BiotechMashup

(Technische Universitaet Muenchen) Biophysicists at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen are leading an effort to develop and apply models of the so-called lateral-line system found in fish and some amphibians. This sensory organ enables an animal, even in murky water, to map its surroundings and recognize other animals. In Physical Review Letters, the researchers report mathematical models that capture essential elements of the system, agree with experimental data, and could be easy to implement technically, as in robots.

Researchers have equipped an underwater robot with a sensory system they expect will eventually prove effective, reliable, and energy-efficient in environments ranging from the sea floor to turbid rivers to sewer pipes. Their model is the lateral-line system, an organ that enables fish and some amphibians to orient themselves, avoid danger, and hunt prey in dark or murky waters. The researchers are simultaneously exploring basic principles, developing biomimetic technology, and demonstrating potential applications.

(Technische Universitaet Muenchen) Researchers have equipped an underwater robot with a sensory system they expect will eventually prove effective, reliable, and energy-efficient in environments ranging from the sea floor to turbid rivers to sewer pipes. Their model is the lateral-line system, an organ that enables fish and some amphibians to orient themselves, avoid danger, and hunt prey in dark or murky waters. The researchers are simultaneously exploring basic principles, developing biomimetic technology, and demonstrating potential applications.

Using an electron microscope, scientists in Europe have captured a snapshot of the beginnings of an organ which plays a central role in how zebrafish perceive the world around them -- the lateral line.

Researchers have discovered a new member of a gene family that has powerful influences on pigmentation and the regulation of body weight. The new gene, an agouti family gene called agrp2, has been found exclusively in bony fish, including zebrafish, trout and salmon. The protein it encodes enables fish to change color dramatically to match their surroundings, the researchers report.

(National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS)) Mathematical models continue to play a major role in the studies of the transmission dynamics and control of malaria, a life-threatening parasitic disease that kills nearly one million people worldwide annually.

Do fish swimming in schools or birds flying in flocks have a collective spirit that enables them to move as one? Are they animals with highly developed cognition, a complex instinct or a telepathic gift? A recent study conducted researchers in the Netherlands points in another direction. Mathematical models of self-organization show that complicated collective behavior can be the consequence of a few simple behavioral rules.

Having a poor "gut sense" of numbers can lead to a mathematical learning disability and difficulty in achieving basic math proficiency. This inaccurate number sense is just one cause of math learning disabilities, according to researchers.

In a challenge to current astrophysical models of the universe, researchers have found that current estimates of the interiors of so-called ice giant planets within and without the solar system overstate water's compressibility by as much as 30 percent, forcing revisions in estimates of other elements.