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. Nanophotonic light emitters are compact and versatile devices with wide-ranging applications in applied physics. In a new report now published on Science Advances, Ki Young Lee and a research team in physics and engineering in China and the UK, proposed to develop a topological beam emitter structure of a submicron-footprint size and high efficiency, with adaptable beam shaping capacity. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-explores-topological.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 30 Dec 2022 11:00:01 EST news591617491 A team of researchers at Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, has discovered that the film that makes up ordinary soap bubbles is cooler than the surrounding air. In their paper published in the journal Physical Review Letters, the group describes experiments they conducted with soap bubbles. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-soap-cooler-air.html General Physics Soft Matter Fri, 30 Dec 2022 10:30:03 EST news591617907 A team of researchers from Università di Firenze, the University of South Florida, California Institute of Technology and Princeton University has found an incidence of a quasicrystal formed during an accidental electrical discharge. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-quasicrystal-accidental-electrical-discharge.html Earth Sciences Fri, 30 Dec 2022 10:11:45 EST news591617502 By analyzing the data from ESA's Gaia satellite, astronomers from the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (SHAO) in China have detected 101 new open clusters in the Milky Way galaxy. The discovery was presented in a paper published December 21 on the arXiv pre-print repository. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-chinese-astronomers-clusters.html Astronomy Fri, 30 Dec 2022 10:11:26 EST news591617481 Poor old Venera 9, the Soviet Union's Venus lander, separated from its orbiter and made a hot, violent descent through the dense Venusian atmosphere on October 22, 1975, landing hard on a circular shield designed to crumple and absorb the impact. It only survived the intense surface conditions for 53 minutes, transmitting data regarding clouds, light irradiance, temperature and atmospheric chemistry, as well as the first image ever taken of the surface of another planet. And then it died. But its findings were significant because Venus and Earth are similar terrestrial planets believed to have formed through similar processes. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-venus-earth-like-lithospheric-thickness.html Planetary Sciences Fri, 30 Dec 2022 09:30:02 EST news591548106 Using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), an international team of astronomers has detected a new "hot Jupiter" exoplanet. The newfound alien world, estimated to be nearly three times as massive as Jupiter, orbits a rapidly rotating star known as TOI-778. The finding is reported in a paper published December 16 on the arXiv pre-print server. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-tess-hot-jupiter-exoplanet-orbiting.html Astronomy Planetary Sciences Thu, 29 Dec 2022 11:50:01 EST news591529040 A team of researchers at Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, working with a colleague at the University of Texas at Austin and another from Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia, has found evidence of ripe conditions for planet formation in the vicinity of two closely orbiting protostars. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-action-protostars-conditions-planet-formation.html Astronomy Thu, 29 Dec 2022 11:30:01 EST news591534942 A team of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, working with a colleague from Temple University, has found that transcriptional adaptation appears to play a role in inherited epigenetic changes. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-transcriptional-play-role-inherited-epigenetic.html Evolution Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 29 Dec 2022 10:30:01 EST news591528982 Though humans, along with other vertebrate and invertebrate organisms, don't photosynthesize, we're definitely the downstream beneficiaries of the life forms that do. Phototrophic organisms at the bottom of the food chain convert abundant sunlight into the energy that ultimately powers all other life. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-belt-alpine-lake-bacteria-deploy.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 29 Dec 2022 09:40:01 EST news591460109 A team of researchers at the University of Manchester's Centre for Audiology and Deafness, has found that musicians tend to listen to music at louder volume than non-musicians. Antonia Olivia Dolan, Emanuele Perugia and Karolina Kluk asked volunteers to listen to music at sound levels they found enjoyable and then noted the difference in volume levels between musicians and non-musicians. The findings are published in the journal PLOS ONE. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-musicians-enjoy-louder-music-non-musicians.html Social Sciences Wed, 28 Dec 2022 14:00:01 EST news591456748 A trio of researchers—one with the Indian government's Ministry of Earth Sciences, another with the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and the third with the National Institute of Advanced Studies, also in India—has found that some species of wild penguins may have some degree of self-awareness. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-mirror-wild-penguins-self-awareness.html Plants & Animals Ecology Wed, 28 Dec 2022 13:31:58 EST news591456696 A team of researchers affiliated with multiple institutions in the U.S. has found that placing labels on foods sold at fast food restaurants informing consumers of the negative impact of the production of such foods on the planet can alter consumer buying habits. In their paper published on JAMA Network Open, the group describes conducting an online survey using a fictional restaurant to learn more about consumer food buying choices. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-climate-impact-food-sold-fast.html Environment Wed, 28 Dec 2022 10:25:12 EST news591445504 Astronomers from the Aryabhatta Research Institute of observational sciencES (ARIES) and from the Physical Research Laboratory in India report the detection of 57 variable stars in the field of the open cluster NGC 381. The discovery was detailed in a paper published December 19 on the arXiv preprint server. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-indian-astronomers-dozens-variable-stars.html Astronomy Wed, 28 Dec 2022 05:30:01 EST news591355753 A team of researchers at the University of Rhode Island, working with a colleague at the University of Richmond, has found that despite laws banning the sale of hatchling turtles, there is a thriving online market for them in the U.S. In their paper published in the open-access journal PLOS One, the group describes their survey of online sites selling turtles and whether such sites were adhering to federal regulations. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-small-turtle-online-pet-flourishing.html Ecology Veterinary medicine Tue, 27 Dec 2022 12:23:08 EST news591366163 Using the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) onboard the International Space Station (ISS), an international team of astronomers has inspected the recent outburst of an accreting millisecond X-ray pulsar known as SAX J1808.4−3658. Results of the study, published December 19 on the preprint server arXiv, shed more light on the nature of this source. