Study reveals how clown anemonefish adjust their growth to their environments. Research has shown how clown anemonefish control their growth to match the size of their anemone host. Scientists from Newcastle and Boston Universities investigated the relationship between the size of the fish and the size of the anemone by pairing clown anemonefish with anemones of various sizes in a series of lab experiments. They found that that fish on larger anemones grow faster than fish on smaller anemones. The…
Scientists discover evolutionary origin of the body axis. A new study describes the formation of the body axis in the immortal freshwater polyp Hydra. It is controlled by the so-called hippo signaling pathway, a molecular biological process that, among other functions, ensures that our organs do not continue to grow indefinitely. The study was led by the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute in Toronto and the Washington University School of Medicine. The Department of Zoology of the University of Innsbruck, Austria, was…
Networks adapt over time and in this way form a kind of memory. This is the key finding of a new study by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization in Göttingen and the Technical University of Munich. They show that the structure of blood vascular network is dynamic and can adapt to external factors. In particular, the scientists found that rarely used connections are weakening more and more until they disappear eventually. The vascular system within…
When different cell types compete in a confined space, those which remove debris faster have a better chance to dominate their environment. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS) showed in their model that not only a higher net proliferation rate, but also the swift removal of dead cells provides a competitive advantage. They mixed two cell populations only differing in debris removal rate and showed that already after a few generations the population with the…
CSU researcher offers first observations of milky seas observed from the Earth’s surface, and from space at the same time. Milky seas – the rare phenomenon of glowing areas on the ocean’s surface that can cover hundreds of square miles – are not new to scientists at Colorado State University. They have previously demonstrated the use of satellites to see these elusive phenomena. What was missing were photographic observations of milky seas observed from the Earth’s surface and from space at the same…
The first direct observations of size-resolved ice nucleating particles in the central Arctic, spanning entire sea ice growth and decline cycle. While climate change is taking effect everywhere on Earth, the Arctic Circle is feeling those effects most of all, in the form of glacial melt, permafrost thaw and sea ice decline. Key players in climate change include the clouds that cover the Earth’s surface and the microscopic, airborne aerosols called ice nucleating particles that seed the formation of ice in those…
Team led by Simon Haberstroh demonstrates that cork oaks under gum rockrose invasion change their water use strategy during drought, thereby consuming less water The modified strategy causes the cork oak to take up less carbon, resulting in reduced growth Haberstroh: “Until now, we were not aware that competition for water between plants can lead to such a change in water use strategy” What strategies and adaptive measures does the cork oak (Quercus suber) use in savanna-like ecosystems in southeastern…
… on a mission to one day battle cancer. Scientists add artificial components to bacteria for better control and an extra therapeutic effect in seeking and destroying tumor cells Stuttgart – A team of scientists in the Physical Intelligence Department at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems have combined robotics with biology by equipping E. coli bacteria with artificial components to construct biohybrid microrobots. Firstly, as can be seen in Figure 1, the team attached several nanoliposomes to each…
When researchers working on the Human Genome Project completely mapped the genetic blueprint of humans in 2001, they were surprised to find only around 20,000 genes that produce proteins. Could it be that humans have only about twice as many genes as a common fly? Scientists had expected considerably more. Now, researchers from 20 institutions worldwide bring together more than 7,200 unrecognized gene segments that potentially code for new proteins. For the first time, the study makes use of a…
Optimized light paths, high-throughput laser scribing and the use of established coating processes paves the way to commercial viability – publication in nature energy. Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have developed a prototype for fully scalable all-perovskite tandem solar modules. These modules have an efficiency of up to 19.1 percent with an aperture area of 12.25 square centimeters. This result, the first of its kind reported worldwide, was made possible by improving efficiency with optimized light paths,…
Mechanism Discovered that Enables Innate Immune System to Detect Viruses Like HIV early. Researchers at the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut participating in an international research network have discovered a two-step mechanism of the innate immune system that also makes it possible to specifically recognise HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) and trigger an early immune response. This knowledge could be used in the development of vaccines that could strengthen this mechanism. The body could thus produce its own defence against HIV effectively and early. Molecular…
Scientists discover previously unknown mechanism that regulates the growth hormone auxin. Plant growth is not a uniform process: Plants grow in length at the shoot and root tip in particular, while in other places they form new leaves or flowers. These different processes must be coordinated with each another and at the same time react to external influences such as temperature and light. The plant hormone auxin is an important integrator in this regard: The molecule functions as a growth…
Never heard of the acronym OECMs? Then it’s high time you did. It stands for a new instrument for the protection of biodiversity on land and in the sea. Researchers from the U Bremen Research Alliance want to help establish alternative protected areas – for example in the Coral Triangle off Indonesia. The sharks and manta rays of Raja Ampat are a real attraction. Divers from all over the world flock to the archipelago in eastern Indonesia to see them…
By mimicking features of living systems, self-organising lasers could lead to new materials for sensing, computing, light sources and displays. While many artificial materials have advanced properties, they have a long way to go to combine the versatility and functionality of living materials that can adapt to their situation. For example, in the human body bone and muscle continuously reorganise their structure and composition to better sustain changing weight and level of activity. Now, researchers from Imperial College London and…
Humans are famously social animals. But they are not alone in their tendency to team up with other individuals of the same species (conspecifics) to reach their goals. In fact, herds of mammals, flocks of birds, or shoals of fish are abundantly observed in nature. How does an animal’s brain recognize other animals of its own kind? Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence, in foundation, study this process in young zebrafish. They now discovered a neuronal circuit…
More of the world’s coastal glaciers are melting faster than ever, but exactly what’s triggering the large-scale retreat has been difficult to pin down because of natural fluctuations in the glaciers’ surroundings. Now, researchers at the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics (UTIG) and Georgia Tech have developed a methodology that they think cracks the code to why coastal glaciers are retreating, and in turn, how much can be attributed to human-caused climate change. Attributing the human role for coastal…
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