news 2023

International research team models the different signatures of a kilonova explosion simultaneously for the first time Neutron stars are the end products of massive stars and gather together a large part of the original stellar mass in a super-dense star with a diameter of only around ten kilometres.

Geologists from Heidelberg and Frankfurt simulate thermo-mechanical behaviour of a white schist from the Alps Movements of rocks from deep in the Earth to the surface could occur under different circumstances than previously thought, challenging our current understanding of plate tectonics and mountain-building.

Andrea Rentmeister's team detects methylated sites with click chemistry The genetic information of an organism is stored in the form of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) in every cell. In order to be able to produce proteins with this blueprint, the DNA is first transcribed into so-called mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid).

Study by the Universities of Bonn and St. Andrews proposes a solution to one of the great mysteries of cosmology The universe is expanding. How fast it does so is described by the so-called Hubble-Lemaitre constant. But there is a dispute about how big this constant actually is: Different measurement methods provide contradictory values.

Formaldehyde can inhibit enzymes that produce hydrogen particularly efficiently. Researchers from Bochum have discovered how this can be prevented. Enzymes from microorganisms can produce hydrogen (H2) under certain conditions, which makes them potential biocatalysts for biobased H2 technologies. In order to make this hydrogen production efficient, researchers are trying to identify and eliminate possible limiting factors.

A heat shock protein protects the cells against protein clumping. It degrades, however, over longer treatment periods. Plasmas are used, for example, in wound treatment against pathogens that are resistant to antibiotics. However, bacteria can defend themselves: They employ a heat shock protein that protects them.

Plasmas can provide the co-substrate needed for biocatalysis of valuable substances, but are also harmful to enzymes. By attaching enzymes to small beads the enzymes are protected and remain active up to 44 times longer. Some enzymes, such as the one derived from fungi and investigated in this study, are able to produce valuable substances such as the fragrance (R)-1-phenylethanol.

A team of researchers from the University of Potsdam and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) has developed a measuring method to analyze soil samples with neutrons and X-rays and create 3D tomographies from them: This makes it possible for the first time to precisely localize microplastics in the soil.

A sophisticated device uses radio waves to determine whether states are really complying with nuclear weapons treaties When it comes to nuclear weapons, no state really wants to leave anything to chance. A small movement in nuclear weapons stocks can have a major impact. It is therefore important to monitor nuclear weapons treaties effectively and closely.

Euclid, the new space telescope launched by the ESA with the involvement of German researchers, has published its first color photographs from outer space. Never before has a telescope been able to produce such sharp astronomical images of such a wide expanse of sky while looking so deep into the distant universe.

After more than a century, physicists aim to dethrone the tried-and-tested technology of the refrigerator, as cooling can be made more energy-efficient. The compressor technology used in today's refrigerators was invented more than a century ago. "The technology has been continuously optimized over the years, of course," says Daniel Hägele, physicist at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany.

Monitoring whether states are complying with disarmament treaties is not an easy task. An international team has been exploring remote monitoring with the help of two antennas and a couple of mirrors. An international research team has proposed a new method for monitoring nuclear disarmament treaties.

For the first time, experimental physicists from the Würzburg-Dresden Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat have demonstrated a new quantum effect aptly named the "spinaron." In a meticulously controlled environment and using an advanced set of instruments, they managed to prove the unusual state a cobalt atom assumes on a copper surface.

Researchers find new physical effects in systems consisting of particles with an orientation-dependent propulsion speed Investigating systems consisting of self-propelled particles - so-called active particles - is a rapidly growing area of research. In theoretical models for active particles, it is often assumed that the particles' swimming speed is always the same.

Quantum sensors make microscale NMR spectroscopy possible A miniature magnetic resonance Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is an important imaging method in research which can be used to visualize tissue and structures without damaging them. The technique is better known from the medical field as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), where the patient is moved into a bore of a large magnet on a table.

Research team from the University of Münster presents synthesis method in Nature Chemistry Fluorinated small molecules are very often used to produce medicines or agrochemicals. However, they rarely occur naturally. The societal importance of fluorinated substances, combined with the lack of natural sources, has created a demand for effective, sustainable methods to generate new fluorinated motifs - molecular structures containing one or more fluorine atom - from relatively simple starting materials.

Stars like our sun end their lives as white dwarfs. Some of them are surrounded by a planetary nebula consisting of gas ejected by the dying star shortly before its death. An international research team led by Professor Klaus Werner of the Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of has for the first time studied a central star of a planetary nebula located in an open star cluster.

Five high-performance microscopes at the University of Münster Many people are as fascinated by the microworld and the nanoworld as others are by the cosmos or the deep seas. These worlds seem to be inaccessible, apparently hidden from human eyes. However, across a wide range of disciplines, microscopes make it possible to take ever deeper and more precise looks at the smallest of details, and in ever higher resolutions - right down to atomic structures.

Physicists investigate 2D materials with very special properties Postdoc Dr. Nihit Saigal, a member of Prof. Ursula Wurstbauer's team at Münster University's Institute of Physics, has got everything ready in the laboratory to produce an ultra-thin, two-dimensional material - a silver-coloured crystal of molybdenum disulphide, a viscoelastic polymer film.

Water is a major driving force in the formation of separate reaction compartments within cells. In order to fulfil their function, biological cells need to be divided into separate reaction compartments. This is sometimes done with membranes, and sometimes without them: the spontaneous segregation of certain types of biomolecules leads to the formation of so-called condensates.