Category Archives: Mathematics

Model suggests how evolution shapes ecological networks among species

Posted on October 5, 2020 by Carolyn Beans

The natural world is filled with networks. Predator and prey, flower and pollinator—each interacting pair forms a link in a networked community of organisms. Now, a French research team has developed a model that explores how evolution may help shape … Continue reading →

Seasonality shapes coevolution of parasites and hosts

Posted on June 12, 2020 by Amy McDermott

Parasites and their hosts coevolve in an arms race influenced by environmental conditions. Seasonal change, for example, can shape the course of evolution, but precisely how has been something of a mystery. A recent study used lab experiments and mathematical … Continue reading →

Journal Club: Simple model reproduces patterns of toxic protein buildup across multiple neurodegenerative diseases

Posted on October 26, 2018 by Jessica P. Johnson

Fatal neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) begin as tiny pockets of misfolded proteins that evade the body’s normal detritus-removal systems. They spread throughout the brain and clog neural pathways. But exactly how these proteins propagate … Continue reading →

Journal Club: A physicist’s take on the age-old ecological puzzle of how species form communities

Posted on May 19, 2017 by Carolyn Beans

Ecologists have long searched for the rules that govern how individual species join together to form a community. Whether forest or desert, the problem is complex. Myriad factors influence a community’s composition and stability —from how strongly species compete to … Continue reading →

Journal Club: A new, twisted topological insulator

Posted on April 24, 2017 by Stephen Ornes

About a decade ago, physicists began identifying and probing materials that suffer something of an identity crisis. On the surface of these crystals, electrons flow and form currents, like in a conductor. But in the interior, electrons are pinned and … Continue reading →

New class of polyhedra discovered

Posted on February 18, 2014 by pnas

Geometric forms have fascinated mathematicians since ancient times. Now researchers in California say they have discovered a new class of polyhedron that may already exist in nature and could help lead to novel buildings and other kinds of artificial structures. … Continue reading →

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