Complex activity patterns emerge from simple underlying laws

A new study from researchers at Uppsala University and University of Havana uses mathematic modeling and experiments on ants to show that a group is capable of developing flexible resource management strategies and characteristic ...

Counting small RNA in disease-causing organisms

Small molecules of RNA (tens to hundreds of nucleotides in length) play a key regulatory role in bacteria. Due to their small size, directly measuring the number of small RNA (sRNA) present in a single bacterium has proven ...

New material gets itself into shape

Inspired by plant components that respond to external stimuli, material scientists from ETH Zurich have devised a new method for producing composite materials from a variety of materials that adopt a pre-programmed shape ...

Putting the clock in 'cock-a-doodle-doo'

Of course, roosters crow with the dawn. But are they simply reacting to the environment, or do they really know what time of day it is? Researchers reporting on March 18 in Current Biology have evidence that puts the clock ...

A single molecule in sight: Intelligent molecules

Intelligence is not only a matter of humans and animals. Scientists speak also of intelligent molecules. The latter directly react to external stimuli and change reversibly their shape. NIM physicists demonstrate the process ...

Pilot whales use synchronised swimming when they sense danger

An international team of scientists have observed the behaviour of various groups of cetaceans in the Strait of Gibraltar and Cape Breton in Canada belonging to the Globicephala melas species, which are also known as long-finned ...

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