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Ecologists have necessarily had to simplify matters in looking at predator–prey dynamics. Study of a situation in which predator and prey live in groups reveals that a key process was previously overlooked.
Measurements on the attosecond timescale had been limited to the dynamics of electrons in an atomic gas. But a record has now been set in a quite different context — the photoemission of electrons from a surface.
The results of a powerful combination of computer modelling and experimental tests can account for the establishment of gradients of the plant molecule auxin and for major patterning elements in the plant root.
How do nonspecific enzymes that help to correct RNA folding identify misfolded structures among similar, properly folded RNAs? It seems that careful discrimination has little to do with it.
For most atomic nuclei, the maximum number of neutrons that can be bound is unknown. The discovery of two neutron-rich nuclei — and the confirmed absence of others — might help solve this conundrum.
A major hurdle in treating cancer is that tumour cells acquire drug resistance. To overcome this problem, one strategy might be to fine-tune the right mixture of drugs that target specific molecules.
A literature meta-analysis of the effects of nitrogen and phosphorus on plant growth prompts a thought-provoking inference — that the supply of, and demand for, these nutrients are usually in close balance.
The mass of a black hole beyond our Galaxy has been calculated, thanks to the presence of an associated star. The hole is the weightiest yet, placing intriguing constraints on how this binary system developed.
A South African cave overlooking the Indian Ocean was apparently a desirable residence for early humans. The site has provided rich evidence for the early use of colour and marine resources.
After the supercontinent of Gondwanaland broke up, the part that became India diverged especially swiftly from the other fragments. The explanation for this might lie in the loss of India's deep roots.
Long touted as a theory of everything, it seems that string theory may at last succeed as a theory of something very specific — the interactions of particles under the strong nuclear force.
Direct injection of proteins into host cells is one of the tricks bacteria use during infection. It seems that, to achieve this, the stomach pathogen Helicobacter pylori first grabs the cell by its surface receptors.
When we observe laser light, we typically measure its intensity, and so wave amplitude. The phase, which encodes further details of the laser's internal workings, was obscure — but fresh light is being shed on it.
Single genes, chromosomal regions and even entire genomes can undergo duplication. What good can come of these extra copies? Evolution seems to use several tricks to take advantage of the situation.
The behaviour of ferromagnetic and ferroelectric materials in a magnetic or electric field makes them easy to spot. But for their more recently discovered counterpart, ferrotoroidic materials, things become complex.
