Nematic materials, such as the liquid crystals in our displays, contain molecules that align themselves in parallel. When they are constructed from microtubules and kinesins, materials found in our cells, they become active and move and deform without the supply of energy from the outside. In a new paper published in Nano Letters, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization in Göttingen report the creation of a 3D…

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…

Current practices of the poultry industry have raised ethical and ecological concerns: ethical concerns include the culling of day-old male chicks of egg-laying breeds; ecological concerns include the import of large quantities of soybeans for feedstuff. Now a research team at the University of Göttingen has investigated alternatives such as using a regional protein crop like broad beans (also known as faba or fava beans), and dual-purpose…

Fairy circles are one of nature’s greatest enigmas and most visually stunning phenomena. An international research team led by the University of Göttingen has now, for the first time, collected detailed data to show that Alan Turing’s model explains the striking vegetation patterns of the Australian fairy circles. In addition, the researchers showed that the grasses that make up these patterns act as “eco-engineers” to modify their own hostile…

In cosmic comparison, the Sun is a bore. While the brightness of some other stars with similar characteristics fluctuates strongly, the Sun’s variations are much more moderate. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Germany, from the Turkish-German University and Boğaziçi University in Turkey, and from Kyung Hee University in South Korea, have now investigated how exactly sun- and starspots affect this…

Researchers at the University of Göttingen have been conducting a nationwide consumer survey since mid-April to find out how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting shopping, eating and cooking behaviour. In mid-June, at a time of low infection rates and increasing relaxation of pandemic-related restrictions in Germany, the same consumers were surveyed again. A comparison of the data shows partly a return to behaviour patterns back to the levels…

Tropical forest soils play a crucial role in providing vital ecosystem functions. They provide nutrients for plants, store carbon and regulate greenhouse gases, as well as storing and filtering water, and protection against erosion. Scientists at the University of Göttingen and the University of Minnesota in the USA have investigated how the properties and ecosystem functions of tropical soils change when forests are cut down, and whether…

The Lower Saxony State Service for Cultural Heritage (NLD) and the University of Göttingen carry out research into the oldest wooden weapons that have ever been found. The project, under the leadership of Professor Thomas Terberger, NLD and Department of Prehistory and Early History, and Professor Holger Militz, Head of the Department of Wood Biology and Wood Products at the University of Göttingen, have been awarded a grant from the German…