news 2022

Regulating the sleep-wake cycle: researchers demonstrate the importance of transporting a "clock protein" from the cell nucleus for temperature compensation The higher the temperatures, the faster physiological processes are. But there is an exception - the so-called circadian clock, which regulates the sleep-wake cycle in organisms.

Brown algae could remove up to 0.55 gigatons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year Brown algae take up large amounts of carbon dioxide from the air and release parts of the carbon contained therein back into the environment in mucous form. This mucus is hard to break down for other ocean inhabitants, thus the carbon is removed from the atmosphere for a long time, as researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen now show.

Humans have been using bear skins to protect themselves from cold weather for at least 300,000 years. This is suggested by cut marks on the metatarsal and phalanx of a cave bear discovered at the Lower Paleolithic site of Schöningen in Lower Saxony, Germany. This makes it one of the oldest examples of this type in the world.

On the trail of the body's largest protein: WWU researchers prove the role of titin in muscle contraction Münster (mfm/mew) - The term "titin" will not mean much to most people - which is actually a pity. Because titin is the largest protein in the body. With its approximately 35,000 amino acids, the muscle protein is huge, but its significance is still poorly understood.

International research team describes bone cancer in a large amphibian species from southwestern Poland More than 215 million years ago, a large amphibian species lived in floodplains in southwestern Poland: Metoposaurus krasiejowensis. On one of these fossils, Polish and American scientists, with the participation of researchers from the University of Bonn, detected bone cancer for the first time.

A newly developed rapid test needs only a few seconds to reliably detect pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2. It is based on specially designed magnetic nanoparticles. The current rapid tests for diagnosing infectious diseases are speedy, but not really fast. For example, antigen self-tests, PCR tests or ELISA tests for coronavirus take 15 minutes to several hours before a reliable result is available.

Over 500 years, the economy developed better in parts of Europe where women married in their 20s instead of their teens, according to a study by economic historians Alexandra de Pleijt from Wa-geningen University in the Netherlands and Jörg Baten from the University of. Their study has been published in the journal World Development .

Dr Charlotte Teschers has developed an automated method for producing -glycomimetics- One project, one researcher and five years of intensive work: as part of her doctoral thesis, supervised by Prof. Ryan Gilmour at the Institute of Organic Chemistry, Dr. Charlotte Teschers has successfully developed a new method of producing complex, fluorinated sugars.

Study by the Universities of Bonn and Heidelberg provides insights into a carefully choreographed dance Nerve cells need a lot of energy and oxygen. They receive both through the blood. This is why nerve tissue is usually crisscrossed by a large number of blood vessels. But what prevents neurons and vascular cells from getting in each other's way as they grow? Researchers at the Universities of Heidelberg and Bonn, together with international partners, have identified a mechanism that takes care of this.

Composition of gases emitted by volcanoes can provide information on the possibility of imminent eruptions / Lightweight drones make investigation possible even in areas that are difficult to access The main gases released by volcanoes are water vapor, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide. Analyzing these gases is one of the best ways of obtaining information on volcanic systems and the magmatic processes that are underway.

A research team at the University of Leipzig Medical School has discovered a new mechanism associated with severe childhood obesity. A genetic alteration leads to an unusual expression of a gene related to the control of the feeling of hunger. Until now, this alteration has not been detected with general genetic diagnostics in obesity.

A comprehensive analysis on particle exhalation in adults and children Children exhale significantly fewer potentially infectious particles than adults - at least this is true for the small respiratory droplets that are predominantly produced in the lungs. This is a key finding of a study conducted by the Max Planck Institutes for Dynamics and Self-Organization and for Chemistry in collaboration with the University Göttingen Medical Center.

Heidelberg scientists decode the genetic foundations of rapid testicle evolution in mammals and humans Evolutionary pressure across male mammals to guarantee the procreation of their own offspring led to a rapid evolution of the testicle. Bioinformatic studies - conducted by an international team of researchers led by Henrik Kaessmann from the Center for Molecular Biology of Heidelberg University - show that this pressure particularly accelerated the evolution of later stages of sperm formation.

A research team at Leipzig University's Faculty of Medicine has discovered a new mechanism that is associated with severe obesity in children. This genetic rearrangement leads to an unusual expression of a gene involved in hunger control and is not detected by most routine genetic tests for obesity.

Research team analyses oxygen isotopes in 550 million-year-old samples Several billion years ago, the oceans were probably not as hot as often assumed, but were instead at much more moderate temperatures. This is the conclusion of a research team from the University of Göttingen and the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), Potsdam.

Study by the University of Bonn elucidates a potential mechanism People with chronic epilepsy often experience impaired memory. Researchers at the University of Bonn have now found a mechanism in mice that could explain these deficits. The German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) was also involved in the study.

Research Award Winner at the University of Paderborn Presents Results In classical music, editions are considered the basis of scholarly study of music. Unlike classical music, however, pop music is not composed on music paper, but in audio data. The substance of pop music is its sound. Rebecca Grotjahn, professor at the Department of Musicology at the University of Paderborn and the Detmold University of Music, is investigating how this can be edited as so-called -phonographic- music.

New study on "starvation response" by Freie Universität professor of pharmacology published in Science / Joint press release with the Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie Body cells burn off fat reserves when nutrient supply from food ceases. A team led by Professor Volker Haucke and Dr. Wonyul Jang from the Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP) has now discovered a previously unknown mechanism for how this "starvation response" is triggered and what can inhibit it.

Body cells burn fat reserves when the supply of nutrients from food is interrupted. A team led by Volker Haucke of Freie Universität Berlin and the Leibniz Research Institute for Molecular Pharmacology (FMP) and Wonyul Jang of the FMP has now discovered a previously unknown mechanism for how this "starvation metabolism" gets going - and what can inhibit it.

Heidelberg geographers use new methods to capture large dune shapes in time and space and to explain their origin Star dunes are among the largest dune formations on Earth and - due to their changing shape over time - they can be important indicators for understanding the effects of climate change. Scientists from Heidelberg University's Institute of Geography have examined such a dune in the Erg Chebbi sandy desert in Morocco by means of state-of-the-art laser scanning.