news

Research team at the University of Göttingen develops method for recognizing cell properties Can you tell whether an avocado is hard or soft by looking at it? You would have to recognize how the plant cells behave behind the skin. The same applies to all other cells on our planet: Despite more than 100 years of intensive research, many of their properties remain hidden inside the cell.

Immune cells in the brain form bridges to nerve cells and protect against neurodegenerative diseases When nerve cells in the brain die, diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's develop. To protect these cells, there are immune cells in the brain known as microglia. A study has now shown that microglia form tiny tubes, so-called -tunnelling nanotubes-, and thus connect directly to the nerve cells.

In a collaborative project between the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and the Interdisciplinary Centre for Bioinformatics (IZBI) at Leipzig University, changes in gene expression in sebaceous glands have been spatially mapped for the first time. The study documents at high resolution changes in gene expression in the course of sebum synthesis and identifies new candidates for the modulation of sebum production.

Research team at the University of Göttingen develops method for recognizing cell properties   Checking whether an avocado is hard or soft by looking at it? This would require recognizing how the plant cells behave behind the skin. The same applies to all'other cells on our planet: Despite more than 100 years of intensive research, many of their properties remain hidden inside the cell.

Researchers including Göttingen University show that modern behaviour explains prehistoric economies   What if the 'Market Economy' always existed? Archaeologists from the Universities of Göttingen in Germany and Salento in Italy tried to answer this question by researching how much Bronze Age people used to spend to sustain their daily lives.

The liver has a remarkable ability to regenerate. This property is crucial for maintaining organ function and recovery after injury or surgery. Scientists from the University of Leipzig Medical Center, the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, TU Dresden and ETH Zurich have used clinical samples to investigate how cell types in the liver change before and after regeneration.

HyFiT fuels can reduce the carbon footprint of heavy goods transport and cut harmful emissions Synthetic fuels could make heavy goods traffic climate-friendly in the future. A team from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion, RWTH Aachen University, and ETH Zurich is now presenting a synthesis route that can be used to produce a fuel, known as HyFiT fuel, made from biomass or CO2 that can be used to refuel conventional combustion engines.

Researchers at Heidelberg University are studying the formation of this characteristically blue-colored crystal in volcanic melts Sapphires are among the most precious gems, yet they consist solely of chemically "contaminated" aluminum oxide, or corundum. Worldwide, these characteristically blue-colored crystals are mainly found in association with silicon-poor volcanic rocks.

Research exposes the long-lasting effects of losing a family member in war-torn regions Each year, hundreds of thousands of people are affected by armed conflict, both directly, through loss of life, or indirectly, through the loss of family members. Researchers studied the extent and duration of bereavement among those who lost immediate family members in high-intensity conflicts.

A research team at the University of Tübingen has found that most glyphosate that ends up in European rivers likely does not come from herbicides, as previously assumed; instead, it may be the result of additives to detergents. For the study, Professor Carolin Huhn of the Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry and colleagues from the Geoand Environmental Center conducted a large meta-analysis on data from European and US water protection authorities.

People trust medical advice less if they suspect that an artificial intelligence is involved in its creation. This is the key finding of a study by psychologists from the University of Würzburg. People used to ask Dr. Google if they wanted to know whether their symptoms indicate a mild stomach upset or terminal cancer; today, they are increasingly turning to ChatGPT.

Who we choose as a partner depends in part on who we find attractive on the outside. Scientists have long wondered whether potential partners can also sense a woman's fertility, for example through subtle changes in her body odour. Researchers from Leipzig University, the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and the University of Göttingen have now turned their attention to this question.

We all know what it's like when the penny suddenly drops. Animals too experience such moments of insight. They could prove useful for research, according to Ekrem Dere. For generations, researchers have been pondering the question of how and where consciousness is formed in the brain. Professor Ekrem Dere from Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, proposes a new approach to researching conscious cognitive information processing.

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.

Bonn researchers confirm three other genes for increased risk in addition to the known TLR7 gene Whether or not a person becomes seriously ill with COVID-19 depends, among other things, on genetic factors. With this in mind, researchers from the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn, in cooperation with other research teams from Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Italy, investigated a particularly large group of affected individuals.

An image of the the James Webb Space Telescope shows the oldest and coldest known exoplanet Using the James Webb Space Telescope, a team of astronomers led by the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy imaged a new exoplanet that orbits a star in the nearby triple system Epsilon Indi. The planet is a cold super-Jupiter exhibiting a temperature of around 0 degrees Celsius and a wide orbit comparable to that of Neptune around the Sun.

A new study on climate communication has just been published in the journal "Frontiers in Climate" "Global warming," "greenhouse effect," and "climate catastrophe" are all terms we are familiar with from international public discourse on the looming effects of climate change. But these terms seem to be limited in their efficacy: "One of the key problems with climate communication is that it does not adequately convey the severity of the issue.

Rocks undergo changes over millions of years. Yet it is possible to extract information from them about the climate at the time of their formation. Fluids circulating underground change rocks over the course of time. These processes must be taken into account if they are to be used as a climate archive.

Researchers at the University of Göttingen investigate consumer acceptance   Companies and institutes are currently working on biotechnological processes for the production of dairy products without the use of cows: In so-called precision fermentation, egg and milk proteins are produced with the help of bacteria, yeasts or other fungi.

Research team studies how technology conspiracy beliefs emerge and foster a conspiracy mindset As technology proliferates, misinformation and conspiracy theories seem to flourish. Conspiracy beliefs specifically about technology include popular commercial technologies, such as Amazon Echo and Google Search, as well as non-profit technologies designed to support health, such as contact tracing apps.