Collective behavior as a research area investigates how large ensembles of interacting agents—such as cells, animals, humans, or artificial units—generate emergent spatiotemporal patterns and coordinated dynamics that cannot be trivially inferred from individual-level rules. It integrates concepts and methods from statistical physics, nonlinear dynamics, complex systems theory, network science, and computational modeling to characterize phenomena such as synchronization, swarming, flocking, consensus formation, and phase transitions in social or biological systems. Research focuses on identifying local interaction rules, quantifying macroscopic order parameters, understanding robustness and criticality, and developing predictive, often multi-scale, models of group-level organization and decision-making.
A study by Associate Professor Nevin Cohen and colleagues reveals that food waste in U.S. households varies significantly based on behavioral patterns and shopping habits, rather than simple demographics like age or income ...
Environment
Nov 19, 2025
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What do brains and the stock market have in common? While this might sound like a set-up for a joke, new research from U-M researchers reveals that the behaviors of brains and economies during crises can be explained using ...
General Physics
Nov 3, 2025
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Chimpanzees and bonobos structure their social relationships in similar ways to humans, according to a new international study led by researchers from Utrecht University and Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. By analyzing ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 31, 2025
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Synchronization abounds in nature: from the flashing lights of fireflies to the movement of fish wriggling through the ocean, biological systems are often in rhythmic movement with each other. The mechanics of how this synchronization ...
General Physics
Oct 30, 2025
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People need to collaborate effectively when hunting together. Researchers at the University of Konstanz have just discovered that this cooperation also affects their heart rates. Their study observed a special group of fishers ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 30, 2025
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From tiger stripes to leopard spots, the animal world is full of distinctive and intricate patterns. In a new study, CU Boulder scientists refined their previous theory of how animal patterns form and successfully recreated ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 27, 2025
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The quality of relationships and the social organization of a society, influence the transfer of valuable resources not only in humans but also in other primates. Researchers at the German Primate Center (DPZ)—Leibniz Institute ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 23, 2025
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As far as particles of light are concerned, the collective is more important than the individual. When they get to decide between two states, they will favor the one that many of their fellow particles have already adopted. ...
Optics & Photonics
Oct 22, 2025
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It has long been understood that groups of cells can perform complex tasks, such as navigating mazes or strategically colonizing new habitats, even though individual biological cells have only limited ability to respond to ...
Cell & Microbiology
Oct 16, 2025
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Ants make a series of clever architectural adjustments to their nests to prevent the spread of disease, University of Bristol research has uncovered.
Plants & Animals
Oct 15, 2025
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