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Life Sciences - Earth Sciences - 01.06.2023 
Microorganisms break down petroleum components in the seabed
Archaea cultivated in the laboratory are active even at high temperatures and without oxygen The seafloor is home to around one-third of all the microorganisms on the Earth and is inhabited even at a depth of several kilometers. Only when it becomes too hot does the abundance of microorganisms appear to decline.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 16.05.2023 
’Warm Ice Age’ Changed Climate Cycles
Approximately 700,000 years ago, a "warm ice age" permanently changed the climate cycles on Earth. Contemporaneous with this exceptionally warm and moist period, the polar glaciers greatly expanded. A European research team including Earth scientists from Heidelberg University used recently acquired geological data in combination with computer simulations to identify this seemingly paradoxical connection.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 02.05.2023
Environment - Earth Sciences - 02.05.2023 
Progressive climate change: Mediterranean forests threatened with desertification
Heidelberg geoscientists study natural climate fluctuations of the past 500,000 years With the aim of predicting the consequences of man-made climate change for Mediterranean ecosystems, geoscientists at Heidelberg University have studied natural climate and vegetation fluctuations over the past 500,000 years.
Earth Sciences - 06.04.2023 
Ancient Magma Reveals Signs of Life
Heidelberg geoscientists develop new methods to identify biogenic carbon in zircon minerals Zircon crystals, like a time capsule, can preserve traces of life hundreds of millions of years old in the form of biogenic carbon. Using new methods, geoscientists at Heidelberg University have succeeded in tracing very old and rare examples of the mineral zircon that host graphite inclusions in which light carbon is identifiable as a remnant of earlier life.
Earth Sciences - Environment - 04.04.2023
Environment - Earth Sciences - 31.03.2023
Earth Sciences - Physics - 01.03.2023 
Honeycombs in the desert
Convection of salty water creates hexagonal patterns The honeycomb-like patterns that often occur in salt deserts, including Death Valley and Chile, look like something from another world. A team that included researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization in Göttingen, Germany, explain the origin of the mysterious patterns for the first time.
History / Archeology - Earth Sciences - 28.02.2023 
Steel Was Already Used in Europe 2900 Years Ago
Team headed by Freiburg researcher has discovered earliest use of steel in Europe - on Iberian stone pillars from the Final Bronze Age A study by an international and interdisciplinary team headed by Freiburg archaeologist Dr. Ralph Araque Gonzalez from the Faculty of Humanities has proven that steel tools were already in use in Europe around 2900 years ago.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 28.02.2023 
Invasive plant species will spread even further in Germany
They are called giant hogweed, Japanese knotweed or ragweed - but they all have one thing in common: they are invasive plant species that found their way to Germany many years ago and are increasingly displacing other plant species. Many of them have not even reached their potentially suitable habitat yet.
Astronomy / Space Science - Earth Sciences - 20.02.2023 
Unknown Class of Water-rich Asteroids Identified
New astronomical measurements in the infrared range have led to the identification of a heretofore unknown class of asteroids. An international research team including geoscientists from Heidelberg University has succeeded in characterising these small planets using infrared spectroscopy. They are located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and are - similar to the dwarf planet Ceres - rich in water.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 15.02.2023 
Dangerous Water - Outburst floods from ice-dammed glacial lakes have changed dramatically
Glaciers in high mountains can dam lakes, some of which burst out suddenly, posing a hazard to human settlements downstream. To better understand long-term changes of these floods, Dr. Georg Veh and researchers at the University of Potsdam and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) have studied whether and to what extent the activity of these glacial lakes has changed in recent decades.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 09.02.2023
Earth Sciences - Physics - 07.02.2023 
Asteroid impact in slow motion
For the first time, researchers have recorded live and in atomic detail what happens to the material in an asteroid impact. The team of Falko Langenhorst from the University of Jena and Hanns-Peter Liermann from DESY simulated an asteroid impact with the mineral quartz in the lab and pursued it in slow motion in a diamond anvil cell, while monitoring it with DESY's X-ray source PETRA III.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 01.02.2023 
Depletion of the ozone layer led to mass extinction
Palaeobotanists analyse plant fossils 252 million years old 252 million years ago, there occurred the greatest mass extinction in the history of the Earth up to that time: three-quarters of life on land and up to 95 percent of marine species vanished within just a few thousand years. This far-reaching event at the end of the Permian period marked the transition to a new age - that of the dinosaurs.
