News - Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres

The latecomer

Wendelstein 7-X is the world’s largest and most advanced nuclear fusion device of the stellarator type. Its objective is to test whether a new source of energy could emerge for humanity from fusing light atomic nuclei.

Solar fuels

The quest for the perfect energy storage system

Our sun delivers huge amounts of energy to us every day. But we are only making use of a small percentage of it. If Kathrin Aziz-Lange had her way, this situation would soon be changed.

HELMHOLTZ Extreme

The loudest workstation

The explosion is up to 263 decibels loud that Thomas Jordan creates at his work-station. Compared to this, a jet taking off with its 110 decibels sounds almost like a whisper.

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Global report

Monotone nature

Biodiversity is crucial to the survival of humanity. But the latest report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) demonstrates just how far we are from using nature in a sustainable way.

Portrait

The enzyme master

Dörte Rother has a vision: to leave behind an environment worth living in for our children. With this in mind, the biotechnologist at Forschungszentrum Jülich works meticulously on sustainable procedures to produce medicines. The principle imitates nature.

Portrait

A photographer who loves icy conditions

It was love at first sight. One trip to the Arctic was all it took for photographer Esther Horvath to realize that this was where she wanted to spend her future career. So, she packed her suitcase, bid the Big Apple farewell, and set out for the Alfred Wegener Institute in Bremerhaven, Germany.

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Interview

“The greatest gift of my career”

Founding Director of the DZNE, Pierluigi Nicotera, talks about what has been achieved in the 10 years of the Center’s existence, about painful setbacks suffered – and about the questions he most frequently hears during informal conversations.

Long-Term Study

Do stressed mothers have heavier children?

A child may become overweight for various reasons. Researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) in Leipzig have investigated how maternal stress after childbirth plays a role in this. They have now published the results of their study.

Nutrition

Interval fasting—does it really live up to the hype?

Therapeutic fasting traditionally involves going without food for several days. In the case of intermittent fasting, on the other hand, taking regular breaks from eating is sufficient. But is this approach really effective in terms of the participants’ weight and metabolism?

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Year of Space

From the ISS to Mercury

Alexander Gerst in command of the ISS, a mole landing on Mars, and a launch toward Mercury: These are just three major events in space exploration we have to look forward to in 2018. What follows is an overview of some of this year’s highlights, which are increasingly being shaped by private initiatives.

Helmholtz Extreme

Growing fresh food in the Antarctic

Scientists are working to grow fresh vegetables in a greenhouse surrounded by perennial ice. The experiment will supply the winter crew at Neumayer Station with fresh food, but it is primarily designed to provide experience and data for future Mars missions.

Interview

How dirty is diesel really?

Most people think diesel engines are significant contributors to air pollution. But modern models produce hardly any particulates or nitrogen oxides. We spoke with Thomas Koch about a technology that has fallen into such disrepute.

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Neutrinos

The superstars of particle physics

Researchers are working to unravel the mystery of neutrinos – and, nearly 60 years after their discovery, are gradually getting to the bottom of one of the greatest riddles in the natural sciences.

IceCube Neutrino Observatory

Astrophysics in the Antarctic

Temperatures fall as low as negative 100 degrees during the winter. Darkness prevails for six months. Work at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station demands a lot from the researchers there. Emanuel Jacobi lived and worked there for a year, learning a lot about himself along the way.

Portrait

Making the invisible visible

Understanding the structures of molecules is an important part of developing new medicines. X-ray flashes can provide valuable assistance in this process, and this is an area in which physicist Henry Chapman and his team have already achieved the first pioneering breakthroughs.

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Public transport

Researching ways to make train stations safer

Platforms at train stations are often very crowded – especially during rush hour. Researcher Maik Boltes and his team want to improve situations like these by seeking effective ways to manage crowds of people.

New Center

“We research every aspect of information security”

Helmholtz has a new member. We spoke to Michael Backes, the director of the Helmholtz Center for Information Security, about computer viruses, autonomous driving, patient data—and how to attract employees from Silicon Valley to the state of Saarland in southwestern Germany.

Brain research

“Show me your brain, and I’ll tell you who you are”

Could job interviews be replaced by a simple brain scan? This just might be possible someday thanks to the methods neuroscientists at Forschungszentrum Jülich are developing. But it’s more likely that they will enable early diagnosis of depression and dementia.

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Matter matters

Without large research infrastructures modern science would lack a crucial basis. Every year Helmholtz offers more than ten thousand scientists from over thirty countries acces to its research infrastructures. That is making a decisive contribution to scientific and technological progress.

Theater meets Science

Raising the curtain on fake news

As part of a series of events co-organized by the Berliner Ensemble and the Helmholtz Association, a science day was held with a focus on the topics of distrust and responsibility. Talking points included climate change, artificial intelligence, and what humans can learn from tiny worms.

Point of View

Should science fund journalism?

Science journalism is at crisis point: Editorial offices and departments are being scaled back, budgets are being cut. But should the scientific community finance the coverage of its own work? Two points of view.

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Interview

"The language of science knows no borders"

The first large-scale particle accelerator in the Middle East has been assembled in Jordan. Researchers from Israel, Iran, and the Palestinian territories work together there. We spoke to Rolf Heuer, former General Director of CERN and chairman of the project’s supervisory board.

"Israel Has Incredible Momentum"

The Helmholtz Association has opened a new international office in Tel Aviv. With this step, Germany’s largest research organization is seeking to take its cooperation with Israeli researchers and start-ups to a new level.

Helmholtz Juniors

On the Future of Science

The business practices of 'predatory publishers' drew a great deal of attention in the media. We asked seven young Helmholtz researchers about their ideas on how to cope with these issues.

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