news 2020

The use of touch screens is often difficult, especially for older people, since the information is captured primarily with the eye, but not with the sense of touch. Researchers at the Institute for Engineering Design and Industrial Design (IKTD) at the University of Stuttgart are now developing a technology that can be used to "feel" the information on the touch user interface by means of electrostatic fields.

Protecting nerve cells from losing their characteristic extensions, the dendrites, can reduce brain damage after a stroke. Neurobiologists from Heidelberg University have demonstrated this by means of research on a mouse model. The team, led by Hilmar Bading in cooperation with Junior Professor Dr Daniela Mauceri, is investigating the protection of neuronal architecture to develop new approaches to treating neurodegenerative diseases.

Research team led by the University of Göttingen succeeds in coupling free electrons to optical resonators When you speak softly in one of the galleries of St Paul's cathedral, the sound runs so easily around the dome that visitors anywhere on its circumference can hear it. This striking phenomenon has been termed the -whispering gallery- effect, and variants of it appear in many scenarios where a wave can travel nearly perfectly around a structure.

Comparable clinical results after five and ten days of treatment In an international study, scientists from eight countries have investigated the use of the medication Remdesivir in the treatment of Covid-19. One result of the study, which included the participation of the Technical University of Munich's university hospital TUM Klinikum rechts der Isar: The changes in the clinical condition of patients treated for five days were comparable to the changes in patients treated for a period of ten days.

International research team proposes measures to increase the reproducibility of biomedical experiments For some scientific disciplines, such as medical or drug research, experiments with live animals are still indispensable. Scientists are aware of their responsibilities in this sensitive area and strive to keep the number of experiments as low as possible.

Globally, forests are increasingly under pressure. Climatic extremes such as heat and drought are major stress factors for them. A study in cooperation with the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and published in Science is examining, how global change may affect forests in the future. The researchers present potential scenarios of future forest development and thereby offer important information for forest policy and management.

Heidelberg University succeeded in gaining funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG) in the latest approval round for three, internationally visible collaborative research centres. In physics, the collaborative research centre (CRC) studying isolated quantum systems in experimental and theoretical investigations will continue its work in the second funding period (CRC 1225).

Selectively increasing the levels of a certain protein in nerve cells that play a key role in memory storage boosts memory performance, as demonstrated in experiments on mice by a group of scientists at Heidelberg University led by Dr Ana Oliveira. The responsible protein is Dnmt3a2 - a so-called epigenetic factor that chemically modifies the genome and thus influences memory processes.

Loss of ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme leads to impediment in growth of nerve cells / found between cellular machineries of protein degradation and regulation of the epigenetic landscape in human embryonic stem cells A group of scientists from CECAD, the Cluster of Excellence 'Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-Associated Diseases,' have found a mechanism by which neurodevelopmental diseases concerning neurons can be explained: The loss of a certai

Crystals doped with rare-earths are currently used in batteries, LEDs, magnets, lasers, and much more. So far, the detection of single nuclear spins close-by a rare-earth electron spins was not feasible. Researchers at 3rd Institute of Physics, University of Stuttgart and colleagues from Beijing Computational Science Research Center now used the rare-earth cerium to measure individual silicon nuclear spins, located in the crystal lattice in close proximity to cerium.

Enzymes: they are the central drivers for biochemical metabolic processes in every living cell, enabling reactions to take place efficiently. It is this very ability which allows them to be used as catalysts in biotechnology, for example to create chemical products such as pharmaceutics. A topic that is currently being widely discussed is photoinduced catalysis, in which researchers harness the ability of nature to start biochemical reactions with the aid of light.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. But individual tumors can vary significantly, presenting different spatial patterns within their mass. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and Helmholtz Zentrum München have now succeeded in visualizing spatial changes within tumors by means of optoacoustics.

As journalists traditionally say: real-life stories are the best ones. In the case of Dr. Daniel Stracke, 46, an historian and research assistant, his real-life story presented itself in the corridor of the Institute of Comparative Urban History (Institut für vergleichende Städtegeschichte, IStG) at the University of Münster.

Research team from the University of Göttingen investigates the influence of storage on the flavour of ripe tomatoes There is much debate about the correct storage of tomatoes. There are two main options available to consumers: storage in the refrigerator or at room temperature. A research team from the University of Göttingen has now investigated whether there are differences in the flavour of ripe tomatoes depending on how they are stored and taking into account the chain of harvesting from farm to fork.

Scientists at the University of Göttingen analyse data on ecological, social and economic effects Palm oil is often associated with tropical deforestation above all else. However, this is only one side of the story, as agricultural scientists from the University of Göttingen and the IPB University Bogor (Indonesia) show in a new study.

In order to keep the rate of new infections in the Covid-19 epidemic low and at the same time limit the negative consequences on social and economic life, protective measures should be adapted to the respective case numbers. But what restrictions are necessary, and which lockdown regulations can be relaxed? This is difficult to estimate due to the uncertain and dynamic data situation and the complexity of the spreading and the measures.

A research team from Jena, Munich and New York develops an active substance that controls an important component of the cytoskeleton with the help of light Light Life Photopharmacology investigates the use of light to switch the effect of drugs on and off. Now, for the first time, scientific teams from Jena, Munich, and New York have succeeded in using this method to control a component of cells that was previously considered inaccessible.

Mergers between black holes and neutron stars in dense star clusters are quite unlike those that form in isolated regions where stars are few. Their associated features could be crucial to the study of gravitational waves and their source. Dr Manuel Arca Sedda of the Institute for Astronomical Computing at Heidelberg University came to this conclusion in a study that used computer simulations.

One factor contributing to the development of pancreatitis lies in mutations within a cell membrane ion channel that is characterized by its specific permeability for calcium ions. This groundbreaking discovery was made by a research team at Technical University of Munich (TUM), in cooperation with other groups from Germany, Japan and France.

Laser light that cannot be seen, and sounds that cannot be heard: for partygoers this would probably conjure up some boring event - but it brings a sparkle to the eyes of many a researcher. It is precisely this combination that produces something that is all the more visible - images from inside the body that provide information on the processes taking place there.