Germany

2021, Computing, Germany / 19.07.2021

Astronomers know of more than 4,000 exoplanets. These are celestial bodies that orbit a star other than our Sun. However, none of these has yet been proven to have a moon, although there are some possible candidates. Lukas Weghs wrote an intelligent programme for a high-performance computer that helps identify possible exomoons. This is done using the transit method, which...

2021, Germany, Physics / 19.07.2021

When a confetti cannon is fired, a turbulent spectacle follows: hundreds and hundreds of paper snippets swirl through the air in fantastic trajectories. It is this phenomenon that Leonard Münchenbach and Leo Neff devoted themselves to with scholarly rigour in their research project. They constructed a frame that made small strips of paper fall to the floor in the same...

2021, Biology, Germany / 19.07.2021

Large quantities of the antibiotic florfenicol are used in animal farming and aquaculture, contaminating the ecosystem with antibiotic residues and promoting antimicrobial resistance, ultimately leading to untreatable multidrug-resistant pathogens. Marik Müller has devised new strategies for enzymatic inactivation of florfenicol before it enters the environment. Using molecular evolution, he improved a hydrolase enzyme, produced it in bacteria and studied its...