Science News
What really drives tourists to choose a hotel? New global study reveals the answer
Why do travelers choose one hotel over another, and what makes them return?
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2026-09-09 23:20:06
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Phys.org
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Unconventional quantum materials could dramatically boost the search for dark matter
For decades, physicists have searched for dark matter, the invisible substance thought to make up roughly 85% of all matter in the universe. Although its gravitational influence shapes galaxies and the large-scale structure of the cosmos, dark matter has never been directly detected. Now, an international team has identified a new class of quantum materials that could dramatically improve the search for some of the lightest and most elusive forms of dark matter.
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2026-09-09 23:20:04
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Phys.org
Science News
LLM use may threaten freedom of thought and equality across law, journalism and education
The Human Rights Center at UC Berkeley School of Law has released a human rights assessment of the use of large language models (LLMs) in the fields of law, journalism and education.
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2026-09-09 23:00:05
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Phys.org
Science News
Tiny salt crevices could act as miniature 'Greenhouses' for Martian microbes
We've been searching for life on Mars for a long time, but so far we've come up empty. The fundamental problem is a Catch-22 involving two of the key ingredients for life. Life as we know it needs liquid water and reasonable temperatures, both of which are available on Mars, but hardly ever at the same time. But a new paper from lead author Anna Bognar and her team at ELTE Eötvös Loránd University and the Konkoly Observatory describes a way for life to access both requirements at the same time—by hiding away in salt crystals.
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2026-09-09 23:00:02
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Phys.org
Science News
New insect genus and four species named for Taylor Swift and her albums
Taylor Swift is now the namesake of a genus of plant-feeding insects from Australia that were previously unknown to science.
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2026-09-09 22:40:01
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Phys.org
Science News
End impunity for targeted attacks on schools and universities, urge experts
Scholasticide—deliberate attacks on a society's education system in armed conflict—is a war crime that must be publicly condemned and its perpetrators held to account, insists an editorial published by The BMJ.
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2026-09-09 22:30:05
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Phys.org
Science News
AI ethics problem may lie with organizations, not engineers, study finds
AI engineers often recognize ethical risks associated with the systems they build, but many lack the authority, incentives and organizational support needed to act on them, according to new research from the University of Manchester.
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2026-09-09 22:20:05
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Phys.org
Science News
Natural clay reveals a new way to control ion transport at the angstrom scale
Researchers at the National Graphene Institute have shown that naturally occurring channels within a common clay mineral can respond to pressure, voltage and pH, offering possibilities for controlling the movement of ions through extremely small, confined spaces. The study, published in Advanced Materials, focuses on vermiculite, a naturally abundant layered clay whose structure contains channels only a few angstroms high, providing naturally confined pathways through which ions can move.
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2026-09-09 22:20:01
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Phys.org
Science News
Molecular surface design achieves over 100 million-fold tuning of porous liquid viscosity
Porous liquids combine permanent nanoscale cavities with fluidity, making them promising for applications like carbon dioxide capture, gas separation and other chemical processes. Their viscosity must be tailored to the intended application: Lower-viscosity liquids are easier to pump and circulate while facilitating faster heat and mass transfer, whereas higher-viscosity liquids provide greater structural stability in membrane formation.
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2026-09-09 22:00:08
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Phys.org
Science News
Africa's rocks hold ancient stories. We need better ways to document and protect them
From the Vredefort Dome in South Africa (the world's oldest and largest known meteorite impact structure) to the volcanic lakes of the Great Rift Valley in Kenya, Africa's landscapes hold some of Earth's oldest stories. Morocco's M'Goun UNESCO Global Geopark records more than 200 million years of geological history, while Tanzania's Ngorongoro-Lengai landscape brings together a vast caldera, an active volcano and the fossil record of Olduvai Gorge.
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2026-09-09 22:00:01
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Phys.org
Science News
How adoption of a new crop reshaped land use in Bronze Age Europe
A new study published in Science Advances reveals how Bronze Age communities in Central Europe adapted to changing environmental and social conditions by adopting broomcorn millet, a fast-growing, climate-resilient crop.
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2026-09-09 21:50:01
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Phys.org
Science News
'America's Nobel' prizes go to sleep and hemophilia researchers, and to Michael J. Fox for Parkinson's advocacy
This year's Lasker Awards — coveted prizes for biomedical research that are sometimes called "America's Nobel Prizes" — have gone to scientists behind fundamental discoveries in sleep science and to researchers who developed a groundbreaking treatment for hemophilia.Additionally, a Lasker Award for public service went to actor Michael J. Fox for his advocacy for patients with Parkinson's disease that has helped advance research into the neurodegenerative condition. The prizes, each of which comes with an honorarium of $250,000, will be presented in person Sept. 17 in New York City. The awardees were announced Wednesday (Sept. 9) by the Lasker Foundation, which was established in 1942 by the ...
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2026-09-09 21:47:17
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