Scientists at the Higher School of Economics Propose a New Model for the Specialization of Cells
Mathematicians at the Higher School of Economics have developed a model that explains how cell specialization arises in the context of resource constraints. The results are published in PLOS One journal.
Ageing Europe: Which Parts of Europe Have the Youngest and Oldest Populations?
Demographers have created a detailed colour map of population ageing in European countries; a collection of demographic stories, it uses colour coding to indicate the varying stages of population ageing across Europe. By looking at the map, you can easily spot areas with a higher concentration of older people, countries with the youngest populations and the main destinations for workforce flows. The map's author Ilya Kashnitsky comments on some of the demographic stories it tells.
Mathematicians Propose First Continuous Self-organised Criticality Model
An international group of researchers (the first author is Nikita Kalinin, HSE Saint-Petersburg, the last author is Ernesto Lupercio, CINVESTAV, Mexico) has presented the first continuous model describing self-organised criticality. The proposed solution is simpler and more universal than the classical sandpile model: it integrates areas as remote from one another as economics, developmental biology and gravity in the context of tropical geometry. The paper was published in PNAS.
Psycholinguists Build Eye-tracking Database on Reading in Russian
Researchers from the Higher School of Economics, St. Petersburg State University, and the University of Potsdam have created the first ever database comprised of eye-tracking data collected during reading in Russian. The results are openly available and can be used not only in linguistics, but also in the diagnosis and correction of speech disorders, for example. The research was published in the journal Behavior Research Methods.
Control Groups: Teenagers’ Knowledge Can Be Predicted Based on Their Social Media Interests
High school students’ membership in certain social media groups can be used to predict their academic performance, as demonstrated by Ivan Smirnov in his research. The analysis of school students’ membership in groups and communities was used to detect low-performing and high-performing students.
Researchers Determine Space Weather near Earth’s Closest Exoplanet
Researchers from the Higher School of Economics and Space Research Institute (Russia) have calculated the main parameters that determine space weather close to the nearest Earth-like exoplanet, Proxima Centauri b. Such parameters include solar wind, as well as galactic and solar cosmic rays. The results of the research were published in Astronomy Letters.
Window into the Brain: HSE Researchers Are Developing a New Generation of MEG Devices
In collaboration with scientists from the Ioffe Institute, HSE researchers have developed an ultra-sensitive atomic magnetometric scheme with a sensitivity of 5 fTl×Hz-1/2, setting a performance record for sensors operating in the Earth's magnetic field. The scheme will be used to design a multichannel atomic magnetoencephalograph, expected to be the most accurate and compact device available today for non-invasive measurement of the brain's electrical activity.
Thin Films Can Enhance Vorticity in the Ocean
Scientists from the Higher School of Economics and the Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics of Russian Academy of Sciences have investigated how vortex flows penetrate the interior of a liquid. The authors of the article have shown that specific (thin liquid and insoluble) films on the surface of water enhance eddy currents. These currents are produced by the interacting surface waves directed at an angle to each other.
Scientists Uncover New Facts Concerning Working Memory in Children
Researchers from the Higher School of Economics conducted a meta-analysis by compiling data across 17 neuroimaging studies on working memory in children.The data obtained shows concordance in frontoparietal regions recognized for their role in working memory as well as regions not typically highlighted as part of the working memory network, such as the insula.
Researchers Use Nanotechnology to Improve the Accuracy of Measuring Devices
Scientists from Higher School of Economics and the Federal Scientific Research Centre ‘Crystallography and Photonics’ have synthesized multi-layered nanowires in order to study their magnetoresistance properties. Improving this effect will allow scientists to increase the accuracy of indicators of various measuring instruments, such as compasses and radiation monitors.