Hunger and undernutrition are still widespread problems in Africa. At the same time, overweight, obesity, and related chronic diseases are also on the rise. Recent research suggested that the growth of supermarkets contributes to obesity in Africa, because supermarkets tend to sell more processed foods than traditional markets. However, previous studies only looked at data from adults. New research shows that supermarkets are not linked to…

We humans – as well as monkeys, our nearest relatives – belong to the species with the highest cognitive abilities. At the same time we are very social and live in complex groups. Whether and how the cognitive abilities of our brain, such as perception, attention, decision-making and movement planning, is related to social interactions will be investigated by a team of scientists from Göttingen. The neuroscientists will receive a total of almost…

The cell tissue of animals and plants is traversed by a complex vascular network, the blood vessels. The vascular network supplies cells in a tissue with nutrients. Animals can dilate individual capillaries to distribute nutrients differently in the vascular network. How do the capillaries have to be dilated to transport more nutrients to a specific area of the cell tissue? Does the change in nutrient availability for a cell strongly depend on…

An international research team led by scientists from Göttingen and Potsdam proved for the first time that the galaxy NGC 6240 contains three supermassive black holes. The unique observations, published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, show the black holes close to each other in the core of the galaxy. The study points to simultaneous merging processes during the formation of the largest galaxies in the universe. Massive Galaxies like…

Can they, or can't they? The question of whether non-human primates are able to fundamentally change their vocal output in relation to social or acoustic experiences from their environment has been on scientists' minds for decades. This process, known as "vocal learning", is a key approach to better understanding the evolution of human language. It has long been known that the vocal structures of different primate species are very similar within…

Plants get stressed too. Environmental factors such as drought or a high concentration of salt in the soil disrupt their physiology. All land plants, from liverwort to rye, use a complex signalling cascade under stressful conditions. An international research team led by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem with the participation of the University of Göttingen investigated how evolutionary changes in receptor proteins led to their ability to sense…

The chromosphere, a 2000 kilometer thick layer of plasma with temperatures of a few thousand degrees, is located between the Sun‘s visible surface and its hot outer atmosphere. During solar eclipses, this layer is visible as a thin red ring around the occulted solar disc. Elongated, finger-like plasma flows, so-called spicules, are omnipresent in this layer. These short-lived structures are created by interactions in the Sun‘s complex magnetic…

Baboons are widespread in Africa. The six species that exist today have spread from the south over almost the entire continent. In the course of evolution, baboons have developed great ecological flexibility and a wide range of social systems compared to other primate species. This makes them an important model for researchers to study complex evolutionary processes. Long-term studies provide additional insights into the relationship between…

The research of new mechanisms of tissue regeneration in heart diseases and their successful transfer into medical applications are the central objectives of the REANIMA project. The Europe-wide research program is coordinated by the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC) in Madrid and supported by the EU with eight million euros over five years. Eleven other European research institutions are also working on the project. The …

Depending on the temperature, water freezes to ice and ice melts back to water. This process, known in science as “phase transition”, is well known in everyday life. However, in order to achieve a stable lattice for ice crystals to form, a minimum number of molecules is required, otherwise the structure is unstable. Up until now, this value could only be roughly estimated. A German-American research team led by the chemist Professor Thomas Zeuch…