After spinal cord injury nerve fibers do not regenerate by themselves; loss of neuronal function up to complete paralysis is the consequence. When investigating new potential therapies, scientists are often confronted with an experimental problem: Neurons are embedded deep into the tissue of the spinal cord and thus difficult to access with microscopy methods. Scientists around Professor Frank Bradke, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), have now met this experimental challenge with the development of a new technology. In animal models, they treated the tissue of the spinal cord so that it became permeable to light. Using this treatment, they were able to investigate the regeneration process under the microscope much faster and far more accurately than it was previously possible. The work was carried out during Bradke’s research period at the Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology (Martinsried) in collaboration with researchers from the Vienna University of Technology and is now published in the prestigious journal Nature Medicine. Since July 2011, Bradke has been at the DZNE in Bonn.

An in-depth look into spinal cord regeneration

On 10 December, seven weeks after the start of the first two Galileo navigation satellites, scientists at the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences received the first signals from one of the two satellites (GSAT101). By analysing these first observational data, the GFZ scientists were able to determine the orbit of the satellites, which are flying at an altitude of 23222 km, for the first time to a few decimetres.

More accurate than Santa Claus

On 6 January, 1912, the annual meeting of the Geological Association in Frankfurt, Germany witnessed the spectacle of one man against the world. On this date, the meteorologist Alfred Wegener, then 31, gave his talk on the formation of oceans and continents, and in the process shook the foundations of accepted doctrine. The Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research will celebrate its namesake on the hundredth anniversary of his theory. Together with the Senckenberg Museum, the AWI will host a commemorative colloquium at the historic scene of Wegener’s presentation in Frankfurt.

The Copernicus of Geosciences: Alfred Wegener presented his revolutionary theory of continental drift 100 years ago

NASA's Dawn spacecraft has been in its lowest orbit around asteroid Vesta since mid-December 2011. During November the orbit was gradually lowered to an altitude of 210 kilometres above the asteroid's surface.

Dawn spacecraft now in its lowest orbit around Vesta

Neuherberg, 20.12.2011. The younger girls are at the onset of menstruation, the greater their risk of developing prediabetes or diabetes in the course of their lives. This is the conclusion reached by scientists of the Helmholtz Zentrum München based on the analysis of data obtained from the KORA cohort. Following the advance online publication of the new risk factor in the specialist journal Diabetologia, the researchers hope that they will be able in future to find better ways to prevent the...

Early menarche can increase the risk of diabetes

Regulatory T cells (Tregs), which are part of the body’s immune system, downregulate the activity of other immune cells, thus preventing the development of autoimmune diseases or allergies. Scientists at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have now found the activation steps that are blocked by Tregs in immune cells. Since Tregs can also suppress the body’s immune defense against cancer, the findings obtained by the DKFZ researchers are important for developing more efficient cancer treatments.

Self-regulation of the immune system suppresses defense against cancer

Forschungszentrum Jülich has now launched its first app for tablet computers. “Research in Jülich” is the name of Jülich's magazine app – a multimedial platform reporting on projects and findings in the fields of health, energy and the environment, and information technology, as well as the latest on support for early-career scientists.

New: Forschungszentrum Jülich has its own app

Yesterday the Berlin Senate approved the signing of a joint federal and state agreement to grant funding to the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) and the German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK). “DZNE is pleased about the Senate’s decision. We are looking forward to the establishment of a new center in Berlin as well as its inclusion in the DZNE association,” Prof. Pierluigi Nicotera, the scientific director and chairman of the board of DZNE, says.

Green Light for New Center in Berlin

Outside the door, penguins breed and use the large satellite antenna and its base as a windbreak. Inside the O’Higgins German Antarctic Receiving Station, DLR personnel control the reception of satellite data. Established in 1991, the station has been defying the icy storms on the White Continent for the last 20 years. The station is staffed around the clock – including Christmas and New Year.

Twenty years of O’Higgins Antarctic Station – working on the White Continent

Progress of metamaterials in nanotechnologies has made the invisibility cloak, a subject of mythology and science fiction, become reality: Light waves can be guided around an object to be hidden, in such a way that this object appears to be non-existent. This concept applied to electromagnetic light waves may also be transferred to other types of waves, such as sound waves. Researchers from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have now succeeded in demonstrating for the first time an invisibility cloak for elastic waves. Such waves also occur in strings of a guitar or drum membranes.

Not Only Invisible, but Also Inaudible