news 2024

A substance derived from the plant Ardisia crenata works in a different way than existing drugs. And in doing so, it is highly effective. Pulmonary hypertension is a very serious disease that leads to heart failure and death in many patients. Searching for new treatment options, a team headed by Professor Daniela Wenzel and Alexander Seidinger from the Department of Systems Physiology at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, tested the plant substance FR900359 - referred to as FR by the researchers.

An international team of researchers, including some from the University of Bonn, has demonstrated an exotic quantum state of matter How can a structure hold together if its individual components are actually repelling one another? An international research team has now demonstrated one example of such a highly excited exotic quantum state of matter.

The sites where vascular aneurysms typically form have a predilection from the outset, even in healthy people. This is shown by a study conducted by medical researchers from Bochum and Bonn. A vascular dilatation in the aorta can be life-threatening if it bursts. These so-called aortic aneurysms typically form in the same sites of the large blood vessel: either on the upper arch or in the abdominal cavity.

Parents and upbringing play a major role in determining how often children lie. This behavior can be positively influenced with simple measures. This is shown by a new study by economists from Würzburg, Bonn and Oxford. Everyone lies - some more, some less. Children are no different. An international team of economists has now investigated the influence of the parental home and upbringing.

The Freiburg project 'I4C - Intelligence for Cities' has developed locally precise climate models and foundations for planning tools Urban spaces are particularly susceptible to the effects of climate change, such as heat waves, floods, and storms. But which areas of a city are affected, and how can city planners respond? 'I4C - Intelligence for Cities' is an interdisciplinary project conducted by the University of Freiburg and several Fraunhofer Institutes.

Researchers from the Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment (SHEP) at the University of Tübingen and the Senckenberg Natural History Museum in Görlitz have studied the role of the desert grass Stipagrostis sabulicola in the African Namib Desert. In their study, published in the journal Scientific Reports , they show that the plant is able to absorb moisture from fog events and thus forms an essential basis of an - altogether unexpectedly complex - food web in the drought-stricken landscape.

Researchers from Konstanz have measured the heart rate of bats over several days in the wild, including complete flights - the first time this has been done for a bat species. To record the heart rate of male common noctule bats during flight, the scientists attached heart rate transmitters weighing less than one gram to the animals, which they then accompanied in an airplane while the bats flew, sometimes for more than an hour, in search of food.

In an emergency, ants bite off injured limbs of fellow ants to ensure their survival. Whether they take this radical step depends on the location of the wound. They exhibit a behaviour that was previously only known in humans: Florida carpenter ants ( Camponotus floridanus ) amputate limbs as a precautionary measure to save the lives of wounded conspecifics.

The EU Emissions Trading System is not only good for reducing CO2 and for the climate. It also results in considerable health benefits due to reduced air pollution and saves hundreds of billions of euros, according to a recently released study by a team at Universität Hamburg. The research team from the Cluster of Excellence Climate, Climatic Change, and Society (CLICCS) at Universität Hamburg analyzed the indirect effects of the European Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) on hazardous air pollutants such as sulfur oxide, particulate matter, and nitrogen oxides.

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.

International team use 1.8 billion letters of genetic code to build ground-breaking tree of life   An international study involving researchers from the University of Göttingen investigated the evolution of flowering plants in extraordinary detail using advanced DNA sequencing technology. The researchers discovered that there was an evolutionary explosive development of flowering plants producing enormous diversity.

Study provides new insights into the gravitational interactions between colliding black holes and answers to fundamental questions in physics. Under the leadership of Jan Plefka from the Department of Physics at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU), an international team has described the dynamics of colliding black holes with unprecedented mathematical precision.

The region with the greatest marine biodiversity on our planet is known as the Coral Triangle or Indo-Australian Archipelago. However, the detailed evolutionary history of this biodiversity hotspot is poorly understood. An international research team has reconstructed how biodiversity has developed over the past 40 million years.

Oh dear, chemical formulas! With just a few simple tips, students can prevent stress and ruining their grade in a biology test. Structural formulas are a source of dread for many students, but they're an essential tool in biology lessons.

Researchers at the Würzburg Helmholtz Institute for Infection Research led by RNA expert Chase Beisel have developed a new approach to DNA transformation and gene mutation in bacteria. Bacteria possess unique traits with great potential for benefiting society. However, current genetic engineering methods to harness these advantages are limited to a small fraction of bacterial species.

Würzburg researchers from the Bavarian initiative Solar Technologies Go Hybrid are reporting progress on the road to more efficient utilisation of solar energy: they have developed an innovative light-harvesting system. In order to convert sunlight into electricity or other forms of energy as efficiently as possible, the very first step is an efficient light-harvesting system.

A research team from the University of Jena has developed a small optical lens, only a few millimetres in size, whose refractive behaviour changes in the presence of gas. As reported by the researchers in the journal Nature Communications, this "intelligent" behaviour of the micro-lens is enabled by the hybrid glass material from which it is made.

News from Two new papers published by researchers from Leipzig University and its partner institutions shed light on the complex relationships between biodiversity, soil and climate. They show how human influences and climate change are jeopardising our environment and emphasise the need for integrated solutions that promote sustainability and social justice.

A study from the University of Bonn has investigated how to achieve high crop yields while also protecting the environment Leaving some weeds between crops can help to combat pests on agricultural land, according to a new study carried out by the University of Bonn. This step has particularly positive effects in combination with other measures: the cultivation of different types of crops and planting strips of wildflowers.

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.