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Many planetary systems consist not only of a central star and the planets orbiting it, but also of so-called debris disks. These regions contain small bodies such as asteroids, as well as large amounts of dust that is produced when rocky objects collide with one another. In our own Solar System, for example, beyond the orbit of Neptune lies the so-called Kuiper Belt, where larger debris is gradually ground down into dust.

Researchers at the University of Bonn investigated the beliefs that influence consumers' willingness to buy animal-free Gouda. An increasing number of people are turning to vegan products. However, when it comes to cheese, this transition is proving difficult. One alternative is precision fermentation, in which microorganisms produce milk proteins to enable the production of genuine dairy products, such as cheese, without the need for cows.

Research team examines farmers' protest motivations and political responses in four EU countries Farmers' protests that swept across Europe in 2024 were driven by a wide range of concerns that differ markedly between countries, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of Göttingen.

Researchers from the Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 1423 have, for the first time, investigated directly in living cells how a key membrane receptor - which, among other functions, helps regulate heart activity - interacts with its signalling partners. Depending on the drug applied, this receptor adopts different conformations and operates at different speeds, which in turn influences which signals are passed on within the cell.

How healthy is the environment of our cities? Plants reflect urban climate and soil conditions with remarkable precision. Using more than 80 million observations from plant identification apps, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry have produced a detailed picture of fine-scale climate and soil conditions for 326 European cities.

International research team with Göttingen University unlocks new "cosmic clock" for deep time Australia's iconic red landscapes have preserved a remarkable record of Earth's surface evolution - one that can now be read using cosmic rays from outer space. An international research team including the Universities of Göttingen and Cologne in Germany, as well as Curtin University in Australia, has demonstrated a new method to reconstruct how ancient landscapes eroded and sediments moved across continents millions of years ago.

New study by researchers at Freie Universität published in "Nature Communications" shows that independent environmental stressors such as heat, drought, and microplastics affect soils differently when combined Global change - a term that encompasses climate change and phenomena such as changes in land use or environmental pollution - is increasingly putting ecosystems around the world under pressure.

In house mice, the pay-off of mating with multiple males depends especially on the quality of food available to mothers Polyandry is common: female house mice, and females from many other species, often mate with more than one male, producing litters with multiple fathers.

An interdisciplinary research team from Leipzig has discovered strong evidence of a Black Death mass grave near the deserted medieval village of Neuses, outside Erfurt. It represents the first systematically identified burial site associated with plague burials in Europe. The study, conducted primarily by Leipzig University, the Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe (GWZO), and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), has just been published in the scientific journal PLOS One.

The bioconcentration factor shows the concentration of chemical substances in fish as compared to the surrounding water. It is the standard measure for determining the bioaccumulation of chemicals in the environment. Until now it was assumed that this factor, BCF for short, was a constant for each specific substance.

A research team at the University of Würzburg has, for the first time, uncovered how E. coli bacteria sneak into the prostate. The discovery opens the door to potential new treatments for bacterial prostatitis. Bacterial prostatitis, an infection of the prostate primarily caused by the bacterium Escherichia coli ( E. coli ), is a common health problem in men.

Researchers at the Universities of Prague and Bonn propose a scenario that could take place in the innermost regions of galaxies Galaxies contain black holes weighing between approximately five and 100 solar masses. There are also some with more than 100,000 solar masses. But do medium-mass black holes also develop in galaxies? A study by the Astronomical Institute of Charles University in Czechia, with significant participation from the University of Bonn, shows how medium-mass black holes can frequently form naturally.

Male birds flexibly coordinate syllable duration and tone when matching rival songs Vocal coordination in duels : Male nightingales rapidly adjust both the pitch and note length of their whistle songs during territorial contests, coordinating these features in real-time as they match rivals' songs.

Discovery: Researchers have found a new type of endosymbiotic bacteria in up to 50 percent of the wastewater treatment plants they studied that can purify wastewater and produce greenhouse gases. Microbial team: The bacteria live in ciliates and support their energy production by converting nitrate into nitrogen gas.

Researchers from Würzburg, Braunschweig, and the US identifiy Cas12a3 nuclease showing precise activity. Their study is published in Nature. The CRISPR "gene scissors" have become an important basis for genome-editing technologies in many fields, ranging from biology and medicine to agriculture and industry.

First study of wild animals shows mercury and certain PFAS compounds alter how birds convert food into cellular energy Cellular energy threats : Presence of mercury was linked to inefficient fuel use during energy production in wild birdscells, while certain perand polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) may prevent protective responses to cell stress Foraging shapes exposure : Older birds and males carried more mercury through diet, food choice and l

Recurring high-energy flood events are not the exception in the Ahr valley, but the rule - over periods of centuries to millennia. This is shown by a study just published in the scientific journal "Earth Surface Processes and Landforms" under the leadership of the University of Leipzig. The river sediments examined document the summer flood of 2021 as well as at least three other flood events in the past 1,500 years, which - measured by sedimentological parameters - were of comparable magnitude.

A University of Bonn study has shown how a maize pest is hijacking the plant's root-building function When a maize plant is attacked by the fungus Ustilago maydis, tumor-like tissue growths occur at the site of infection. How the pathogen causes this response in its host has long been unknown. But a University of Bonn study has now shown how the fungus takes over the plant's function for forming lateral roots.

Ceramics are one of the most important sources of information for archaeologists. Yet how these objects are produced, especially in the firing stage, has received little attention to date. The excavation of a well-preserved pottery workshop at one of the most significant archaeological sites in Iraq-s Kurdistan region now offers the opportunity for an integrated analysis of an entire local production chain.

Experts are increasingly turning to machine learning to predict antibiotic resistance. The results should be treated with caution, as a new study by HIRI shows. Antibiotic-resistant infections are a growing threat worldwide. Instead of culturing bacteria in the traditional way and testing their response to antibiotics, laboratories are increasingly analyzing bacterial genetic material to spot resistance early.