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Differences in cellular pathway activity flip the switch from nocturnality to diurnality and explain a major evolutionary change humans have undergone. Early mammals were nocturnal, sleeping during the day while large predators were active. However, after the extinction of dinosaurs, several different lineages of mammals independently transitioned to become active during the day.

In a recently published review, a research team led by MedUni Vienna has highlighted a promising new approach to drug discovery. The focus is on the targeted modulation of certain intracellular signalling proteins as a strategy for controlling disease-relevant signalling pathways and reducing side effects.

Villages can provide important habitats for insects. A new study by the University of Würzburg shows which areas in rural settlements are particularly rich in species - and where there is still room for improvement. When it comes to research on habitats for pollinating insects, villages have so far received relatively little attention.

Cattle grazing at a nature reserve in the Yorkshire Dales has increased plant diversity by over 40% according to research by the University of Leeds. Allowing native cattle breeds to roam large areas of the landscape at Ingleborough has also led to a five-fold increase in the number of butterflies. Researchers conducted two studies into the relative effects of cattle and sheep grazing on the 1500-hectare landscape restoration project.

Tanycytes (white) capture Tau protein (red) circulating in the cerebrospinal fluid and transport it along their extensions/arms, which pass through brain tissue and come into contact with blood vessels (green), into which they release this protein, which is involved in Alzheimer's disease when it accumulates in the brain.

An AI-driven tool that tailors antidepressant treatment to individual patients was shown to improve outcomes for people with depression, compared to standard treatment, in a major international trial. It is the first time ever a mental health clinical prediction tool has been demonstrated as effective.

Researchers at the University of Oxford have developed a "Stroke Cognition Calculator", a new tool designed to estimate a person's chance of having thinking and memory problems six months after a stroke. The study, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care research (NIHR), and led by researchers at the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences was published in the Lancet Health Longevity .

The arrival of substantial numbers of early human ancestors ( Homo erectus) in the Southeast Asian prehistoric landmass of Sundaland, approximately 1.8 million years ago, likely triggered an evolutionary shift in Leucosphyrus mosquitoes, according to a new study. Researchers from The University of Manchester suggest that during the Early Pleistocene, the arrival and presence of these early hominins drove the mosquitoes to adapt to feeding on humans.

A new study by the University of Würzburg shows that undamped climate change will radically change German agriculture by 2100 and could bring Mediterranean crops to Franconia. Against the backdrop of climate change, agriculture is facing an unprecedented transformation. While Germany was hardly affected by massive crop failures for decades, the picture has changed drastically since 2015.

New research into why lithium-ion batteries tend to lose power over cycles of charge and discharge could help unlock the next generation of more durable, fast-charging power cells. An international team of chemists and engineers from the UK, China, and Germany have published a paper which challenges the conventional assumptions about how batteries should be optimised to maximise performance, highlighting the importance of electrical, rather than ionic, conductivity.

The molecular building blocks that make up the cells of humans, animals and plants so sophisticated appear to be older than scientists previously assumed. They were already present in our single-celled ancestor that lived 2.5 billion years ago. That is the conclusion of Wageningen and American researchers in two studies published in Nature and Nature Microbiology.

Robots are becoming increasingly capable in vision and movement, yet touch remains one of their major weaknesses. Now, researchers have developed a miniature tactile sensor that could give robots something much closer to a human sense of touch. The technology, developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge, is based on liquid metal composites and graphene - a two-dimensional form of carbon.

A research team led by Dr. Márton Rabi from the Biogeology Department of the University of , together with Máté Szegszárdi and Professor Attila Osi from the Hungarian Eötvös Loránd University, is challenging the hypothesis that Europe remained connected to Africa during the age of the dinosaurs.

A team from the University of Geneva and the HUG reviewed 900 scientific articles to better understand the impact of viruses on memory, attention, and concentration. What impact does a viral infection have on our memory, attention, and concentration? The COVID-19 pandemic has reignited interest in this question, which has now been extended to other infections such as HIV, herpes, and hepatitis.

Solid-state batteries do not use flammable liquid electrolytes and are therefore safer than conventional lithium-ion batteries.

Researchers examine the long-term demographic consequences of the Colombian armed conflict for those who survived the violence Demographic Impact: A recent study reveals that nearly 40 percent of Colombians have lost a family member to conflict-related violence. This loss destabilizes families and communities.

When a species lives in two distinct types of habitats, individuals with traits better suited to each habitat will thrive and reproduce, naturally selecting descendants with those traits.

Since 1990, the United Nations (UN) has used the Human Development Index (HDI) to assess the development of a country using indicators of well-being and quality of life gathered via census data. HDI scores are then used by government agencies and nonprofits to help allocate resources. But the index rankings do not reflect information at the local level, meaning, for example, that people in less-developed areas of higher-ranking countries could be missing out on critical aid.

When Philip Minderhoud travelled through Vietnam in 2015, he sensed that something was not quite right. Minderhoud was working on his PhD research on land subsidence in the Mekong Delta, one of the largest deltas in the world. He had brought along a series of maps indicating how high the land was supposed to be elevated: one and a half metres above sea level, and in some places even two metres, according to the maps.

Researchers have deciphered the process by which the influenza virus steals the cap of the host RNA to replicate. In a nutshell Caught in action: A research team has revealed how the molecular copying machine of the influenza virus, termed FluPol, interacts with the human copying machinery inside the infected cell to steal the cap of the host RNA.