/ 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. In the right combinations and conditions, two-dimensional materials can host intriguing and potentially valuable quantum phases, like superconductivity and unique forms of magnetism. Why they occur, and how they can be controlled, is of considerable interest among physicists and engineers. Research published in Nature Â鶹ÒùÔºics reveals a previously hidden feature that could explain how and why enigmatic quantum phases emerge. /news/2025-10-2d-devices-hidden-cavities-electronic.html Condensed Matter Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Mon, 20 Oct 2025 05:00:11 EDT news679923998 Fungi are vital to natural ecosystems by breaking down dead organic material and cycling it back into the environment as nutrients. But new research from the University of Utah finds one species, Marquandomyces marquandii, a ubiquitous soil mold, shows promise as a potential building block for new biomedical materials. /news/2025-10-soil-fungus-durable-hydrogels-potential.html Biochemistry Polymers Wed, 01 Oct 2025 17:24:04 EDT news678558241 In a new study, scientists have shown that chemical receptors that plants use to recognize nitrogen-fixing bacteria have developed the same function independently on at least three separate occasions through a process called convergent evolution. /news/2025-09-receptors-nitrogen-bacteria-evolved-independently.html Plants & Animals Evolution Tue, 30 Sep 2025 16:01:08 EDT news678466861 When Taylor Guitars acquired an ebony mill in Cameroon to supply wood for their renowned acoustic guitars, owner Bob Taylor wanted to give back by planting new trees, even knowing they could take 60–200 years to grow. But scientists knew surprisingly little about the trees—not how many there were, how long they lived or even how to grow one, despite a 200-year history of craftsmen using the wood for piano keys and fretboards for guitars, violins and other stringed instruments. /news/2025-08-elephant-extinction-threaten-rainforests-musical.html Plants & Animals Ecology Thu, 28 Aug 2025 10:50:01 EDT news675595937 This week, researchers pinned down the age of a complete Homo-genus skull found in Greece in 1960 to at least 286,000 years old. Medical researchers reported that the majority of chronic pain patients discontinue cannabis use within one year. And engineers prototyped solar trees, a new solar technology designed with natural tree morphology that can be incorporated into natural branches in the upper canopies of trees while allowing light to penetrate to underlying vegetation. /news/2025-08-saturday-citations-general-gas-giants.html Other Sat, 23 Aug 2025 08:00:03 EDT news675081846 We're often told it is "unscientific" or "meaningless" to ask what happened before the Big Bang. But a new paper by FQxI cosmologist Eugene Lim, of King's College London, UK, and astrophysicists Katy Clough, of Queen Mary University of London, UK, and Josu Aurrekoetxea, at Oxford University, UK, published in Living Reviews in Relativity, proposes a way forward: using complex computer simulations to numerically (rather than exactly) solve Einstein's equations for gravity in extreme situations. /news/2025-08-big-method.html Astronomy Thu, 21 Aug 2025 08:48:11 EDT news674984887 A plucked guitar string can vibrate for seconds before falling silent. A playground swing, emptied of its passenger, will gradually come to rest. These are what physicists call "damped harmonic oscillators" and are well understood in terms of Newton's laws of motion. /news/2025-08-physicists-year-puzzle-quantum-damped.html Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Fri, 15 Aug 2025 14:08:03 EDT news674485681 Solar cells and computer chips need silicon layers that are as perfect as possible. Every imperfection in the crystalline structure increases the risk of reduced efficiency or defective switching processes. /news/2025-07-cosmic-chips-cooling-triggers-phase.html Condensed Matter Tue, 22 Jul 2025 07:30:05 EDT news672386224 The quantum computing revolution draws ever nearer, but the need for a computer that makes correctable errors continues to hold it back. /news/2025-07-error-resistant-quantum-gates-exotic.html Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Mon, 14 Jul 2025 12:46:44 EDT news671716000 Well, it's July 12, which means (a) the Steam Summer Sale is over and (b) it's really hot outside in the northeastern U.S. This week, researchers discovered a cool new fish and named it after Darth Vader. An analysis of the DART mission suggests that while it proved that an impactor