Criticality is the singular state of complex systems poised at the brink of a phase transition
between order and randomness. Such systems display remarkable information-processing …

A celebrated and controversial hypothesis suggests that some biological systems—parts,
aspects, or groups of them—may extract important functional benefits from operating at the …

Cognitive function requires the coordination of neural activity across many scales, from
neurons and circuits to large-scale networks. As such, it is unlikely that an explanatory …

From coffee beans flowing in a chute to cells remodelling in a living tissue, a wide variety of
close-packed collective systems—both inert and living—have the potential to jam. The …

Anyone who has moved furniture together with friends will appreciate that cooperative
transport requires some non-trivial communication. Yet ants are adept at collectively moving …

Groups of animals can perform highly coordinated collective behaviours that confer benefits
to the participating individuals by facilitating social information exchange and protection from …

In this work we study the stability of the equilibria reached by ecosystems formed by a large
number of species. The model we focus on are Lotka–Volterra equations with symmetric …

Tissue morphogenesis in multicellular organisms is brought about by spatiotemporal
coordination of mechanical and chemical signals. Extensive work on how mechanical forces …

Theoretical physics predicts optimal information processing in living systems near transitions
(or pseudo-critical points) in their collective dynamics. However, focusing on potential …

To cooperatively transport a large load, it is important that carriers conform in their efforts
and align their forces. A downside of behavioural conformism is that it may decrease the …