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A new study has revealed that African Elephants have an extraordinary ability to meet their colossal food requirements as efficiently as possible. Data from over 150 elephants demonstrated that these giants plan their journeys based on energy costs and resource availability. The findings - published in the "Journal of Animal Ecology" - could provide crucial information to help protect these animals and their habitats.

Researchers from Bonn and Tübingen revise an established theory of stimulus processing in nerve cells during memory processing How does the brain retain a sequence of events in memory? Researchers from the University Hospital Bonn (UKB), the University of Bonn, the University Hospital Tübingen and the University of Tübingen investigated this question.

When plants are attacked by pathogenic bacteria, they use chemical and electrical signals to transmit the information from the point of origin on the leaf surface to the inside and go into defence mode. In order to find out how and where the perception of bacterial contact is converted into electrical signals, a research team led by PD Dr Alexandra Furch from the University of Jena investigated how the external stimulus is transmitted.

A newly developed laboratory tool can, within hours, help to identify specific viruses which can be used to destroy variants of the dangerous pathogenic bacteria Staphylococcus aureus. Viruses of bacteria, known as bacteriophages, offer an alternative approach to antibiotics in treating multiresistant pathogens.

A research team at Leipzig University Medicine has found a possible cause for the development of Long Covid. The disruption of certain signaling pathways in the nervous system plays an important role in this. In addition, the positive effect of nicotine patches on Long Covid symptoms was demonstrated for the first time using imaging as part of these therapeutic trials.

In an international study, researchers have examined different fat cells in adipose tissues of the human body. Using innovative technology, they were able to identify unique subpopulations of fat cells for the first time and determine differences between human fat tissues in intercellular communication.

Research team led by Göttingen University studies evolution of plant networks for environmental stress response Without plants on land, humans could not live on Earth. From mosses to ferns to grasses to trees, plants are our food, fodder and timber. All this diversity emerged from an algal ancestor that conquered land long ago.

Did you know that a woman's heartbeat changes in subtle ways during her menstrual cycle? These rhythmic changes, triggered by hormonal fluctuations, offer a unique insight into the complex interactions between the female brain and heart. In a new paper published in Science Advances, Max Planck researchers Jellina Prinsen, Julia Sacher and Arno Villringer explain how these naturally occurring fluctuations could affect stress, mood and long-term cardiovascular and neurological health.

Team led by plant physiologists Iris Finkemeier and Guillaume Née at the University of Münster discovers molecular basis for balance between seed dormancy and stress resistance To germinate or not to germinate? With plants, the right time to start their life cycle determines their chances of growth.

Egg cells need stamina: They are formed in a women-s body before birth and have to be on standby for decades to possibly be fertilized one day. But as they age, they accumulate more and more DNA damage. Until now, it has been unclear why the cell-s repair mechanisms do not fix the damage. Researchers led by Melina Schuh and Ninadini Sharma at the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Multidisciplinary Sciences have now shown in experiments with mice that aged egg cells repair their DNA less efficiently than young ones, and that repair becomes more error-prone with advancing maternal age.

For the first time, an international collaboration has demonstrated that synthetic carbon assimilation can operate more efficiently in a living system than its natural counterpart. Researchers in Tobias Erb-s lab at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology engineered a synthetic metabolic pathway into a bacterium and showed in a direct comparison that it can generate significantly more biomass from the one-carbon compound formic acid and CO2 than the natural bacterial strain.

Researchers reveal new insights into the how the matrix layer of HIV-1 becomes mature Researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry have discovered the mechanism behind an important step in the life cycle of HIV. Working together with teams at Heidelberg and Yale Universities, they found that the enigmatic -spacer peptide 2-, one of the virus components, plays a key role in converting immature HIV-1 particles into infectious particles.

Classical models of collective behavior fail to explain the mechanisms driving desert locust swarms Desert locust swarms affect millions of lives worldwide.

A new study shows how the brain reorganises itself in the first few months after a stroke to improve the ability to speak again. The findings will help researchers understand how functional networks work in the brain. They also have the potential to be used in the future for personalised treatment of stroke patients.

International research team led by Göttingen University develops user-friendly software method Identifying and delineating cell structures in microscopy images is crucial for understanding the complex processes of life. This task is called "segmentation" and it enables a range of applications, such as analysing the reaction of cells to drug treatments, or comparing cell structures in different genotypes.

A recent study shows how the brain reorganizes itself in the first few months after a stroke in order to improve language ability. The findings help to better understand the functioning of functional networks in the brain. They also have the potential to be used in personalized therapy after a stroke in the future.

A new study by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology sheds fresh light on one of the most debated concepts in biology: evolvability. The work provides the first experimental evidence showing how natural selection can shape genetic systems to enhance future capacity for evolution, challenging traditional perspectives on evolutionary processes.

Great apes, like humans, remember objects better when introduced by a social agent, but develop this skill only in adulthood Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, examined how social models influence memory in great apes. They presented young and adult apes with videos of either a human hand (a social model) or a mechanical claw (a non-social model) building a tower.

Scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA) and Freie Universität combined a mixture of mucilaginous and sticky proteins to produce an adhesive for biomedical applications / Results published in journal PNAS An international team of engineers from MIT and the Collaborative Research Center "Dynamic Hydrogels at Biointerfaces," located at Freie Universität Berlin, has developed a new type of glue that combines the waterproof stickiness of the mussels' plaques with the germ-proof properties of another natural material: mucus.

Stress hormones, often prescribed after premature delivery, affect the brain development of the embryo Infections, chemicals, stress - these environmental factors influence the risk of developing psychiatric or neurological disorders, especially if they occur before birth. The biological mechanisms behind this are still not fully understood.