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Physics - Materials Science - 14.08.2019

Physicists Develop "Time Machine" for Materials Science
Physics experiments are often time-consuming and expensive. Sometimes scientists do not realize until the very end that they have been using the wrong calibration for measurements the whole time. What if there were a way to go back in time to the start of the experiment and re-examine the data? Researchers at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), Freie Universität Berlin, and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) hope to create a machine that would make that possible.

Astronomy / Space Science - Physics - 17.07.2019

Hunting for "ghost particles": Neutrino observatory at the South Pole will be extended
For almost ten years, scientists from all over the world have been using the large-scale experiment "IceCube" to search for neutrinos in the permanent ice of the South Pole. Neutrinos are the smallest particles that reach Earth as cosmic rays. Now the participating researchers, among them Prof. Alexander Kappes from the University of Münster, are pleased about a huge upgrade of the laboratory, which should contribute to measuring the properties of neutrinos much more accurately than before.

Physics - 12.07.2019

Which is the perfect quantum theory?
Is that a dog or a cat? Such a classification is a prime example of machine learning: artificial neural networks can be trained to analyze images by looking for patterns that are characteristic of specific objects. Provided the system has learned such patterns, it is able to recognize dogs or cats on any picture.

Chemistry - Physics - 03.07.2019

Activity of fuel cell catalysts doubled
Fuel cells may well replace batteries as the power source for electric cars. They consume hydrogen, a gas which could be produced for example using surplus electricity from wind power plants. However, the platinum used in fuel cells is rare and extremely expensive, which has been a limiting factor in applications up to now.

Physics - 14.06.2019

Immortal quantum particles
As the saying goes, nothing lasts forever. The laws of physics confirm this: on our planet, all processes increase entropy, thus molecular disorder. For example, a broken glass would never put itself back together again. Theoretical physicists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems have discovered that things which seem inconceivable in the everyday world are possible on a microscopic level.

Physics - Electroengineering - 05.06.2019

Magnetism discovered in the Earth’s mantle: New findings on the Earth’s magnetic field
New findings on the Earth's magnetic field: researchers show that the iron oxide hematite remains magnetic deep within the Earth's mantle / Study published in "Nature" journal The huge magnetic field which surrounds the Earth, protecting it from radiation and charged particles from space - and which many animals even use for orientation purposes - is changing constantly, which is why geoscientists keep it constantly under surveillance.

Physics - Materials Science - 23.05.2019

New Boost for ToCoTronics
05/23/2019 A great success for Würzburg's physics department: its Collaborative Research Centre was rated as excellent and is now entering its second funding phase. The German Research Foundation is providing 12 million euros for this purpose. In 2015, physicists at Julius-Maximilians-Universität (JMU) Würzburg in Bavaria, Germany, succeeded in establishing a new Collaborative Research Centre in Würzburg.

Physics - 09.05.2019

Computing faster with quasi-particles
In collaboration with researchers from Harvard University, researchers from the University of Würzburg have made an important step on the road to topological quantum computers. Now, they present their findings in the renowned scientific journal Nature. Majorana particles are very peculiar members of the family of elementary particles.

Life Sciences - Physics - 07.05.2019

Trigger for directed cell motion
When an individual cell is placed on a level surface, it does not keep still, but starts moving. This phenomenon was observed by the British cell biologist Michael Abercrombie as long ago as 1967. Since then, researchers have been thriving to understand how cells accomplish this feat. This much is known: cells form so-called lamellipodia - cellular protrusions that continuously grow and contract - to propel themselves towards signalling cues such as chemical attractants produced and secreted by other cells.

Physics - Astronomy / Space Science - 24.04.2019

Astroparticle physicists observe the longest half-life ever directly measured
The universe is almost 14 billion years old. An inconceivable length of time by human standards - yet compared to some physical processes, it is but a moment. There are radioactive nuclei that decay on much longer time scales. An international team of scientists has now directly measured the rarest decay process ever recorded in a detector.

