Related papers: Functional morphology, stable isotopes, and human …
Mixed microbial communities, usually composed of various bacterial and fungal species, are fundamental in a plethora of environments, from soil to human gut and skin. Their evolution is a paradigmatic example of intertwined dynamics, where…
Energy flow through consumer-resource interactions is largely determined by body size. Allometric relationships govern the dynamics of populations by impacting rates of reproduction, as well as alternative sources of mortality, which have…
We search for new superhard B-N-O compounds with an iterative machine learning (ML) procedure, where ML models are trained using sample crystal structures from evolutionary algorithm. We first use cohesive energy to evaluate the…
Mycelium bound composites are promising materials for a diverse range of applications including wearables and building elements. Their functionality surpasses some of the capabilities of traditionally passive materials, such as synthetic…
Many cells face search problems, such as finding food, mates or shelter, where their success depends on their search strategy. In contrast to other unicellular organisms, the slime mold Physarum polycephalum forms a giant network-shaped…
Strong gravitational lenses enable direct inference of halo abundance and internal structure, which in turn enable constraints on the nature of dark matter and the primordial matter power spectrum. However, the density profiles of dark…
In any ecosystem, the conditions of the environment and the characteristics of the species that inhabit it are entangled, co-evolving in space and time. We introduce a model that couples active agents with a dynamic environment, interpreted…
Freshwater Unionid bivalves have recently faced ecological upheaval through pollution, barriers to dispersal, human harvesting, and changes in fish-host prevalence. Currently, over 70% of species are threatened, endangered or extinct. To…
The standard differential scaling of proportions in limb long bones (length against circumference) is applied to a phylogenetically wide sample of the Proboscidea, Elephantidae and the Asian (Elephas maximus) and African elephant (Loxodonta…
Artificially evolving foraging behavior in simulated legged animals has proved to be a notoriously difficult task. Here, we co-evolve the morphology and controller for virtual organisms in a three-dimensional physically realistic…
Fabricating neural models for a wide range of mobile devices demands for a specific design of networks due to highly constrained resources. Both evolution algorithms (EA) and reinforced learning methods (RL) have been dedicated to solve…
In this work lipid ordering phase changes arising in planar membrane bilayers is investigated both accounting for elas- ticity alone and for effective viscoelastic response of such assemblies. The mechanical response of such membranes is…
Most conspicuous organisms are multicellular and most multicellular organisms develop somatic cells to perform specific, non-reproductive tasks. The ubiquity of this division of labor suggests that it is highly advantageous. In this paper,…
We study the evolution of cooperation in a finite population interacting according to a simple model of like-with-like assortment. Evolution proceeds as a Moran process, and payoffs from the underlying cooperator-defector game are…
Earth's geodynamo has operated for over 3.5 billion years. The magnetic field is currently powered by thermocompositional convection in the outer core, which involves the release of light elements and latent heat as the inner core…
The analysis of eight molecular datasets involving human and teleost examples along with morphological samples from several groups of Neotropical electric fish (Order: Gymnotiformes) were used in this thesis to test the dynamics of both…
Body size drives the energetic demands of organisms, constraining trophic interactions between species and playing a significant role in shaping the feasibility of species' populations in a community. On macroevolutionary timescales, these…
Cells are known to exert forces to sense their physical surroundings for guidance of motion and fate decisions. Here, we propose that cells might do mechanical work to drive their own evolution, taking inspiration from the adaptive immune…
Foraging in uncertain environments requires balancing the risks associated with finding alternative resources against potential gains. In aridland environments characterized by extreme variation in the amount and seasonal timing of primary…
During development and under normal physiological conditions, biological tissues are continuously subjected to substantial mechanical stresses. In response to large deformations cells in a tissue must undergo multicellular rearrangements in…