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A research team at the Humboldt University Berlin and the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) developed an agent-based computer model to simulate the journey of sperm cells through the female genital tract. Key factors for a successful transit could be identified without the use of animal experiments and were published in the scientific journal "PLoS Computational Biology".

A massive study of data collected over 27 years has shown, for the first time on such a large scale, that a model hypothesizing that a process of social inheritance determines how offspring relationships are formed and maintained is correct. The study, published today in the journal Science, also elucidates the major role that social rank plays in structuring the spotted hyena clan, and how this affects survival.

The NIH funded academic institutions to design programs for professional development through "Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training" (BEST), which includes career panels, skill-building workshops, job-search workshops, site visits, and internships. Because doctoral training is lengthy and requires focused attention on research, some researchers feared students participating in additional training activities might diminish their research productivity or delay graduation. To find out if that was true, research staff from several leading institutions analyzed metrics from ten NIH BEST awardee institutions.

Scientist demonstrated a new way of observing atoms as they move in a tiny quantum electronic switch as it operates. Along the way, they discovered a new material state that could pave the way for faster, more energy-efficient computing.

Tufted titmice - tiny songbirds with exceptional memories - process spatial memory using mammalian-like neural mechanisms, researchers report.

Using mouse embryonic stem cells, researchers reconstituted ovarian follicle structures and used them to mature primordial germ cells into fully functional oocytes in vitro, which ultimately produced viable mouse offspring, according to a new report.

Researchers present RoseTTAFold - a neural network approach for protein modeling with accuracies near those of what DeepMind's AlphaFold2 has achieved, according to a new study.

In spotted hyena societies, inherited social networks - passed from mothers to offspring - are essential to hyena life and survival, according to a new study.

Protein design researchers have created a freely available method, RoseTTAFold, to provide access to highly accurate protein structure prediction. Scientists around the world are using it to build protein models to accelerate their research. The tool uses deep learning to quickly predict protein structures based on limited information, thereby compressing the time for what would have taken years of lab work on just one protein. Predicting intricate shapes of proteins vital to specific biological processes could speed treatment development for many diseases.

A collaborative research team, led by the University of Liverpool, has discovered a new inorganic material with the lowest thermal conductivity ever reported. This discovery paves the way for the development of new thermoelectric materials that will be critical for a sustainable society.

Researchers have discovered that a molecule found within many of the body's cells kills germs by dissolving their protective membranes.

Hyenas inherit their social networks from their mothers, according to research led by biologists Erol Akçay of the School of Arts & Sciences and Amiyaal Ilany of Bar-Ilan University, in collaboration with Kay Holekamp of Michigan State University. The study found this network inheritance effect strongest for offspring of higher-ranking mothers. The finding has implications for how social groups are structured and evolve, the researchers say.

Jumping spiders can distinguish living from non-living objects in their peripheral vision using the same cues used by humans and other vertebrate animals, according to a study publishing 15th July 2021 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Massimo De Agrò of Harvard University in the United States.

Adequate blood flow supplies the brain with oxygen and nutrients, but the oxygenation tends to fluctuate in a distinct, consistent manner. The root of this varied activity, though, is poorly understood.

The lack of sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 variants by the U.S. and other countries is imperiling the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, argues Dana Crawford of Case Western Reserve University in a new Viewpoint published July 15th in the journal PLOS Genetics.

During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, a group of geneticists who study the cellular process of meiosis held a virtual discussion of how to boost inclusion of underrepresented groups in their community. Now, Katherine Billmyre of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, María Angélica Bravo Núñez of Harvard University, Francesca Cole of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and colleagues outline the resulting action plan in an opinion piece for the open-access journal PLOS Genetics.

Among 6- and 7-year-olds who were born extremely preterm--before the 28th week of pregnancy--those who had more than two hours of screen time a day were more likely to have deficits in overall IQ, executive functioning (problem solving skills), impulse control and attention, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.

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Contamination of urban lakes, rivers and surface water by human waste is creating pools of 'superbugs' in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMIC) - but improving access to clean water, sanitation and sewerage infrastructure could help to protect people's health, a new study reveals.

What are the fundamental skills that young children need to develop at the start of school for future academic success? Researchers (UNIGE/HEP-VS) examined the links between emotion knowledge, cooperation, locomotor activity and numerical skills in 706 pupils aged 3 to 6. The results show that emotion knowledge, cooperative social behaviour and locomotor activity are interrelated and associated with numerical skills. These results suggest that locomotor activity should be added to these fundamental skills.