The University of Göttingen will lead the new European project "Adaptive Optical Dendrites (ADOPD)" for research into alternative, ultra-fast computer components based on neuronal signalling systems. The project, led by Professor Florentin Wörgötter and Dr Christian Tetzlaff from the Institute of Physics, focusses on how the functioning of neuronal cells can be transferred to fibre-optic-based computer components. The University of Göttingen will…

The International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS) for Solar System Science at the University of Göttingen has reached a milestone: With Eliana Amazo Gómez, the 200th doctoral student of the IMPRS has now defended her doctoral thesis and thus successfully completed her PhD. In her thesis, the 33-year-old Colombian scientist developed a new method of deducing the rotational period of stars from their brightness fluctuations. In this way, she was…

Die Göttinger Professoren Silvio Rizzoli, Direktor des Instituts für Neuro- und Sinnesphysiologie der Universitätsmedizin Göttingen (UMG), und Nils Brose, Direktor der Abteilung für Molekulare Neurobiologie am Max-Planck-Institut für Experimentelle Medizin, gehören zu den in diesem Jahr ausgezeichneten Empfängern hoch-kompetitiver ERC-Grants. Beide werden ab 2021 durch das EU-Eliteförderprogramm ERC-Synergy-Grants unterstützt. Insgesamt fließen…

In a conversation, we can easily understand and distinguish individual words. In the brain, the temporal structure of speech with its rapid succession of sounds and pauses and its characteristic rhythm is encoded by electrical impulses. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine in Göttingen and the Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin have discovered that nerve cells can only process the temporal sequence of acoustic…

The aim of the EU Nitrates Directive is to reduce nitrates leaking into the environment in order to prevent pollution of water supplies. The widely accepted view is that this will also help protect threatened plant species which can be damaged by high levels of nutrients like nitrates in the soil and water. However, an international team of researchers including the Universities of Göttingen, Utrecht and Zurich, has discovered that many…

Die Zahl der Todesfälle durch Covid-19 könnte sich in den ersten beiden Novemberwochen jeweils verdoppeln. Zu dem Ergebnis kommt ein Team um Viola Priesemann, Leiterin einer Forschungsgruppe am Max-Planck-Institut für Dynamik und Selbstorganisation, in einer modellbasierten Analyse. Demnach sind die immer noch relativ niedrigen Zahlen von Todesfällen darauf zurückzuführen, dass sich das Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2 bis Ende September vor allem bei…

At first glance, a pack of wolves has little to do with a vinaigrette. However, a team led by Ramin Golestanian, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, has developed a model that establishes a link between the movement of predators and prey and the segregation of vinegar and oil. They expanded a theoretical framework that until now was only valid for inanimate matter. In addition to predators and prey, other…

In the human brain, hundreds of billions of nerve cells are interconnected in the most complicated way, and only when these interconnections are correctly made, can the brain function properly. This is no different for insects, even though their brains consist of ‘only’ one hundred thousand to one million nerve cells. Nevertheless, fascinating and unexpectedly complicated behaviour can be observed in insects, for example when rearing offspring in…

Alltagsmasken stellen eine wichtige Komponente in der Bekämpfung der Corona-Pandemie dar. Neueste Erkenntnisse zeigen, wie beim Tragen einer Maske die Atemluft umgelenkt wird und wohin sich die darin befindlichen Aerosole verteilen. In einem interdisziplinären Gemeinschaftsprojekt haben mehrere Institute des Deutschen Zentrums für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) die Funktionsweise und Wirksamkeit von Alltagsmasken aus Stoff untersucht. Die Experimente…

Which parts of an aircraft cause noise and what sort of noise is it? For the first time, scientists from the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) and GE Aviation in Munich have succeeded in measuring the noise emitted by a turboprop aircraft synchronously on the ground and on the aircraft. With the knowledge gained, future aeroplanes can become quieter. The aviation industry is working hard to reduce its…