Earth Sciences - Environment - 18.01.2023
Life Sciences - Earth Sciences - 11.01.2023 
Newly discovered surface structures may affect immune function
Freiburg researchers describe a ridge network on the membrane of B lymphocytes for the first time Using new microscopic methods in combination with machine learning-based image analysis, researchers from Freiburg have discovered new structures on the surface of living B cells that affect the distribution and possibly the function of their antigen receptors.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 26.12.2022 
Slime for the climate, delivered by brown algae
Brown algae could remove up to 0.55 gigatons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year Brown algae take up large amounts of carbon dioxide from the air and release parts of the carbon contained therein back into the environment in mucous form. This mucus is hard to break down for other ocean inhabitants, thus the carbon is removed from the atmosphere for a long time, as researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen now show.
Earth Sciences - 20.12.2022 
Using drones to monitor volcanoes: Researchers analyze volcanic gases with the help of ultra-lightweight sensor systems
Composition of gases emitted by volcanoes can provide information on the possibility of imminent eruptions / Lightweight drones make investigation possible even in areas that are difficult to access The main gases released by volcanoes are water vapor, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide. Analyzing these gases is one of the best ways of obtaining information on volcanic systems and the magmatic processes that are underway.
Earth Sciences - 19.12.2022 
Sedimentary rock ’chert’ records cooling of the Earth over billions of years
Research team analyses oxygen isotopes in 550 million-year-old samples Several billion years ago, the oceans were probably not as hot as often assumed, but were instead at much more moderate temperatures. This is the conclusion of a research team from the University of Göttingen and the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), Potsdam.
Earth Sciences
Results 1 - 20 of 131.
Archaea cultivated in the laboratory are active even at high temperatures and without oxygen The seafloor is home to around one-third of all the microorganisms on the Earth and is inhabited even at a depth of several kilometers. Only when it becomes too hot does the abundance of microorganisms appear to decline.
Approximately 700,000 years ago, a "warm ice age" permanently changed the climate cycles on Earth. Contemporaneous with this exceptionally warm and moist period, the polar glaciers greatly expanded. A European research team including Earth scientists from Heidelberg University used recently acquired geological data in combination with computer simulations to identify this seemingly paradoxical connection.
Progressive Climate Change: Desertification Threatens Mediterranean Forests
Heidelberg Earth scientists study natural climate fluctuations of the past 500,000 years With a view towards predicting the consequences of human-made climate change for Mediterranean ecosystems, Earth scientists from Heidelberg University have studied natural climate and vegetation fluctuations of the past 500,000 years.
Heidelberg Earth scientists study natural climate fluctuations of the past 500,000 years With a view towards predicting the consequences of human-made climate change for Mediterranean ecosystems, Earth scientists from Heidelberg University have studied natural climate and vegetation fluctuations of the past 500,000 years.
Heidelberg geoscientists study natural climate fluctuations of the past 500,000 years With the aim of predicting the consequences of man-made climate change for Mediterranean ecosystems, geoscientists at Heidelberg University have studied natural climate and vegetation fluctuations over the past 500,000 years.
Heidelberg geoscientists develop new methods to identify biogenic carbon in zircon minerals Zircon crystals, like a time capsule, can preserve traces of life hundreds of millions of years old in the form of biogenic carbon. Using new methods, geoscientists at Heidelberg University have succeeded in tracing very old and rare examples of the mineral zircon that host graphite inclusions in which light carbon is identifiable as a remnant of earlier life.
Using Geoinformatics to Capture Complex Change of a Rock Glacier
Heidelberg research team uses laser scanning and 3D drone data to study an ice-debris mixture in Tyrol A rock glacier in Tyrol - a downward flowing ice-debris mixture covering more than 40 hectares - is becoming unstable due to rising temperatures and is accelerating towards the valley. A research team from Heidelberg University is involved in the study of the rock glacier "Äußeres Hochebenkar" in the Ötztal Alps of Austria.
Heidelberg research team uses laser scanning and 3D drone data to study an ice-debris mixture in Tyrol A rock glacier in Tyrol - a downward flowing ice-debris mixture covering more than 40 hectares - is becoming unstable due to rising temperatures and is accelerating towards the valley. A research team from Heidelberg University is involved in the study of the rock glacier "Äußeres Hochebenkar" in the Ötztal Alps of Austria.
At the End of the Dry Season: CO2 Pulses over Australia
Heidelberg environmental physicists study dry regions and their influence on variations in the global carbon cycle End-of-dry-season CO2 pulses recur each year in the atmosphere above the Australian continent, a discovery made by an international research team led by environmental physicist André Butz of Heidelberg University.