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-latest-outburst-pulsar-sax-j180843658.html Astronomy Tue, 27 Dec 2022 09:28:48 EST news591355704 A team of researchers from Bariloche Atomic Center and Fundación Instituto Leloir—IIBBA—CONICET, both in Argentina, has found that male fruit flies inject females with a chemical while mating that makes them sleep after sex so that they will not mate with other males. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-male-fruit-flies-chemical-females.html Plants & Animals Evolution Fri, 23 Dec 2022 10:15:42 EST news591012928 A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in the U.S. and one in Canada has characterized a large number of red pigment samples found on the bones of ancient people who once lived in what is now southern Peru. In their paper published in Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, the group describes their study of the pigments. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-characterizing-red-pigment-ancient-bone.html Archaeology Fri, 23 Dec 2022 09:30:01 EST news591010116 A team of researchers at the University of Western Australia, working with a colleague from the University of Exeter, has found that as female southern pied babblers grow older, they produce more offspring—even as they lose some of their cognitive abilities. In their study, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the group tested the cognitive abilities of the birds as they aged in the wild while also noting their reproduction levels. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-cognitive-abilities-female-southern-pied.html Plants & Animals Ecology Fri, 23 Dec 2022 09:27:57 EST news591010054 A team of researchers affiliated with multiple institutions in Japan, working with colleagues from Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia and Ghana, has found evidence of mosquitoes that are highly resistant to common insecticides in both Vietnam and Cambodia. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-mosquitoes-highly-resistant-insecticides-vietnam.html Plants & Animals Evolution Thu, 22 Dec 2022 11:10:04 EST news590929239 A team of researchers affiliated with multiple institutions in the U.S., working with a colleague from France and another from Guatemala, has discovered a very large 2,000-year-old Mayan civilization in northern Guatemala. In their paper published in the journal Ancient Mesoamerica, the group describes using LiDAR to conduct a survey of the area. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-huge-year-old-mayan-civilization-northern.html Archaeology Thu, 22 Dec 2022 10:59:11 EST news590929147 By analyzing the data from NASA's Swift spacecraft and from the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) onboard the International Space Station, astronomers have investigated an active optical transient known as AT2021fxu. Results of the study, published December 14 on the arXiv preprint server, deliver important insights into the nature of this transient, revealing that it is a changing-look active galactic nucleus. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-at2021fxu-changing-look-galactic-nucleus.html Astronomy Thu, 22 Dec 2022 09:26:27 EST news590923581 In recent years, many physicists and material scientists have been studying superconductors, materials that can conduct direct current electricity without energy loss when cooled under a particular temperature. These materials could have numerous valuable applications, for instance generating energy for imaging machines (e.g., MRI scanners), trains, and other technological systems. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-spin-orbit-parity-coupled-superconductivity-thin-2m-ws2.html Superconductivity Quantum Physics Wed, 21 Dec 2022 11:50:01 EST news590843301 An international team of researchers has found the first evidence of a dinosaur eating a mammal. In their paper published in Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, the group describes their reexamination of a fossil found more than 20 years ago. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-evidence-dinosaur-mammal.html Paleontology & Fossils Wed, 21 Dec 2022 10:30:02 EST news590840747 A team of researchers at the University of Patras's, OCEANUS- Lab has found evidence suggesting that early human ancestors (extinct hominids) may have sailed across the Aegean Sea. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-human-ancestors-aegean-sea.html Archaeology Wed, 21 Dec 2022 10:15:52 EST news590840147 Using the radial velocity (RV) method, an international team of astronomers has discovered two new exoplanets transiting a nearby M-dwarf star known as GJ 1002. The newfound alien worlds have masses similar to that of our planet and orbit the host star in its habitable zone. The finding is reported in a paper published in Astronomy & Astrophysics. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-earth-mass-exoplanets-orbiting-nearby-star.html Astronomy Planetary Sciences Wed, 21 Dec 2022 09:55:11 EST news590838908 A group of researchers from the University of California Los Angeles and the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health has found that fossil fuel plants are more likely to be found near to neighborhoods identified as hazardous during HOLC redlining. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-power-proximity-neighborhoods-hazardous-holc.html Environment Tue, 20 Dec 2022 09:40:01 EST news590751333 A pair of researchers at NASA working with a colleague from the University of Colorado at Boulder and another from the University of Washington-Seattle has found evidence suggesting that there might be enough wind on Mars to power wind turbines after all. In their study, published in the journal Nature Astronomy, the group adapted a climate model to simulate conditions on Mars and to learn about wind patterns and strength. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-simulations-thought-mars-powering-turbines.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 20 Dec 2022 09:20:01 EST news590750273 Using the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST), Chinese astronomers have inspected single-pulse behavior of a rotating radio transient (RRAT) known as PSR J0628+0909. Results of the study, published November 22 in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, could help us better understand the mysterious nature of RRATs. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-single-pulse-behavior-rotating-radio-transient.html Astronomy Tue, 20 Dec 2022 08:41:03 EST news590748057 An international team of researchers studying material from the asteroid Ryugu returned to Earth by the Hayabusa-2 Japanese space probe has found evidence that the asteroid formed in an outer part of the solar system, near where comets tend to form. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-isotopic-signatures-ryugu-comets-unique.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 19 Dec 2022 11:20:02 EST news590669339 A team of researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tsinghua University and Peking University has determined the holoenzyme structure of monkeypox DNA using cryo-electron microscopy. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes the process they used to reveal the structure of the virus DNA and some of the attributes that they were able to see. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-monkeypox-dna-revealed-cryo-electron-microscopy.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 19 Dec 2022 11:20:01 EST news590669538