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Researchers from the University of Münster analysed 202 fragments At the beginning of this year, on 21 January, a huge fireball was visible over the German state of Brandenburg. It was the result of a small celestial body entering the Earth's atmosphere, bursting and falling to the ground in numerous fragments near Ribbeck in the Havelland.

Team led by physicist Ursula Wurstbauer demonstrates collective behaviour of electrons in two-dimensional crystals for the first time If you make a material thinner and thinner, there comes a point when it undergoes a seemingly miraculous transformation: A two-dimensional material that consists of only one or two layers of a crystalline solid sometimes takes on completely different properties than the same material with greater thickness.

Researchers investigate the strong interaction of cholera toxin with a key ganglioside on the surface of intestinal cells Cholera infections caused by Vibrio cholerae bacteria can be life-threatening and the trigger is the cholera toxin produced by the bacteria. It binds to the surface of intestinal cells - more precisely, to certain "sugar lipids" (GM1 gangliosides, GM1) on the cell surfaces.

A guest commentary by biologists Niklas Kästner and Tobias Zimmermann, editors of the online magazine "ETHOlogisch - Verhalten verstehen" ("ETHOlogical - Understanding Behaviour") A mouse which disappears in a hole, a bee heading for a blossom, a blackbird in full-throated song - we are surrounded by animals which interact with their environment in certain ways.

Eleven mines and 57 recycling plants fewer: economic and ecological potential for savings on material consumption for electromobility in Europe The demand for electric vehicles which run on batteries is increasing worldwide. At the same time, resources of primary battery materials - i.e. those obtained from mining activities - are limited.

Researcher at the Cluster of Excellence Mathematics finds an approach that can be used flexibly Whether it's physical phenomena, share prices or climate models - many dynamic processes in our world can be described mathematically with the aid of partial differential equations. Thanks to stochastics - an area of mathematics which deals with probabilities - this is even possible when randomness plays a role in these processes.

A team of chemists at the University of Münster has developed a synthesis method for the site-selective integration of the biologically relevant difluoromethyl group into pyridines The difluoromethyl group often determines the properties of bioactive molecules and is therefore particularly interesting for drug research.

Team at the University of Münster develops an improved method for explaining machine predictions of chemical reactions Artificial intelligence and machine learning are becoming more and more relevant in everyday life - and the same goes for chemistry. Organic chemists, for example, are interested in how machine learning can help discover and synthesise new molecules that are effective against diseases or are useful in other ways.

German-Indian research team achieves further step towards miniaturised optical isolators / For on-chip integration of optical computer technologies It has been known for centuries that light exhibits wave-like behaviour in certain situations. Some materials are able to rotate the polarisation, i.e. the direction of oscillation, of the light wave when the light passes through the material.

Team from the University of Münster presents computer-aided method / Counteracting subjective bias in studies on the production of new chemical compounds Chemists often develop and optimise new chemical reactions using so-called model systems, i.e. simple, easily accessible substrates.

Virus, plant, fish: three working groups give an insight into their research It is only 80 to 120 nanometers in size, but has a big impact: the influenza virus. The pathogen is usually responsible for the annual flu season by infecting healthy body cells, multiplying in them, being released from the cell again and infecting other cells.

Microbiologist Bodo Philipp on the adaptability of micro-organisms and the benefits and risks for humans A team headed by Prof. Bodo Philipp and Dr. Johannes Holert from the Institute of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology has found bacteria in Münster's wastewater which can completely decompose a substance called "TRIS" (tris hydroxymethyl aminomethane), and the researchers were able to throw light on the metabolic pathway.

International team led by Münster researchers studies psychological consequences of the war The outbreak of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine almost two years ago led internationally to a collective downturn in people's sense of well-being - irrespective of age, gender, political views or any other attributes which the people questioned had.

Joint project -AReLiS-3- commences at MEET Battery Research Center A research team at the MEET Battery Research Center at the University of Münster has kicked off the international joint project "AReLiS-3" to pursue research on lithium-sulfur batteries. Its aim is to develop, investigate and optimize novel cell designs, materials, electrode coatings and electrolytes for sulfur-based battery systems.

For the first time without any chemical treatment, a research team analyses extraterrestrial amino acids and other organic compounds in an English meteorite fall Meteorites are fragments of asteroids which find their way to Earth as shooting stars. These cosmic sediments have frozen the primordial soup from which our solar system emerged - preserving it just like a time capsule.

Chemists at the University of Münster realised -chemical surgery- on ring-shaped compounds / Results published in -Nature Chemistry- In the field of chemistry, so-called skeletal editing is seen as a method suitable for changing ring-shaped structures precisely by swapping individual atoms.

Research team studies interaction of dust with boulders and discovers potentially anomalous rocks Our Earth's Moon is almost completely covered in dust. Unlike on Earth, this dust is not smoothed by wind and weather, but is sharp-edged and also electrostatically charged. This dust has been studied since the Apollo era at the end of the 1960s.

Further TOSYMA analysis underpins advantages of DBT+SM use compared to the previous screening standard In diagnostics, finding more is not automatically better. Rather, it is about finding the right thing - especially in the case of such dangerous diseases as cancer. This is where early detection comes into play, but it can also have unwanted side effects: For example, there is a risk of also discovering non-aggressive tumors that lead to treatment - but would not have substantively impaired quality of life or become life-threatening in the course of the disease.

International research team measures isotopic composition of lunar rocks Their high Ti contents are ultimately believed to be derived from a distinct mineralogical layer formed as part of the unstable crystal pile that constituted the lunar interior following solidification of a magma ocean, shortly after Moon formation.

Psychotherapy effective in treating post-traumatic stress disorder following multiple traumatic events International meta-study: Team led by researchers from the University of Münster reports encouraging results for patients and therapists Psychotherapy is an effective treatment for adults with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following exposure to multiple traumatic events.