Metabolism is essential to all living organisms, and modelling the chemical reactions that sustain life is no easy task. The complex process of an organism metabolizing nutrients can be modelled by a set of mathematical equations with parameters specific to each organism. The parameters one would measure for a human would be different from those of a mouse, bacteria, yeast, or any living organism of study. If we had access to these parameters for a given living organism, then its corresponding model would be complete, it would match real-world observation, and in silico studies would be possible for better design of in vitro and in vivo studies. On a practical level, however, determining those parameters is a complicated matter, due to the lack of experimental data.

The human brain has a limit on how much information it can process at once due to a finite energy supply, a new study reveals. UK neuroscientists say that energy supply to the brain remains constant and can't exceed an upper limit, however challenging a task is. But as the brain uses more energy in processing the task at hand, less energy is supplied to processing outside our immediate focus, they say. This results in what's known as'inattentional blindness' – when stimuli that's available in plain sight doesn't register, even if it's valuable to us. This can help explain why we are sometimes unable to concentrate on what our family members are telling us while we're playing video games or watching TV.