could alter the trajectory of an asteroid, it ejected boulders in unpredictable directions that could complicate other impactor missions. And archaeologists uncovered a rock art panel that could depict an elite individual from the First Dynasty. /news/2025-07-saturday-citations-theory-interstellar-comet.html Other Sat, 12 Jul 2025 09:00:01 EDT news671456575 In physics, there are two great pillars of thought that don't quite fit together. The Standard Model of particle physics describes all known fundamental particles and three forces: electromagnetism, the strong nuclear force, and the weak nuclear force. Meanwhile, Einstein's general relativity describes gravity and the fabric of spacetime. /news/2025-07-large-hadron-collider-snap-theory.html Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Fri, 11 Jul 2025 04:25:28 EDT news671426717 Researchers, in a recent Â鶹ÒùÔºical Review Letters paper, introduce a new mechanism that may finally allow ultralight dark photons to be considered serious candidates for dark matter, with promising implications for detection efforts. /news/2025-06-cosmic-dark-photons.html Astronomy Thu, 19 Jun 2025 07:00:01 EDT news669460467 String theory has long been touted as physicists' best candidate for describing the fundamental nature of the universe, with elementary particles and forces described as vibrations of tiny threads of energy. But in the early 21st century, it was realized that most of the versions of reality described by string theory's equations cannot match up with observations of our own universe. /news/2025-06-theory-swampland-problem-conflicts-dark.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Mon, 09 Jun 2025 12:50:31 EDT news668692227 An international team led by Innsbruck quantum physicist Peter Zoller, together with the US company QuEra Computing, has directly observed a gauge field theory similar to models from particle physics in a two-dimensional analog quantum simulator for the first time. The study, published in Nature, opens up new possibilities for research into fundamental physical phenomena. /news/2025-06-2d-quantum-simulator.html Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Wed, 04 Jun 2025 13:14:49 EDT news668261686 Across the cosmos, many stars can be found in pairs, gracefully circling one another. Yet one of the most dramatic pairings occurs between two orbiting black holes, formed after their massive progenitor stars exploded in supernova blasts. If these black holes lie close enough together, they will ultimately collide and form an even more massive black hole. /news/2025-06-star-quakes-monster-simulate-black.html Astronomy Tue, 03 Jun 2025 15:07:05 EDT news668182021 Nature categorizes particles into two fundamental types: fermions and bosons. While matter-building particles such as quarks and electrons belong to the fermion family, bosons typically serve as force carriers—examples include photons, which mediate electromagnetic interactions, and gluons, which govern nuclear forces. /news/2025-05-dimensional-anyons-exotic-quasiparticles-coldest.html Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Wed, 28 May 2025 11:00:07 EDT news667639621 A study published in Nature has established a new benchmark in modeling the universe's most extreme events: the collisions of black holes and neutron stars. This research, led by Professor Jan Plefka at Humboldt University of Berlin and Queen Mary University London's Dr. Gustav Mogull, formerly at Humboldt Universität and the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Â鶹ÒùÔºics (Albert Einstein Institute), and conducted in collaboration with an international team of physicists, provides unprecedented precision in calculations crucial to understanding gravitational waves. /news/2025-05-insights-black-hole-gravitational-unveiled.html Astronomy Wed, 14 May 2025 11:00:21 EDT news666281641 In the context of quantum physics, the term "duality" refers to transformations that link apparently distinct physical theories, often unveiling hidden symmetries. Some recent studies have been aimed at understanding and implementing duality transformations, as this could aid the study of quantum states and symmetry-protected phenomena. /news/2025-04-duality-unitary-linear-depth-quantum.html Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Thu, 01 May 2025 07:00:01 EDT news665157136 During the latter part of the 20th century, string theory was put forward as a unifying theory of physics foundations. String theory has not, however, fulfilled expectations. That is why we are of the view that the scientific community needs to reconsider what comprises elementary forces and particles. /news/2025-04-einstein-field-theory.