news 2024

New all-sky survey by the MeerKAT radio telescope shows the universe as expected at large distances - unlike previous observations by other telescopes The cosmological principle is the foundation of modern cosmology and has been confirmed many times by observations and computer models. It states that the universe looks the same from every location and in all directions on a large scale.

Together with Egyptian restorers, a team from the University of Würzburg has discovered traces of gold leaf, remnants of the colorful paintings and handwritten testimonies of the priests in the temple of Edfu.

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Germany, in collaboration with the Swiss Ornithological Institute in Switzerland and the University of Vienna in Austria, investigated how young golden eagles improve their flight skills as they age. Their results, published in eLife, show that as golden eagles improve their flying skills, they become able to explore a broader area within their range in the central European Alps.

In 1974, scientists first sounded the alarm about the destruction of the ozone layer caused by human activities. Yet it would take several more years for the global community to reach a consensus on banning ozone-depleting chemicals. At the time, Paul Crutzen and his research team played a pivotal role in bringing this issue to the world's attention.

Canopy gaps in a mixed floodplain forest have a direct effect on forest soil temperature and moisture, but only have a minor impact on soil biological activity. This is the conclusion of a study by Leipzig University, the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig and the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, which was recently published in the journal Science of the Total Environment.

Researchers from the Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat have developed a method to model a central theory of quantum gravity in the laboratory. Their goal: to decipher previously unexplained phenomena in the quantum world. Gravity is no longer a mystery to physicists - at least when it comes to large distances: thanks to science, we can calculate the orbits of planets, predict tides, and send rockets into space with precision.

Canopy gaps in a mixed floodplain forest have a direct effect on forest soil temperature and moisture, but only have a minor impact on soil biological activity. This is the conclusion of a study by Leipzig University, the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig and the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, which was recently published in the journal Science of the Total Environment.

The birds save more energy prior their migration to the south than they consume during the flight itself Millions of birds migrate every year to escape winter, but spending time in a warmer climate does not save them energy, according to research by the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Konstanz, Germany.

A study carried out at the University of Bonn identifies a control circuit in flies essential for the consumption of food Researchers at the University of Bonn and the University of Cambridge have identified an important control circuit involved in the eating process. The study has revealed that fly larvae have special sensors, or receptors, in their esophagus that are triggered as soon as the animal swallows something.

It takes a lot of helpers to build up the protein complexes required for photosynthesis and to constantly repair them in strong light. Photosynthesis takes place before our eyes every day in every single little green leaf - yet the details of the complex process have not yet been fully understood. A research team at Ruhr University Bochum headed by Professor Danja Schünemann has unravelled another piece of the puzzle.

Researchers at Göttingen University find climate traffic light system prevents consumer deception A research team led by the University of Göttingen found that the label 'climate neutral' makes food appear significantly more climate-friendly than it actually is. Even when information about how the damage to the climate is being offset was explained, this did not stop consumers having the wrong perception about the product.

A team of scientists led by Professor Annette Beck-Sickinger from the Institute of Biochemistry at Leipzig University has made an important advance in pain relief research. They discovered that hederagenin, a naturally occurring substance found in the medicinal plant ivy, binds to the pain regulation receptor.

Take some carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and oxygen plus electricity from renewable sources - a bacterium and baker's yeast need little more to produce proteins for human nourishment and the essential vitamin B9 in a conventional laboratory bioreactor system. This was the result achieved by a research team led by Professor Lars Angenent from Environmental Biotechnology at the University of Tübingen during the further development of his power-to-protein system.

Bonn researchers clarify the function of specialized nerve cells in memory formation Specialized nerve cells in the temporal lobe react highly selectively to images and names of a single person or specific objects. Researchers at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn have provided direct evidence for the first time that the so-called concept neurons are indeed the building blocks of our memory for experiences.

An international research team has decoded the genome of the longest-lived known vertebrate: the Greenland shark. It is huge and has special repair capabilities. The Greenland Shark ( Somniosus microcephalus ), an elusive dweller of the depths of the northern Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean, is the world's longest-living vertebrate, with an estimated lifespan of about 400 years.

Information in the brain is transmitted via electrical signals between specialized cells called neurons. The activity within a large network of such neurons controls sensations, behavior, and cognition. Scientists have long sought ways to simulate the neural networks in the brain with computers in order to understand how it works.

A research team of scientists from Freie Universität Berlin and Princeton University provide insights into the origins of complete metamorphosis in insects More than sixty percent of all'animal species are insects. The majority of these species undergo complete metamorphosis, whereby the larva transforms into a pupa and then an adult.

A team of researchers from Jena and Ulm have developed an innovative approach to precisely influence the properties of light-absorbing materials, so-called chromophores. They focused on specific iron compounds, demonstrating that small changes in their chemical structure can control how these compounds react to light.

The newly developed robotic leg is inspired by living creatures and jumps over different terrains much more manoeuvrable and energy-efficiently than previous robots Researchers have developed the first robotic leg that is powered by artificial electro-hydraulic muscles and automatically adapts to uneven terrain.

Physicists from Würzburg present a nanometre-sized light antenna with electrically modulated surface properties - a breakthrough that could pave the way for faster computer chips. Today's computers reach their physical limits when it comes to speed. Semiconductor components usually operate at a maximum usable frequency of a few gigahertz - which corresponds to several billion computing operations per second.