Health - Physics - 04.04.2019

Black nanoparticles slow the growth of tumors
The dark skin pigment melanin protects us from the sun's damaging rays by absorbing light energy and converting it to heat. This could make it a very effective tool in tumor diagnosis and treatment, as demonstrated by a team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and Helmholtz Zentrum München.

Physics - Computer Science / Telecom - 03.04.2019

Novel nanophotonic chips for encrypted data transfer: Quantum communication
A giant cylindrical refrigerator, an electron-beam pattern generator, a cleanroom, etching equipment. Sometimes it takes a lot of big things to make something very small. The nanoscientists at the University of Münster headed by Prof. Wolfram Pernice and Prof. Carsten Schuck know this only too well: they use these and other devices to produce nanophotonic chips the size of a one-cent piece.

Physics - Chemistry - 27.03.2019

Toxic and aggressive, but widely used
In toothpaste, Teflon, LEDs and medications, it shows its sunny side - but elemental fluorine is extremely aggressive and highly toxic. Attempts to determine the crystal structure of solid fluorine using X-rays ended with explosions 50 years ago. A research team has now clarified the actual structure of the fluorine using neutrons from the Heinz Maier Leibnitz Research Neutron Source (FRM II).

Physics - Electroengineering - 25.03.2019

A new spin on nanophysics: Part 2 of the series "Under lock and key at Münster University"
Part 2 of the series "Under lock and key at Münster University": the vacuum machine at the Institute of Physics is used to investigate spin phenomena The yellow stickers can already be seen from a distance: "Laser beam", "High voltage - danger to life", "No unauthorized access". The locked door with the warning notices is located at the end of a long, dark corridor on the fourth floor of the Institute of Physics at the University of Münster.

Chemistry - Physics - 13.03.2019

Converting biomass by applying mechanical force
One of the greatest global challenges is the efficient use of renewable sources in order to meet the increasing demand for energy and feedstock chemicals in the future. In this context, biomass is a promising alternative to existing fossil sources such as coal or oil. Cellulose plays a decisive role here because it accounts for the largest fraction of the natural carbon storage.

Chemistry - Physics - 08.01.2019

Nanophysicists developed a high-performance organic phototransistor
Converting light into electrical signals is essential for a number of future applications including imaging, optical communication and biomedical sensing. Researchers from the University of Münster have now developed a new molecular device enabling to detect light and translate it with high efficiency to detectable electronical current.

Environment - Physics - 20.12.2018

Measuring Individual Argon Atoms Helps In Understanding Ocean Ventilation
The age of the water in the world's oceans is critical for understanding ocean circulation, especially for the transport of gases from the atmosphere into the deep ocean. Researchers from Heidelberg University recently used an atomic physics technique they developed to determine the age of deep ocean water ranging from 50 to 1,000 years.

Physics - Chemistry - 23.11.2018

Chemists develop new method for selective binding of proteins
‘Key-and-lock recognition' through co-assembling points of contact on a nanoscale / Potential for diagnostics, imaging and active ingredients in medicines A new method of selectively binding proteins to nanoparticles has been described by a team of German and Chinese researchers headed by Prof. Bart Jan Ravoo, a chemist at the “Center for Soft Nanoscience” at the University of Münster.

Physics - Chemistry - 14.11.2018

Environment turns molecule into a switch
11/14/2018 For the first time, physicists from the University of Würzburg have successfully positioned an organic molecule on a substrate realizing two stable configurations. This may have application potential in molecular spintronics. It looks like a cross with four arms of equal length that have a central atom at their intersection.

Physics - 09.11.2018

When Different Systems Behave Alike
Different physical systems - isolated from the environment and far from equilibrium - can behave the same. Quantum mechanically, this is the case if the dynamics of a many-particle system become universal. In two fundamentally different experiments, physicists from Heidelberg University and the TU Vienna (Austria) have now succeeded in verifying this universality in ultracold clouds of Rubidium atoms.