Tobacco hawkmoths are not attracted to flower odors when ozone levels are high; however, the moths are able to learn that odors modified by ozone may offer a reward, that is, nectar. A team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, and the University of Virginia, USA, has studied the impact of high ozone air pollution on the chemical communication between flowers and pollinators. They showed that tobacco hawkmoths lost attraction to the scent…

Lack of shade? Too many nutrients from adjacent fields? Modified banks? If a river or stream is not doing well, there are many possible causes, but they are sometimes difficult to detect. Scientists from the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE) have now developed a method that evaluates biological symptoms of rivers and calculates probable causes. “Our tool works similar to a visit to the doctor, where they ask us ‘What’s wrong?’”, explains PD Dr. Christian Feld from Aquatic Ecology. But instead…

Researchers study the speed and precision of signal transductions in the brain / Study published in Nature Communications Researchers at Münster University have discovered that glial cells – one of the main components of the brain – not only control the speed of nerve conduction, but also influence the precision of signal transduction in the brain. The research results have been published in the journal Nature Communications. For the brain to work efficiently, it is important that a nerve impulse…

Cooperation within the TopDyn research center paves the way for the investigation of two-dimensional phases and phase transitions In a collaboration between experimental physicists and theoretical physicists in the framework of the Dynamics and Topology (TopDyn) excellence project, a system of many small magnetic whirls could be engineered to form a regularly ordered state. Such a transition from a disordered to an ordered phase is analogous to the well-known crystallization, which, however, occurs here in two dimensions. For the research…

Researchers from CeMM Research Center of Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the Medical University of Vienna and Stanford University School of Medicine, have found that a module of the immune system, which is best known for causing allergic reactions, plays a key role in acquiring host defense against infections triggered by the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus. This “allergy module”, constituted by mast cells and Immunoglobulin E, can grant protection and increased resistance against secondary bacterial infections in the…

A research team from the Nanjing Agricultural University, China, and the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Germany, showed that isothiocyanates produced by cruciferous plants to fend off pests serve as oviposition cues. The plant defense substances serve as odor signals for females of the diamondback moth to lay their eggs on these plants. The scientists identified two olfactory receptors whose sole function is to detect these defense substances and to guide the moths to the ideal oviposition sites. They…

A team of Indian and Japanese physicists have overturned the six-decade old notion that the giant magnetic field in a high intensity laser produced plasma evolves from the small, nanometre scale in the bulk plasma [1]. They show that instead the field actually originates at macroscopic scales defined by the boundaries of the electron beam that is propagating in the plasma. The new mechanism seeks to alter our understanding of magnetic fields in astrophysical scenarios and laser fusion and may…

Rubbery electronics offer promise for new applications A medical robotic hand could allow doctors to more accurately diagnose and treat people from halfway around the world, but currently available technologies aren’t good enough to match the in-person experience. Researchers report in Science Advances that they have designed and produced a smart electronic skin and a medical robotic hand capable of assessing vital diagnostic data by using a newly invented rubbery semiconductor with high carrier mobility. Cunjiang Yu, Bill D. Cook…

Widespread fungal disease in plants can be controlled with a commercially available chemical that has been primarily used in medicine until now. This discovery was made by scientists from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and the University of the State of Paraná in Brazil. In a comprehensive experiment the team has uncovered a new metabolic pathway that can be disrupted with this chemical, thus preventing many known plant fungi from invading the host plant. The team reported on their study…

Scientists from Göttingen compare cognitive skills of different primate species. Chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans are our closest relatives, and like us they have relatively large brains and they are very intelligent. But do animals with larger brains really perform better in cognitive tests? A research team from the German Primate Center (DPZ) – Leibniz Institute for Primate Research in Göttingen has for the first time systematically investigated the cognitive abilities of lemurs, which have relatively small brains compared to other…