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Thu, 10 Apr 2025 10:24:52 EDT news663499484 A team of physicists have discovered a new approach that redefines the conception of a black hole by mapping out their detailed structure, as shown in a research study recently published in Journal of High Energy Â鶹ÒùÔºics. /news/2025-04-theoretical-physicists-unveil-supermazes-decode.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Thu, 03 Apr 2025 12:21:03 EDT news662901661 How gravity causes a perfectly spherical ball to roll down an inclined plane is part of the elementary school physics canon. But the world is messier than a textbook. /news/2025-03-dirac-plate-hairy-ball-theorem.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Thu, 27 Mar 2025 16:35:03 EDT news662312101 In a new Â鶹ÒùÔºical Review Letters study, researchers propose an experimental approach that could finally determine whether gravity is fundamentally classical or quantum in nature. /news/2025-03-distinguishing-classical-quantum-gravity-stochastic.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Wed, 05 Mar 2025 12:20:01 EST news660395365 When you look at your surrounding environment, it might seem like you're living on a flat plane. After all, this is why you can navigate a new city using a map: a flat piece of paper that represents all the places around you. This is likely why some people in the past believed the Earth to be flat. But most people now know that is far from the truth. /news/2025-02-universe-mathematicians-topology.html Mathematics Wed, 26 Feb 2025 13:23:06 EST news659798583 Superconducting materials are similar to the carpool lane in a congested interstate. Like commuters who ride together, electrons that pair up can bypass the regular traffic, moving through the material with zero friction. /news/2025-02-physicists-key-aspect-superconductivity-magic.html Superconductivity Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Wed, 05 Feb 2025 11:00:08 EST news657883337 In the first study of its kind at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the CMS collaboration has tested whether top quarks adhere to Einstein's special theory of relativity. The research is published in the journal Â鶹ÒùÔºics Letters B. /news/2025-01-clocking-nature-heaviest-elementary-particle.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Thu, 23 Jan 2025 10:00:18 EST news656848809 String theory, conceptualized more than 50 years ago as a framework to explain the formation of matter, remains elusive as a "provable" phenomenon. But a team of physicists has now taken a significant step forward in validating string theory by using an innovative mathematical method that points to its "inevitability." /news/2024-12-physical-reality-physicists-bootstrap-validity.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Tue, 17 Dec 2024 14:35:03 EST news653668501 A collaborative study between the University of Helsinki, Aarhus University, the National Museum of Denmark and Seattle University examined the cognitive, cultural and historical significance of traditional string figures. The study explored whether certain string figures evolved independently in different parts of the world or share a common ancestry. /news/2024-12-figures-cultural-roots-mathematical.html Mathematics Social Sciences Tue, 17 Dec 2024 10:55:03 EST news653655301 Helping out your neighbor or minding your own business? A challenging choice with different benefits for each decision. Game theory provides guidance in making such choices—from a theoretical perspective. /news/2024-12-thy-neighbor-reveal-network-cooperation.html Mathematics Social Sciences Fri, 06 Dec 2024 11:44:36 EST news652707862 The search for the universe's dark matter could end tomorrow—given a nearby supernova and a little luck. The nature of dark matter has eluded astronomers for 90 years, since the realization that 85% of the matter in the universe is not visible through our telescopes. The most likely dark matter candidate today is the axion, a lightweight particle that researchers around the world are desperately trying to find. /news/2024-11-nearby-supernova-dark.html Astronomy Thu, 21 Nov 2024 14:43:01 EST news651422574 Mysterious, repeating sounds from the depths of the ocean can be terrifying to some, but in the 1980s, they presented a unique look at an underwater soundscape. /news/2024-11-quack-underwater-coast-zealand-80s.html Ecology Other Thu, 21 Nov 2024 13:08:28 EST news651416901