What a toothless, two-legged crocodile cousin reveals about life before dinosaurs dominated

The outer regions of the brain, the cortex, have specific layers of different cells—neurons—that are similarly ordered among all mammals, from tiny mouse brains to huge elephant brains. However, the proportions of different cell layers vary widely among species, and little is known about how and why this variation happens.

Researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) have developed a new procedure, enabling them to speed up elaborate computer simulations that analyze matter under extreme conditions. In particular, this work improves the evaluation of experiments at large-scale research facilities like the European XFEL—and should facilitate substantial progress, among others, in fusion research and laboratory astrophysics.

Single parents are less happy than parents with a partner, according to a comprehensive analysis of global studies spanning nearly 50 years of data. With the number of solo caregivers on the rise in many countries, scientists from Germany and the Netherlands wanted to know how raising a child on your own impacts overall life satisfaction.