By cooperating, energy research organisations in Europe are able to accelerate the development of low-carbon technologies. The organisations have joined forces in the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA) and align their activities in Joint Programmes of research. This reduces the duplication of research activities across Europe, working towards reaching Europe’s ambitious climate and energy goals effectively and efficiently. EERA now involves more than 2,000 researchers from over 150 organisations, representing an investment of over 200 million euro.

European cooperation in energy research pays off

No asteroid or rocky planet looks quite like the asteroid Vesta, which the US Dawn spacecraft has been orbiting since July 2011; countless craters, furrows and slopes define the landscape of this celestial body. The German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) has produced a 3D film from the imagery recorded by the cameras on board the spacecraft.

Asteroid Vesta in 3D - seemingly close enough to touch

Precise measurements of the atmosphere are indispensable for predictions of climate change and its impacts, as is currently being discussed at the Climate Change Conference in Durban. A research group from the Helmholtz Association centres in Jülich and Karlsruhe will therefore be starting a unique experiment on 6 December in Kiruna, northern Sweden, to observe climate-related gases and atmospheric movements with unprecedented accuracy.

GLORIA: Unique Climate Research Experiment

On 30 November 2011, Dr. Bernhard Raiser retires from the Office of the Administrative Executive Board of the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences. His successor is Dr. Stefan Schwartze.

New Administrative Executive Director at GFZ

A red dye derived from lichens that has been used for centuries to color fabrics and food appears to reduce the abundance of small toxic protein aggregates in Alzheimer’s disease. The dye, a compound called orcein, and a related substance, called O4, bind preferentially to small amyloid aggregates that are considered to be toxic and cause neuronal dysfunction and memory impairment in Alzheimer’s disease. O4 binding to small aggregates promotes their conversion into large, mature plaques which researchers assume to be largely non-toxic for neuronal cells. Further research with animal models is needed to determine whether this new approach by Dr. Jan Bieschke (Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, MDC, Berlin-Buch), Dr. Martin Herbst (Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin) and Professor Erich Wanker (MDC) in Berlin, Germany, will be useful for therapy development (Nature Chemical Biology, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/NCHEMBIO.719)*.

A Natural Dye Obtained from Lichens May Combat Alzheimer’s Disease

A red dye derived from lichens that has been used for centuries to color fabrics and food appears to reduce the abundance of small toxic protein aggregates in Alzheimer’s disease. The dye, a compound called orcein, and a related substance, called O4, bind preferentially to small amyloid aggregates that are considered to be toxic and cause neuronal dysfunction and memory impairment in Alzheimer’s disease. O4 binding to small aggregates promotes their conversion into large, mature plaques which researchers assume to be largely non-toxic for neuronal cells. Further research with animal models is needed to determine whether this new approach by Dr. Jan Bieschke (Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, MDC, Berlin-Buch), Dr. Martin Herbst (Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin) and Professor Erich Wanker (MDC) in Berlin, Germany, will be useful for therapy development (Nature Chemical Biology, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/NCHEMBIO.719)*.

A Natural Dye Obtained from Lichens May Combat Alzheimer’s Disease

At its meeting today, the Supervisory Board of Forschungszentrum Jülich considered further measures in dealing with fuel elements from the AVR experimental nuclear power plant.

Supervisory Board Discusses AVR Fuel Elements

PM Science Übersetzung einsetzen

Geophysicists from Potsdam have established a mode of action that can explain the irregular distribution of strong earthquakes at the San Andreas Fault in California. As the science magazine "Nature" reports in its latest issue, the scientists examined the electrical conductivity of the rocks at great depths, which is closely related to the water content within the rocks. From the pattern of electrical conductivity and seismic activity they were able to deduce that rock water acts as a lubricant.

Water as a lubricant

Up to now, scientists have assumed that mast cells, a certain type of immune cells, play a central role in the development of autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. Current studies conducted at the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) have now provided evidence to refute this assumption. Now it is only the mast cells’ central function in allergies that remains undisputed.

Mysterious cells of the immune system: Immunologists at the German Cancer Research Center question the role of mast cells in autoimmune diseases