A new 3D-printing method will make it easier to manufacture and control the shape of soft robots, artificial muscles and wearable devices. Researchers at UC San Diego show that by controlling the printing temperature of liquid crystal elastomer, or LCE, they can control the material’s degree of stiffness and ability to contract–also known as degree of actuation. What’s more, they are able to change the stiffness of different areas in the same material by exposing it to heat. As a…

How nature is inspiring completely new material concepts for the technology of tomorrow. Smartphones, laptops, smart watches: The chemical element silicon is found in every electronic component and computer chip, no matter how small. Silicon also gives its name to Silicon Valley, the home of many technology companies. Scientists from Hamburg have now succeeded in giving silicon muscle power. This new property enables the material to convert electrical signals into mechanical movements for the first time. As the team writes…

Interdisciplinary team of researchers combines image-based particle analysis with artificial intelligence. From pollen forecasting, honey analysis and climate-related changes in plant-pollinator interactions, analysing pollen plays an important role in many areas of research. Microscopy is still the gold standard, but it is very time consuming and requires considerable expertise. In cooperation with Technische Universität (TU) Ilmenau, scientists from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) have now developed a method that…

International MOSAiC expedition successfully completed Researchers from TROPOS and Leipzig University contribute to the success of the largest Arctic expeditio. With the return of the Polarstern, the largest Arctic expedition of all times has come to a successful end. For more than a year, the German research icebreaker travelled in 5 cruise legs with more than 400 people from 20 countries to investigate the epicentre of climate change more precisely than ever before. At the end of the expedition, which…

Outstanding green visionaries from all over the world will meet Germany’s sustainability research elite during the first virtual science tour. The 25 winners of this year’s Green Talents Competition have been selected to attend the premiere of a Virtual Science Forum for talented junior researchers in the field of sustainability science, which starts today; responsible for the organisation of the competition is the DLR Project Management Agency. The winners are engaged in topics ranging from climate change to energy systems….

On the occasion of EclipseCon 2020, Fraunhofer FOKUS launches its simulation environment Eclipse MOSAIC. This solution is based on VSimRTI (Vehicle-2-X Simulation Runtime Infrastructure), which has been developed over the last 12 years in close cooperation with the DCAITI of the TU Berlin and has already been used by more than 600 partners to test mobility services and traffic scenarios. Eclipse MOSAIC is now partially available as open-source. Whether dynamic lane assignment or traffic light phase assistant, new mobility services…

IM30 loses its complex ring structure under stress conditions and forms a protective carpet on the membrane surface / Surface structure observed for the first time Stress is present everywhere, even bacteria and plant cells have to cope with it. They express various specific stress proteins, but how exactly this line of defense works is often not clear. A group of scientists headed by Professor Dirk Schneider of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) has now discovered a protective mechanism in…

Quantum dot logic circuits provide the long-sought building blocks for innovative devices, including printable electronics, flexible displays, and medical diagnostics. Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory and their collaborators from the University of California, Irvine have created fundamental electronic building blocks out of tiny structures known as quantum dots and used them to assemble functional logic circuits. The innovation promises a cheaper and manufacturing-friendly approach to complex electronic devices that can be fabricated in a chemistry laboratory via simple, solution-based…

Heidelberg scientists study glacial lake outburst flood in the Himalaya Researchers from the South Asia Institute and the Heidelberg Center for the Environment of Ruperto Carola investigated the causes of a glacial lake outburst with subsequent flooding in the Ladakh region of India. In order to frame the case study in a larger picture, the research team led by geographer Prof. Dr Marcus Nüsser used satellite images to create a comprehensive survey of glacial lakes for the entire Trans-Himalyan region…

Biologists study social responsiveness in fish In order to escape predators, many fish – including insects, fish and birds – have developed strategies for rapidly transmitting information on threats to others of their species. This information is transmitted within a group of hundreds, or even thousands, of individuals in (escape) waves. This collective response is also, in the case of fish, known as shoal behaviour. Special parasites can, however, manipulate such a survival strategy. Researchers at the University of Münster…