Group sleeping can impact when animals sleep, how long they sleep for, and how deeply they sleep. For example, groups of meerkats time their sleep according to 'sleep traditions'; olive baboons sleep less when their group size increases; bumblebees suppress sleep in the presence of offspring; and co-sleeping mice can experience synchronized REM sleep. To fully understand both sleep and animal social structures, we need to pay more attention to the 'social side' of sleep, animal behaviorists argue.
Read more: For many animals sleep is a social activity, but it's usually studied as an individual process
A major step forward toward biosensor devices that can provide fast, high-contrast detection of biomarkers in almost any environment are 'binding-activated fluorescent biosensors.' Now, a research collaboration has developed a synthetic biology platform that streamlines their up-until-now tedious and expensive discovery, as well as their molecular evolution and cost-effective manufacturing, opening a plethora of new biomedical and environmental opportunities.
Read more: Starting a fluorescent biosensor revolution