Study highlights the importance of biodiversity for the survival of rare plants and their ability to adapt to climate change Evolution in Real Time: An international research team has studied the evolution of the thale cress Arabidopsis thaliana over a ten-year period at 30 locations worldwide. Their findings show that genetic diversity is crucial for the survival of plant populations.

Two protoplanets have been detected in the young star system WISPIT 2 - one of the rare cases in which multiple forming planets have been directly observed. Using the upgraded GRAVITY+ instrument on the ESO VLTI, a previously hidden planet close to the bright parent star has been detected. The system offers new insights into the parallel evolution of planets in their early stages of development.

Researchers at the Würzburg site of the Cluster of Excellence ctd.qmat have successfully transferred the topological quantum Hall and spin Hall effects to a hybrid light-matter system using targeted material design. Back in 1980, Nobel laureate Klaus von Klitzing, then working in Würzburg, first demonstrated topological charge transport with the quantum Hall effect.

Researchers find evidence of successful hunt and exploitation of range of animals in Germany   In 1948, a group of amateurs led by a local headmaster in Lehringen, Germany, uncovered the skeleton of a straight-tusked elephant - the largest land mammal known to have roamed Europe - in 125,000-year-old sediments from the last interglacial period.

Research team finds evidence of Neanderthal hunting success at Lehringen A marl pit near Lehringen in Lower Saxony in 1948: a school principal and helpers uncover the skeleton of a forest elephant in 125,000-year-old deposits from the last interglacial period. Little did he know that he was on the trail of a sensation: between the ribs, the team discovered a complete Neanderthal wooden lance.

The consequences of a sedentary lifestyle are difficult to investigate in human studies. For this reason, an international research team involving the University of Hamburg has now investigated them in king penguins. The result: an abundant food supply in protected living conditions promotes rapid growth, but ultimately leads to accelerated ageing.

A recent study incorporating new DNA data and archaeological evidence has shown that the last Neanderthals in Europe experienced a major population turnover, resulting in little diversity in their gene pool prior to their disappearance some 40,000 years ago. In the study, an international research team led by Professor Cosimo Posth at the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment at the University of Tübingen traced the dramatic genetic history of European Neanderthals.

A research team at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) has made an important advance in quantum physics and materials research: For the first time, nuclear spins in a molecular material could be optically initialized, controlled and read out. Nuclear spins are considered to be particularly stable carriers of quantum information due to their low interaction with the environment.

The expansion of modern humans out of Africa likely unfolded differently than previously thought: contrary to earlier assumptions, south-east Arabia was repeatedly inhabited by humans during the late Pleistocene. An international research team involving the Universities of Jena, Freiburg and Tübingen, as well as Oxford Brookes University (England), in collaboration with the Sharjah Archaeology Authority, has uncovered evidence of human settlement during excavations at the Buhais Rock Shelter in the Emirate of Sharjah (United Arab Emirates).

Chemistry: A sophisticated process stacks dye molecules in such a way that their luminosity increases significantly as their size grows - a significant step forward for the electronics of tomorrow. In nature, a certain size is often a prerequisite for biomolecules to perform their specific functions.

Biological communities in Europe are responding to climate change in markedly different ways, with clear contrasts between ecosystems, according to a new study published in Nature. Cold-adapted plant species in mountain regions are declining especially quickly, while plant communities in forests and grasslands are changing more slowly.

Bird communities in forests change significantly over the course of the year. Nevertheless, the differences between various forest types remain clearly discernible across the seasons. This is shown by a new study conducted by researchers from Friedrich Schiller University Jena, the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) and the Northwest German Forest Research Institute.

Kitchen sponges are among the most frequently used household items - and may also represent a previously underestimated source of microplastics. Researchers led by the University of Bonn investigated how many plastic particles are released from sponges during dishwashing and their environmental impacts.

Researchers have produced exceptionally long chains of an electrically conductive polymer known as poly(p-phenylene) (PPP). The longest of these chains measure almost one micrometre in length - roughly one thousandth of a millimetre. This makes them nearly ten times longer than chains previously achieved.

Researchers at Leipzig University have achieved a breakthrough in microrobotics. For the first time, they have shown that tiny synthetic microswimmers can perceive their surroundings directly through their own body shape and autonomously adapt to rapidly changing fluid flows. The study, now published in Science Advances, establishes a new paradigm for autonomous microsystems whose control functions reliably in challenging environments where conventional sensors fail.

The University and University Hospital of Würzburg have demonstrated magnetic particle imaging on humans for the first time. The new procedure enables radiation-free visualisation of blood vessels in real time. 131 years ago, the physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovered the rays named after him in Würzburg, enabling completely new methods for visualising the human body.

In Yellowstone National Park, birds primarily search for food in areas where wolves frequently hunt prey Ravens and wolves: Ravens are often seen flying with wolves, following their tracks, or gathering quickly at fresh carcasses A twist in the tale: New research reveals that ravens don't simply follow wolves, they remember common hunting grounds and regularly check back for fresh meat.

News from At Leipzig University Medicine, scientists are researching how bodies, organs, cells and microbes talk to each other. In an article in the newspaper "Die WELT", Dr. Rima Chakaroun and Veronica Witte, among others, show how close laboratory and life, molecules and people, stomach and brain really are - and what all this reveals about our health and the possibility of personalized therapies.

A Europe-wide citizen science study reveals common buzzards are becoming more uniform in colour Mapping colour: Scientists used nearly 100,000 citizen science observations to map and track common buzzard plumage colour across Europe. Unexpected patterns: Buzzard colours vary geographically with patterns that defy theories linking colour to habitat and climate.

Research team identifies new selectivity in mouse visual cortex using "digital twins"   The visual cortex is the part of the brain that enables visual perception. In this area millions of nerve cells, called neurons, process stimuli from the outside world. They only react when objects with certain characteristics come into our field of vision.