Biologists study social responsiveness in fish In order to escape predators, many fish – including insects, fish and birds – have developed strategies for rapidly transmitting information on threats to others of their species. This information is transmitted within a group of hundreds, or even thousands, of individuals in (escape) waves. This collective response is also, in the case of fish, known as shoal behaviour. Special parasites can, however, manipulate such a survival strategy. Researchers at the University of Münster…

Continued climate change could spell disaster for many species. A new study from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology confirms that most birds–but not all–synchronize their migratory movements with seasonal changes in vegetation greenness. This is the first study of its kind to cover the Western Hemisphere during the year-long life cycle of North American migratory birds that feed on vegetation, seeds, nectar, insects, or meat. The findings were published today in the Journal of Animal Ecology. “As you might expect,…

The distribution of group interactions in a social network affects the critical point at which explosive jumps in opinion, popularity, or disease spread occur. Contagion processes, such as opinion formation or disease spread, can reach a tipping point, where the contagion either rapidly spreads or dies out. When modeling these processes, it is difficult to capture this complex transition, making the conditions that affect the tipping point a challenge to uncover. In the journal Chaos, from AIP Publishing, Nicholas Landry…

Collaborative work of research groups at the University of Würzburg and the TU Dresden has provided important new insights for cancer research. During cell division specific target proteins have to be turned over in a precisely regulated manner. To this end specialized enzymes label the target proteins with signaling molecules. However, the enzymes involved in this process can also label themselves, thus initiating their own degradation. In a multidisciplinary approach, the researchers identified a mechanism of how enzymes can protect…

High-profile research institutions, clinics and companies from seven European countries have formed a European Training Network aiming at the development of innovative light-based procedures for cancer diagnostics and therapy. The PHAST (Photonics for Healthcare: multiscAle cancer diagnosiS and Therapy) program funded by the European Commission provides an excellent, interdisciplinary qualification in the vibrant field of biophotonics for 15 Early Stage Researchers which will be enrolled in a strong multidisciplinary PhD program. The application phase for the program is ongoing and…

Gliding movements to invade host cells. In biological terms, gliding refers to the type of movement during which a cell moves along a surface without changing its shape. This form of movement is unique to parasites from the phylum Apicomplexa, such as Plasmodium and Toxoplasma. Both parasites, which are transmitted by mosquitoes and cats, have an enormous impact on global heath. Plasmodium causes 228 million malaria infections and around 400,000 deaths per year. Toxoplasma, which infects even one third of…

Interdisciplinary research team of Friedrich Schiller University Jena, the Leibniz Institute on Aging – Fritz Lipmann Institute and Jena University Hospital receives 4.5 million euros in funding from the Carl Zeiss Foundation As the saying goes: “You’re only as old as you feel”, suggesting that it is not simply the number of years lived that determines a person’s age. Biological age depends on many factors and is also subject to psychological influences. It is perfectly possible for contemporaries to differ…

Traditionally, neuroscience regards the brain as being made up of two basic tissue types. Until very recently, not much was known about the interface between the white and grey matter – the so-called superficial white matter. Little was known about this thin region linking the grey and white matter because methods were lacking to study it in living human brains. Yet, previous investigations had suggested the region to be implicated in devastating conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and autism. Now…

Interdisciplinary team of researchers combines image-based particle analysis with artificial intelligence. From pollen forecasting, honey analysis and climate-related changes in plant-pollinator interactions, analysing pollen plays an important role in many areas of research. Microscopy is still the gold standard, but it is very time consuming and requires considerable expertise. In cooperation with Technische Universität (TU) Ilmenau, scientists from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) have now developed a method that…

Meta-analysis by research team from the universities of Bielefeld and Jena shows that in animals, difficult living conditions increase risk-taking behaviour in later life The lives of animals in the wild are full of risky situations with uncertain outcomes. Whether they are exploring new habitats in unfamiliar terrain or searching for new food sources, they run the risk of being caught and killed by a predator. In many instances, their very survival depends on a single decision. Whether an animal…

An interdisciplinary team of scientists at the Max Planck Institutes for Intelligent Systems and Solid State Research has developed a biocompatible microswimmer made of carbon nitride, which they can propel forward through light. The particle can also store solar energy similar to miniature solar cells equipped with batteries, and can thus also swim in the dark using the stored energy. Even if the illumination is turned off, it can move forward for about half an hour with just 30 seconds…

Rice researchers find potentially useful electrical phenomenon in gold nanowires Though the Summer Olympics were postponed, there’s at least one place to see agile hurdlers go for the gold. You just need a way to view these electron games. Using a novel optical detection system, researchers at Rice University found that electricity generated by temperature differences doesn’t appear to be affected measurably by grain boundaries placed in its way in nanoscale gold wires, while strain and other defects in the…

Strong interaction between plasmonic nanoparticles and free-space light induced the evanescently confined modes on the nanoparticle surfaces, which holds great promise in plasmonic nanophotonic technologies. Plasmonic nanoparticle with the capability of generating energetic charges makes it being widely exploited in the field of photocatalysis, providing a new paradigm for conversion renewable sunlight to useful fuels and high-value chemicals. Plasmon metal nanoparticles/semiconductors with Schottky barrier at interface are well-received photocatalysts that can achieve charge spatial separation to prolong the lifetime of…

Study shows the need to shield qubits from natural radiation, like cosmic rays from outer space A multidisciplinary research team has shown that radiation from natural sources in the environment can limit the performance of superconducting quantum bits, known as qubits. The discovery, reported today in the journal Nature, has implications for the construction and operation of quantum computers, an advanced form of computing that has attracted billions of dollars in public and private investment globally. The collaboration between teams…

Interdisciplinary research team at Kiel University develops a microchannel matrix for tailored drug release. Glioblastomas are among the most aggressive brain tumours in adults and difficult to treat due to their rapid growth and their diversity. Usually, the malignant tumours cannot be completely or permanently removed by surgery. Thus, a combined radio- and chemotherapy follows, which, however, can be associated with side effects on the entire human body. So-called local therapy approaches are therefore being explored as possible alternatives. These…

The Big Data in Atmospheric Physics (BINARY) project at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) has been granted EUR 1.5 million in funding by the Carl Zeiss…