Interview: "As much data as Facebook"
Big data sounds like a contemporary phenomenon. Yet at CERN, scientists have been battling with huge amounts of data already for 20 years. In the context of our series on big data we have spoken with particle physicist Joachim Mnich from Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) about petabytes, waste data and grid computing.
Optoacoustics: Light you can hear
He makes tumours glow and transforms laser light first into sound waves and then into 3D images: engineer Vasilis Ntziachristos provides medical practitioners with improved insights into the body.
Space elevator: "Orbit, all passengers alight!"
Arthur C. Clarke and other science fiction authors already imagined what it would be like to have earth-dwellers take an elevator directly up into space. This notion is only half as crazy as it sounds.
On the physics of the World Cup ball
Good news for goal keepers and bad news for strikers. This year's World Cup ball "knuckles" far less than previous competition models. Japanese scientists have proven that in the wind channel. But how to explain the knuckling effect from the point of view of aerodynamics? And what are the physical effects behind those banana kicks?
Interview: "I am impressed by the German collaboration system"
Anne-Lise Børresen-Dale is a leading authority in the field of breast cancer research, mother of two adult daughters, and proud grandma. Soon she will come to Germany for an extended research visit. An interview about family, career, research in Germany and the long road to personalized medicine.
