Researchers from the University of Jena and the Leibniz Institutes in Jena have published new findings on the adaptability of the microalgae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. The interdisciplinary study, largely carried out by researchers from the Cluster of Excellence -Balance of the Microverse-, shows how the tiny green alga can adapt its shape and metabolism under natural conditions without changing its genome.

Circadian clocks control physiological processes and behavior in virtually all living organisms. Now an international research team led by researchers from the University of Würzburg has created a detailed map of the internal clock in the brain of the fruit fly. All animals including humans are subject to daily rhythms in their activity and sleep, hunger, metabolism, and reproduction.

Connectivity and maintenance measures support wild bees in limestone quarries   A research team at the University of Göttingen, Germany's Nature And Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) in Rhede, and the Thünen Institute in Braunschweig has investigated the importance of limestone quarries for wild bee conservation.

Scientists at the University of Würzburg and the German national metrology institute (PTB) have carried out an experiment that realizes a new kind of quantum standard of resistance. It's based on the Quantum Anomalous Hall Effect. The precise measurement of electrical resistance is essential in industrial production or electronics - for example, in the manufacture of high-tech sensors, microchips and flight controls.

A study by the University of Bonn and the CABI Centre in Kenya shows that milk, eggs and fish are good for child development The consumption of milk products, eggs and fish has a positive effect on childhood development in Africa. This has been demonstrated in a recent study by the CABI's regional centre for Africa in Nairobi, Kenya and the University of Bonn.

A twenty-year study in Congo's largest protected park confirms that rangers are effective in preserving endangered bonobos Scientists now know how many bonobos live in one of the largest pristine tropical forests, a place believed to be the world's stronghold for the endangered species. The research, conducted over two decades by a team of 48 scientists, estimates that between 8,000 to 18,000 adult bonobos inhabit Salonga National Park in the DRC.

Research team led by Göttingen University studies carbon movement from tree to root fungi   The idea of trees "talking" to one another through underground fungal networks - the so-called "wood wide web" - has captured the imagination of the public. This concept, where trees supposedly share nutrients with each other via these networks, has been popularized by books and documentaries.

Research team led by the University of Göttingen investigates carbon transport from the tree to the root fungus The idea that trees "communicate" with each other via underground fungal networks - the so-called "Wood Wide Web" - has captured the imagination of many people. Books and documentaries have popularized the concept of trees supposedly exchanging nutrients with each other through these networks.

Particulate matter and microplastics are much-discussed risks to the environment and health. A new study by the Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability at the University of Hamburg and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon has now investigated the role of tire and brake wear in the formation of urban particulate matter for the first time.

Two-dimensional materials such as graphene are not only ultrathin, but also extremely sensitive. Researchers have therefore been trying for years to develop highly sensitive biosensors that utilise this property. Graphene-based field-effect transistors, for example, could register the tiniest changes in the electronic properties caused by the molecules when they interact with this atomically thin layer.

New therapies could prevent the adjustments in intestinal bacteria that enable them to survive in inflamed regions New studies suggest that evolutionary medicine could shape the future of gastroenterology. They pave the way for new approaches to treating inflammatory diseases, such as chronic inflammatory bowel diseases.

A pulsar within a few thousand light-years of Earth could have accelerated electrons and positrons to the extreme energies now measured by the H.E.S.S.-Observatory Five telescopes of the H.E.S.S.-collaboration in Namibia are used to study cosmic radiation, especially gamma radiation. In data from ten years of observations, the researchers have now been able to detect cosmic electrons and positrons with an unprecedented energy of more than ten tera-electronvolts (1 TeV corresponds to 10^12 electronvolts).

Results from the University of Bonn and the LMU Munich challenge previous ideas Some sequences in the genome cause genes to be switched on or off. Until now, each of these gene switches, or so-called enhancers, was thought to have its own place on the DNA. Different enhancers are therefore separated from each other, even if they control the same gene, and switch it on in different parts of the body.

A new study in the journal Nature shows that the oceans were less cold in the early 20th century (1900-1930) than previously thought. During this period the ocean appears too cold due to the way some measurements were taken. This makes global ocean surface temperature measurements during this period inconsistent with both land air temperatures and palaeoclimatic data and the differences between land and ocean are larger than shown in climate models.

International research team led by Göttingen University define optimal shade trees in agroforestry   Agroforestry systems, which integrate trees and shrubs into farming, are vital to achieving sustainable cocoa production in West Africa where 70 percent of the world cocoa is produced. Climate change induced drought means that it is ever more critical to adapt farming practices and find new approaches.

Compared to intensive land use, sustainable land use allows better control of underground herbivores and soil microbes. As a result, the soil ecosystem is more resilient and better protected from disturbance under sustainable management than under intensive land use. Researchers from Leipzig University, the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig and other research institutions found that the total energy flux and the activities of so-called decomposers, herbivores and predators in the soil food web remained stable.

Researchers led by Alexandros Karakostis from the Institute for Archaeological Science and the Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment at the University of Tübingen suggest that changes in the brain could have enabled early humans to use tools with precision, thus setting in motion the biocultural evolution that led to today's humans.

The yeast " Candida parapsilosis" is emerging as a growing threat for hospitalized patients in a new study. A team led by Dr Amelia Barber from the Cluster of Excellence "Balance of the Microverse" at Friedrich Schiller University Jena and Dr Grit Walther from the National Reference Centre for Invasive Fungal Infections (NRZMyk) investigated an outbreak of multi-drug resistant hospital-acquired strain of this fungus.

The ATLAS collaboration at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) reported the first observation of top quarks in collisions between lead ions in a talk held at CERN last week. Members of the research group of Matthias Schott from the Physikalisches Institut at the University of Bonn have been contributing to this new study.

Study by the University of Bonn shows that deforestation in the Amazon region is also detrimental to human health Rainforest protection is not only good for biodiversity and the climate - it also noticeably improves the health of humans who live in the corresponding regions. This is the conclusion drawn by a current study by the University of Bonn and the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais in Brazil.