Science & Discovery

Science, engineering, and discovery — the research and breakthroughs that matter.

Today's briefStudy documents beef industry group's early efforts to counter climate concernsphys.org · 58m ago
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Stratospheric winds can warn of extreme energy demand in Europe

A breakdown of normal polar winds in winter raises the chance of extreme cold—and a resulting spike in energy demand—in Europe, new research shows. Normally, strong and stable westerly winds circle high above the Arctic in the winter, in what is known as the "stratospheric polar

Brief phys.org · 2h ago · 1 min
Sentinel-3C returns its first views of Earth

Just two weeks after it was launched, the Copernicus Sentinel-3C satellite returned its first images and measurements from two of its key instruments—a major milestone that confirms the satellite is working well and on track to monitor the health of Earth's oceans, land, cryosphe

Brief phys.org · 3h ago · 1 min
Bavaria's ancestral languages: Resisting linguistic genocide

My ancestral languages, Boarisch (Bavarian) and Schwäbisch (Swabian), are routinely described as German dialects. That might sound like a technical linguistic distinction. For me, a Boarisch-Schwob scholar and community member, it raises a practical question: What happens to a pe

Brief phys.org · 4h ago · 1 min
Real-time oxygen measurements expose hidden losses in solar water splitting

A new technique developed at Imperial College London measures oxygen production in real time, revealing hidden losses in solar water splitting. The researchers found that electrical current did not always correspond to oxygen generation in hematite, one of the most widely studied

Brief phys.org · 4h ago · 1 min
How enzyme activity can accelerate molecular movement inside cells

A cell sitting in fluid looks like one of the most passive things in biology. Nutrients drift toward it on the aimless currents of molecular motion, and now and then one bumps into the right spot on the cell's surface and gets pulled inside. This impression of the cell as a lotte

Brief phys.org · 4h ago · 1 min
How companies drift into unethical behavior

Unethical behavior inside organizations is often less sudden than companies assume. New research from ESMT Berlin shows how employees can collectively drift into misconduct as groups gradually reshape what they perceive as ethical or acceptable.

Brief phys.org · 5h ago · 1 min

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Only 9% of major companies use biodiversity indicators, study finds

Biodiversity indicators can help companies make more sustainable decisions. But only 9% of the world's largest companies in sectors with a major impact on biodiversity use such indicators, according to a new study from Lund University. The researchers also show that different ind

phys.org · 2h ago
The genetic switch behind the butterfly's enhanced visual world of color

Many insects see the world through hundreds of tiny lenses that are grouped together in a visual organ known as the compound eye. Behind each lens sits a cluster of eight light-detecting cells arranged in a pattern that scientists believe has existed for hundreds of millions of y

phys.org · 2h ago
Stratospheric winds can warn of extreme energy demand in Europe

A breakdown of normal polar winds in winter raises the chance of extreme cold—and a resulting spike in energy demand—in Europe, new research shows. Normally, strong and stable westerly winds circle high above the Arctic in the winter, in what is known as the "stratospheric polar

phys.org · 2h ago
Bees struggle to smell flowers when air pollutants combine

Bees, moths and other pollinating insects have a harder time smelling flowers in polluted air, according to research led by the University of Reading. Scientists analyzed 22 experimental studies on how the air pollutants ozone and nitrogen oxides (NOx) affect pollinators. Both po

phys.org · 2h ago
Sentinel-3C returns its first views of Earth

Just two weeks after it was launched, the Copernicus Sentinel-3C satellite returned its first images and measurements from two of its key instruments—a major milestone that confirms the satellite is working well and on track to monitor the health of Earth's oceans, land, cryosphe

phys.org · 3h ago
Informal food vendors: The invisible backbone of the world's food system

Walk through almost any city or town in a low-income or middle-income country and you'll pass them: the woman selling deep-fried fish from a cart, the mobile vendor with a bicycle full of vegetables, the kiosk operator who's the only source of a hot meal within walking distance.

phys.org · 3h ago

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