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.
Studying social behavior is crucial for understanding how certain neuromodulatory pathways—like the serotonin pathway, which influences mood and social interactions—are regulated. Kavita Babu, Professor at the Centre for ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Feb 25, 2026
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14
Whether people follow a general trend when choosing a partner or consciously decide against it has a noticeable impact on the diversity of phenotypes to choose from. This is shown by a new study by the University of Würzburg.
Evolution
Feb 24, 2026
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30
Sometimes, transporting electrons from one cell to another is a team effort. In electroactive bacteria, that team is a group of proteins that shepherds electrons forward, passing them along like a relay baton, so they can ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 23, 2026
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14
When honey bees find a good source of food, they return to their hive and perform a waggle dance. It consists of a series of movements that communicate the direction and distance to nectar, pollen or water relative to the ...
Recurrent droughts, conflict, and changing land use have placed significant strain on pastoral populations in the dryland regions of Africa, resulting in numerous crises that require humanitarian intervention. Pastoralism ...
Environment
Feb 20, 2026
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15
Growing up, you probably changed your style based on your social influences. It turns out, such pressures affect the appearance of young clownfish (anemonefish) too. A new study from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology ...
Evolution
Feb 19, 2026
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23
An international collaboration using the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) has published an exceptionally detailed radio sky map, revealing 13.7 million cosmic sources and delivering the most complete census yet of actively growing ...
Astronomy
Feb 19, 2026
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62
We like to think that animals follow the crowd. If most of the group does something, surely the individual will copy. But what if the story is more complicated? What if the deciding factor isn't just what the majority is ...
A new study sheds light on how farmer-led collaboration can help create the conditions to address biodiversity loss in agricultural landscapes. The research looks at "farmer clusters"—groups of farmers working together across ...
Ecology
Feb 10, 2026
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15
Imagine an asteroid striking Earth and wiping out most of the human population. Even if some lucky people survived the impact, Homo sapiens might still face extinction, because the social networks humans rely on would collapse.
Plants & Animals
Feb 5, 2026
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