Heidelberg environmental physicists study dry regions and their influence on variations in the global carbon cycle End-of-dry-season CO2 pulses recur each year in the atmosphere above the Australian continent, a discovery made by an international research team led by environmental physicist André Butz of Heidelberg University.
Convection of salty water creates hexagonal patterns The honeycomb-like patterns that often occur in salt deserts, including Death Valley and Chile, look like something from another world. A team that included researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization in Göttingen, Germany, explain the origin of the mysterious patterns for the first time.
Team headed by Freiburg researcher has discovered earliest use of steel in Europe - on Iberian stone pillars from the Final Bronze Age A study by an international and interdisciplinary team headed by Freiburg archaeologist Dr. Ralph Araque Gonzalez from the Faculty of Humanities has proven that steel tools were already in use in Europe around 2900 years ago.
They are called giant hogweed, Japanese knotweed or ragweed - but they all have one thing in common: they are invasive plant species that found their way to Germany many years ago and are increasingly displacing other plant species. Many of them have not even reached their potentially suitable habitat yet.
New astronomical measurements in the infrared range have led to the identification of a heretofore unknown class of asteroids. An international research team including geoscientists from Heidelberg University has succeeded in characterising these small planets using infrared spectroscopy. They are located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and are - similar to the dwarf planet Ceres - rich in water.
Glaciers in high mountains can dam lakes, some of which burst out suddenly, posing a hazard to human settlements downstream. To better understand long-term changes of these floods, Dr. Georg Veh and researchers at the University of Potsdam and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) have studied whether and to what extent the activity of these glacial lakes has changed in recent decades.
Tree-Ring Data Indicate Unusual Summer Droughts
Freie researchers contribute to new study in "Nature" detailing evidence of unusual drought conditions in Europe in recent years Using data taken from tree-ring isotopes, researchers have proven that the summer droughts that have swept parts of Europe in recent years were actually very unusual in comparison to droughts from centuries ago.
Freie researchers contribute to new study in "Nature" detailing evidence of unusual drought conditions in Europe in recent years Using data taken from tree-ring isotopes, researchers have proven that the summer droughts that have swept parts of Europe in recent years were actually very unusual in comparison to droughts from centuries ago.
For the first time, researchers have recorded live and in atomic detail what happens to the material in an asteroid impact. The team of Falko Langenhorst from the University of Jena and Hanns-Peter Liermann from DESY simulated an asteroid impact with the mineral quartz in the lab and pursued it in slow motion in a diamond anvil cell, while monitoring it with DESY's X-ray source PETRA III.
Palaeobotanists analyse plant fossils 252 million years old 252 million years ago, there occurred the greatest mass extinction in the history of the Earth up to that time: three-quarters of life on land and up to 95 percent of marine species vanished within just a few thousand years. This far-reaching event at the end of the Permian period marked the transition to a new age - that of the dinosaurs.
’There are also major deposits of rare earths in Greenland’
Geophysicist Michael Becken on the -Sensational Find- in Sweden and the Involvement of the University of Münster Some observers speak of a "sensational find", others warn against too great expectations. The fact is that a few days ago, experts in Kiruna in northern Sweden found the largest deposit of so-called rare earths in Europe to date.
Geophysicist Michael Becken on the -Sensational Find- in Sweden and the Involvement of the University of Münster Some observers speak of a "sensational find", others warn against too great expectations. The fact is that a few days ago, experts in Kiruna in northern Sweden found the largest deposit of so-called rare earths in Europe to date.
Freiburg researchers describe a ridge network on the membrane of B lymphocytes for the first time Using new microscopic methods in combination with machine learning-based image analysis, researchers from Freiburg have discovered new structures on the surface of living B cells that affect the distribution and possibly the function of their antigen receptors.
Brown algae could remove up to 0.55 gigatons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year Brown algae take up large amounts of carbon dioxide from the air and release parts of the carbon contained therein back into the environment in mucous form. This mucus is hard to break down for other ocean inhabitants, thus the carbon is removed from the atmosphere for a long time, as researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen now show.
Composition of gases emitted by volcanoes can provide information on the possibility of imminent eruptions / Lightweight drones make investigation possible even in areas that are difficult to access The main gases released by volcanoes are water vapor, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide. Analyzing these gases is one of the best ways of obtaining information on volcanic systems and the magmatic processes that are underway.
Research team analyses oxygen isotopes in 550 million-year-old samples Several billion years ago, the oceans were probably not as hot as often assumed, but were instead at much more moderate temperatures. This is the conclusion of a research team from the University of Göttingen and the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), Potsdam.
