Press releases

Orcus Patera is an enigmatic elliptical depression approximately 380 by 140 kilometres in size; it is located near the Martian equator, in the eastern hemisphere of the planet – between the volcanoes of Elysium Mons and Olympus Mons. How it was formed remains a mystery. The High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board the European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter acquired the images. The camera is operated by the German Aerospace Center.

Orcus Patera - Mars's mysterious elongated crater

Millions of people, in Southeast Asia in particular, suffer from chronic arsenic poisoning due to drinking water contaminated with the substance. Until recently, complex chemical analyses were required to determine arsenic levels, but now a new biological testing procedure can deliver reliable results inexpensively. The new method was developed by Professor Hauke Harms and Dr Mona C. Wells of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) and Professor Jan-Roelof van der Meer of the University of Lausanne. For their work, the researchers have been awarded the 2010 Erwin Schrödinger Prize, which is endowed with €50,000. The President of the Helmholtz Association, Professor Jürgen Mlynek, will present the prize at the Helmholtz Association’s General Assembly on 16 September 2010.

Scientists receive 2010 Erwin Schrödinger Prize for developing "arsenic detector"

Berlin. Millions of people, in Southeast Asia in particular, suffer from chronic arsenic poisoning due to drinking water contaminated with the substance. Until recently, complex chemical analyses were required to determine arsenic levels, but now a new biological testing procedure can deliver reliable results inexpensively. The new method was developed by Professor Hauke Harms and Dr Mona C. Wells of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) and Professor Jan-Roelof van der Meer of the University of Lausanne. For their work, the researchers have been awarded the 2010 Erwin Schrödinger Prize, which is endowed with €50,000. The President of the Helmholtz Association, Professor Jürgen Mlynek, will present the prize at the Helmholtz Association’s General Assembly on 16 September 2010.

Scientists receive 2010 Erwin Schrödinger Prize for developing "arsenic detector"

The Helmholtz Association has signed up for open access membership with Springer scientific publishing. The agreement means that the research centres in the Helmholtz Association will pay the fees charged to authors for articles published in SpringerOpen and BioMed Central journals. The Helmholtz Open Access Project assisted in the proceedings.

Helmholtz backs open access publishing

Accumulation of lipid peroxides in the cell are associated with diseases and cellular stress. In the current issue of PNAS researchers at Helmholtz Zentrum München and the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet show that lipid peroxides also play an important, yet-unrecognized role in the regulation of receptor tyrosine kinases.

Lipid Peroxides – More Sophisticated than Their Reputation

Zu seinem diesjährigen internationalen Sommer-Studenten-Programm begrüßt das GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt 40 Studenten aus 17 Ländern. Während des achtwöchigen Aufenthalts arbeit jeder Student unter Anleitung von GSI-Wissenschaftlern an einem eigenen Forschungsprojekt. Das praktische Arbeiten wird von einem Vorlesungsprogramm über die vielfältigen Forschungs- und Technikgebiete begleitet, die am GSI betrieben werden. Dazu gehören auch Seminare, in denen die Studenten wissenschaftliches Schreiben und Präsentieren lernen können. Durch gemeinsame Unterkünfte und vielfältige gemeinsame Aktivitäten außerhalb des wissenschaftlichen Programms bekommen die Studenten die Möglichkeit internationale Freundschaften zu schließen und so ein Stück zur Völkerverständigung beizutragen.

8 weeks, 40 students and 1 research facility - The annual Summer Student Program at GSI Helmholtz Center has started (German press release)

Looking at individual molecules through a microscope is part of nanotechnologists' everyday lives. However, it has so far been difficult to observe atomic structures inside organic molecules. In the renowned scientific journal Physical Review Letters, Jülich researchers explain their novel method, which enables them to take an “X- ray view” inside molecules.

Jülich Researchers Take a Look Inside Molecules

The extent of the sea ice in the Arctic will reach its annual minimum in September. Forecasts indicate that it will not be as low as in 2007, the year of the smallest area covered by sea ice since satellites started recording such data. Nevertheless, sea ice physicists at the Alfred Wegener Institute are concerned about the long-term equilibrium in the Arctic Ocean. They have indications that the mass of sea ice is dwindling because its thickness is declining. To substantiate this, they are currently measuring the ice thickness north and east of Greenland using the research aircraft Polar 5.

Is the ice in the Arctic Ocean getting thinner and thinner? Research aircraft Polar 5 measures thickness of sea ice north of Greenland

Heute feiert GSI die Gründung des Gleichstellungsgremiums vor 15 Jahren. In einer Vortragsveranstaltung geben ehemalige und derzeitige Mitglieder des Gremiums eine Rück- und Ausblick auf die Arbeit und Erfolge des Gleichstellungsgremiums bei GSI.

More women in science! - 15 years gender equality committee at GSI! (German press release)

The extent of the sea ice in the Arctic will reach its annual minimum in September. Forecasts indicate that it will not be as low as in 2007, the year of the smallest area covered by sea ice since satellites started recording such data. Nevertheless, sea ice physicists at the Alfred Wegener Institute are concerned about the long-term equilibrium in the Arctic Ocean. They have indications that the mass of sea ice is dwindling because its thickness is declining.Around a third to half of the freshwater export from the Arctic Ocean takes place in this way – a major drive factor in the global ocean current system.

Is the ice in the Arctic Ocean getting thinner and thinner? Research aircraft Polar 5 measures thickness of sea ice north of Greenland