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41 articles from ScienceDaily

A breakthrough astrophysics code rapidly models stellar collisions

A new breakthrough astrophysics code, named Octo-Tiger, simulates the evolution of self-gravitating and rotating systems of arbitrary geometry using adaptive mesh refinement and a new method to parallelize the code to achieve superior speeds. This new code to model stellar collisions is more expeditious than the established code used for numerical simulations.

Flexible diet may help leaf-eating lemurs survive deforestation

A new study sequencing the genome of four species of sifakas (Propithecus), a genus of lemurs found in Madagascar's forests, reveals that these animals' taste for leaves runs all the way to their genes, which are also more diverse than expected for an endangered species. But they can also thrive on fruit and flowers, which may be an advantage over being strictly leaves-only or fruit-only in the...

Force transmission between cells orchestrates collective cellular motion

How do the billions of cells communicate in order to perform tasks? The cells exert force on their environment through movement - and in doing so, they communicate. They work as a group in order to infiltrate their environment, perform wound healing and the like. They sense the stiffness or softness of their surroundings and this helps them connect and organize their collective effort. But when...

Newly discovered immune cell function vital to healing

Cardiovascular disease, the most common cause of death, is the result of oxygen deprivation as blood perfusion to affected tissue is prevented. To halt the development of the disease and to promote healing, re-establishment of blood flow is crucial. Researchers have now discovered that one of the most common immune cells in the human body, macrophages, play an important role in re-establishing and...

Muscle gene linked to type 2 diabetes

People with type 2 diabetes tend to have poorer muscle function than others. Now a research team has discovered that in type 2 diabetes, a specific gene is of great importance for the ability of muscle stem cells to create new mature muscle cells.

First description of a new octopus species without using a scalpel

A biologist brought a new octopus species to light from depths of more than 4,000 meters in the North Pacific Ocean. Researchers have now published the species description and named the animal 'Emperor dumbo' (Grimpoteuthis imperator). Just as unusual as the organism is the researchers' approach: in order to describe the new species, they did not dissect the rare creature, but instead used...

Climate change affects deep-sea corals and sponges differently

Corals and sponges are important foundations in ocean ecosystems providing structure and habitats that shelter a high number of species like fish, crabs and other creatures, particularly in the seamounts and canyons of the deep sea. Researchers have discovered that when it comes to climate change not all deep-sea corals and sponges are affected the same and some could be threatened if average...

Skeletal defects may be ameliorated after immobility in the womb

Researchers have discovered that some skeletal defects associated with a lack of movement in the womb during early development may still be ameliorated after such periods of immobility if movement resumes. The discovery was made using chicken embryos, which develop similarly to their human equivalents and which can be easily viewed as development takes place - raising hopes that the finding may...

Red Sea is no longer a baby ocean

The Red Sea is a fascinating and still puzzling area of investigation for geoscientists. Controversial questions include its age and whether it represents a special case in ocean basin formation or if it has evolved similarly to other, larger ocean basins. Researchers have now published a new tectonic model that suggests that the Red Sea is not only a typical ocean, but more mature than thought...

Ankle exoskeleton enables faster walking

In lab tests, researchers found that an optimized ankle exoskeleton system increased participants' walking speed by about 40 percent compared with their regular speed. The researchers hope someday to help restore walking speed in older adults.

How philosophy can change the understanding of pain

Researchers have investigated how philosophical approaches can be used to think in new ways about pain and its management. The researchers advocate not merely reducing chronic pain management to searching and treating underlying physical changes but instead adopting an approach that focuses on the person as a whole.

Bacteria and viruses infect our cells through sugars: Now researchers want to know how they do it

Most infectious bacteria and viruses bind to sugars on the surface of our cells. Now researchers have created a library of tens of thousands of natural cells containing all the sugars found on the surface of our cells. The library may help us understand the role played by sugars and their receptors in the immune system and the brain, the researchers behind the study explain.