news
Environment
Results 1 - 20 of 674.
Environment - Life Sciences - 07.02.2025

What measures are suitable for providing better living conditions for insects in typical Franconian landscapes? This question was investigated by a research team from the University of Würzburg. The results are now available. Biodiversity is under threat worldwide.
Environment - 30.01.2025

International research team shows benefits of cacao grafting for farmers and nature alike The productivity of cacao trees decreases with time, forcing farmers to renew their plantations by either cutting down the old trees or establishing a new crop elsewhere. Frequently, new plantations are established in areas of the forest that are thinned out to accommodate new, young cacao trees.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 29.01.2025

A new study with the involvement of multiple researchers from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) and the University of Jena found that biodiversity has changed faster in locations where warming or cooling was faster. Published in the journal "Nature", the study focused on how the composition of species in an ecosystem - rather than the number of species - has shifted over time.
Environment - 22.01.2025
Early humans influenced the availability of meat and scavenging animals
A new study indicates that human behavior around 45,000 to 29,000 years ago contributed to a change in the composition of scavenging animal species living nearby. While smaller scavenging animals such as foxes and some bird species benefited from the presence of humans, large scavengers such as hyenas and cave lions tended to be displaced.
Astronomy / Space - Environment - 21.01.2025

International research team measures extreme winds on an exoplanet . An international research team led by the University of Göttingen has discovered extremely strong winds on the exoplanet "WASP-127b". The winds along the equator of this planet can reach speeds of up to 33,000 kilometers per hour. The results of the research help to better understand the atmosphere of planets outside our solar system.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 21.01.2025

Extreme climate events endanger groundwater quality and stability, when rain water evades natural purification processes in the soil. This was demonstrated in long-term groundwater analyses using new analytical methods, as described in a recent study in "Nature Communications". As billions of people rely on sufficient and clean groundwater for drinking, understanding the impacts of climate extremes on future water security is crucial.
Life Sciences - Environment - 21.01.2025

The fruit fly Drosophila busckii can detect and thrive on toxic food sources The ability to tolerate toxic substances can help animals find new food sources and thrive in certain ecological niches. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena have now discovered that the fruit fly Drosophila busckii has developed a tolerance to the toxic sulfur compound dimethyldisulfide.
Life Sciences - Environment - 20.01.2025

Researchers create dataset resource to understand plant development, resilience and biodiversity Land plants are extremely diverse: over 400,000 species reaching every corner of the world. This diversity mainly splits into two plant lineages: vascular and non-vascular. Vascular plants are the ones that often capture our attention - from the towering trees to the crops in our fields.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 17.01.2025

Global climate models show, how the Arctic permafrost will respond to global warming The Arctic is heating up particularly fast as a result of global warming - with serious consequences. The widespread permafrost in this region, where soils currently store twice as much carbon as the atmosphere, is thawing.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 15.01.2025

So-called foraminifera are found in all the world's oceans. Now, an international study led by the University of Hamburg has shown that foraminifera are found in all the world's oceans: The mostly shell-bearing microorganisms absorb phosphate from the water to an unprecedented extent, which pollutes the oceans.
Life Sciences - Environment - 15.01.2025

News from Understanding biological relationships is often critical when studying animal populations. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig University, the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) and the Freie Universität Berlin have now developed a transformative approach that identifies stretches of DNA that two individuals inherited from a common ancestor.
Environment - 14.01.2025

Research team emphasize global importance for biodiversity, economy and climate Tree crops - for example, apple, cherry, olives, nuts, coffee, and cacao - cover more than 183 million hectares worldwide, yet remain largely overlooked in agricultural policies, despite their critical role in achieving the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Environment - Life Sciences - 09.01.2025

The soil fungus "Mortierella alpina" has the potential to make agriculture greener and more sustainable: The fungus produces bioactive molecules called malpinins, which could protect plants from destructive worms. A research team from Jena has now been able to understand and describe their mode of action for the first time.
Earth Sciences - Environment - 08.01.2025

International research team achieve first precise tracking of undersea sand and mud avalanche How do large mud and sand currents influence the deep-sea habitat? And how can they be better understood? An international research team led by Durham University, UK, and including the University of Göttingen and GEOMAR Kiel, Germany, investigated further.
Materials Science - Environment - 02.01.2025

Metals and alloys can be extracted, mixed and processed in a single, energy-efficient step without CO2 emissions Metals and alloys could be produced easily and climate-neutrally in the future. A team from the Max Planck Institute for Sustainable Materials is presenting a new design concept that combines the extraction, mixing and processing of metallic materials in a single process step.
Environment - Life Sciences - 02.01.2025

Scientists use ultra-light sensors connected like cell phones to study how bats migrate over Europe Birds are the undisputed champions of epic travel-but they are not the only long-haul fliers. A handful of bats are known to travel thousands of kilometers in continental migrations across North America, Europe, and Africa.
Environment - Life Sciences - 19.12.2024

After migrating to their wintering grounds, the animals move as little as possible to conserve energy In the fall, reindeer migrate from their northern grazing areas to the south.
Life Sciences - Environment - 06.12.2024

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.
Life Sciences - Environment - 06.12.2024

Blue-throated macaws, a critically endangered parrot species, have demonstrated automatic imitation of intransitive (goal-less) actions-a phenomenon previously documented only in humans. In a study conducted by an international team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence, in collaboration with the Loro Parque Fundación, scientists reveal that macaws involuntarily copy intransitive movements.
Environment - 04.12.2024

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.