun 2025 08:55:05 EDT news668073302 Tiny strains in a crystal can cause electrons to behave in a surprising way that closely resembles a highly sought-after mechanism, RIKEN physicists have found in a new study. Previous studies may need to be re-evaluated in light of this finding. /news/2025-05-spontaneous-symmetry-electron-elusive.html Nanophysics Wed, 28 May 2025 08:36:08 EDT news667640166 Statistical mechanics is one of the pillars of modern physics. Ludwig Boltzmann (1844–1906) and Josiah Willard Gibbs (1839–1903) were its primary formulators. They both worked to establish a bridge between macroscopic physics, which is described by thermodynamics, and microscopic physics, which is based on the behavior of atoms and molecules. /news/2025-05-generalization-statistical-mechanics-regularize-theory.html Condensed Matter Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Tue, 27 May 2025 15:02:03 EDT news667576921 Plankton may be tiny, but they play an important role in the ocean. As the foundation of marine ecosystems, they support ocean food webs and help regulate Earth's climate by storing carbon. While lab studies have shown plankton can adjust their chemistry in response to environmental changes, a new global study reveals how these adaptations occur in the real ocean. The study will be published on May 23, 2025, in the journal Science Advances. /news/2025-05-plankton-cell-membrane-chemistry-temperature.html Ecology Fri, 23 May 2025 15:36:25 EDT news667233378 Researchers at Nagoya University in Japan have developed an interface that creates "virtual sorting nanomachines" without the need to manufacture actual devices. /news/2025-05-scientists-virtual-nanomachines-electron-graphene.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Thu, 22 May 2025 11:55:03 EDT news667133701 Researchers have detailed the physics behind a phenomenon that allows them to create spin in liquid droplets using ultrasound waves, which concentrates solid particles suspended in the liquid. The discovery will allow researchers to engineer technologies that make use of the technique to develop applications in fields such as biomedical testing and drug development. /news/2025-05-physics-advance-solid-liquid.html Soft Matter Wed, 21 May 2025 11:37:03 EDT news667046221 Quantum computers hold the potential to revolutionize the possibilities for solving difficult computational problems that would take classical computers many years to resolve. But for those computers to meet their potential, they need working quantum bits, or qubits. The hunt for a better qubit is a major project of researchers around the world, who are trying different materials and methods in their search. /news/2025-05-electrons-quantum-fluids-solids-route.html Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Mon, 19 May 2025 13:07:04 EDT news666878821 A research team from the School of Engineering at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology has developed a new computational model to study the movement of granular materials such as soils, sands and powders. By integrating the dynamic interactions among particles, air and water phases, this state-of-the-art system can accurately predict landslides, improve irrigation and oil extraction systems, and enhance food and drug production processes. /news/2025-05-landslides-pharmaceuticals-high-precision-simulates.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Soft Matter Fri, 16 May 2025 11:39:11 EDT news666614347 Whether diving off docks, cannonballing into lakes or leaping off the high board, there's nothing quite like the joy of jumping into water. /news/2025-05-manu-physics-humongous-splashes-pool.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Soft Matter Fri, 16 May 2025 10:22:04 EDT news666609722 Butterflies' flight trajectories often appear random or chaotic, and compared with other hovering insects, their bodies follow seemingly mysterious, jagged, jerking motions. /news/2025-05-butterflies-differently-flying-body-pitch.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Tue, 13 May 2025 11:00:01 EDT news666272456 A new study by Vanderbilt investigators has uncovered a previously unknown biological mechanism: how tissues detect and respond to damage in basement membranes, the thin layers of extracellular matrix that surround and support nearly every organ in the body. /news/2025-05-tissues-body-hidden.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 12 May 2025 10:30:03 EDT news666264601 Computer simulations help materials scientists and biochemists study the motion of macromolecules, advancing the development of new drugs and sustainable materials. However, these simulations pose a challenge for even the most powerful supercomputers. /news/2025-05-mathematical-approach-simulations-large-molecule.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Sat, 10 May 2025 05:04:26 EDT news666072259 An innovative imaging technique developed at Carnegie Mellon University reveals single bacterial cells leaving their biofilm community. Watching the bacteria in real-time at high resolution affords unprecedented views that advance the understanding of how single cells in biofilms move and how biofilms disperse. /news/2025-05-imaging-technique-tracks-individual-bacterial.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 08 May 2025 11:35:04 EDT news665922901