With a population exceeding 500 million, the participation of less than 5 million EU citizens in a recent survey on abolishing daylight saving was, to say the least, disappointing. In this video, THOMAS TRÖGER explores how voting rules can be used to account for the problem of voter abstention. Analyzing how voter actions will result in optimal outcomes (Nash Equilibrium) under different voting rules, Tröger identifies [...] Watch video

Informal political processes like polls, petitions and protests have become easier to organize in the social media age. In this video, STEPHAN LAUERMANN explores both the nature of these processes and how we can assess their effectiveness. Using game theory to analyze three dimensions of participants’ motives for taking part in informal political processes, Lauermann finds that where participation involves costs, this [...] Watch video

The microscope is an essential tool in many areas of scientific research. In this video, ULRIKE FUCHS explains how the latest developments in laser technology can significantly improve microscopy. Focusing on fluorescence microscopy, Fuchs demonstrates the advantages of using a laser with a “top hat” shaped beam distribution in place of the standard Gaussian beam distribution. Delivering striking improvements in areas [...] Watch video

Why do some financial bubbles lead to financial crises while others do not? In this video, ISABEL SCHNABEL examines the role that individual financial institutions play in the relationship between asset price bubbles and systemic risk. Employing the BSADF test to identify asset bubbles and ΔCoVaR (the Delta Conditional Value-at-Risk) to measure systemic risk at the individual bank level, Schnabel highlights a clear [...] Watch video

Are there different types of beauty? In this video, WINFRIED MENNINGHAUS investigates the meanings of and values inherent in four categories of subject appeal, namely beauty, elegance, grace, and sexiness. Adopting a bottom-up approach which foregrounds individual beliefs over theoretical assumptions, Menninghaus finds that elegance, grace, and sexiness are sub-variants of the broader notion of beauty. Among its many [...] Watch video

Aesthetic experiences make a vital contribution to our lives. In this video, focusing on responses to artwork, architecture and natural landscapes, EDWARD VESSEL explores how aesthetic experiences function in the brain. Employing functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), Vessel attempts to correlate subjects’ aesthetic responses with data from two brain regions, the ventral occipitotemporal cortex and the default [...] Watch video

Research has shown that the practice of comparing is determined more by the actors doing the comparing than by the phenomena being compared. In this video, focusing on Cuba in the long nineteenth century, ANGELIKA EPPLE explores how comparisons based on race and skin color evolved in parallel with the changing makeup of that society. With contemporary discourse witnessing an upsurge in race-based comparisons keen to [...] Watch video

How does religious normative knowledge spread throughout the world? How is such normative knowledge translated, adapted and regionalized in particular geographical domains? In this video, THOMAS DUVE analyzes the processes by which normative knowledge is globalized and localized with a specific focus on religious knowledge. Focusing on places that came into contact with the Iberian empires in the early modern period, Duve [...] Watch video

The lasting effects of colonization on African societies have been long acknowledged. In this video, ERIC ANCHIMBE examines the particular effects of British colonization in Africa, focusing on how people use language in their daily lives to make and refuse offers. Employing methods including discourse completion task questionnaires, interviews and participant observation, Anchimbe analyzes the data obtained using the [...] Watch video

Customer-company relationships are increasingly conducted via internet-based technologies. In this video, LENA STEINHOFF explains her work towards developing a theoretically grounded and managerially relevant framework for managing customer relationships online. Focusing on current business practices and extant research, Steinhoff identifies five aspects that distinguish the online customer-firm relationship from its [...] Watch video

In the modern world, computer applications operate in an environment of increasing complexity. Ubiquitously connected, they rely on continuously changing interfaces with the external world to drive computations based on patterns in big data. In this video, MIRA MEZINI considers how programming technology can optimally respond to this radically changed operating environment. Arguing that accidental complexity can be [...] Watch video

Allegiance to a particular form of therapy or financial ties to a pharmaceutical company are among the phenomena that can undermine a physician’s primary goal, to provide the best possible treatment for his or her patients. In this video, KLAUS LIEB explores the ways in which conflicts of interest occur for both physicians and medical researchers before providing some suggestions as to how they might be avoided. [...] Watch video

One of the most disputed issues in historical-comparative linguistics is the origin of the Japanese language and the question of whether it is related to the Transeurasian languages. MARTINE ROBBEETS has already shown in past research that it is possible to find a small core of evidence that relates Japanese as a daughter language of Transeurasian. This, she explains in this video, leads to new questions: How and why did [...] Watch video

In popular culture as in traditional archaeology, the tropical forest has been assumed to represent an environment inhospitable to humans. In this video, PATRICK ROBERTS challenges this view, demonstrating not only that Homo sapiens moved into tropical forests much earlier than previously thought but also that significant agricultural and urban societies existed in these places in the ancient past. Employing techniques [...] Watch video

Dental calculus, a calcified form of tooth plaque, can give detailed information about the diets, diseases and lifestyles of past humans. CHRISTINA WARINNER discusses how she gains new knowledge about the way human beings used to live, what they ate, and how their microbiome has evolved. Dental calculus is the richest known source of ancient DNA in the archaeological record, and it is the only part of the body that [...] Watch video

The classic image that tourists and travelers should only leave footprints and take photos is put into question by CARSTEN WERGINs academic investigation of how tourism has changed the world. In this video, he describes his interest in the question of how tourism impacts on particular places and people. In his field studies and during participant observations he has found that tourism is not only a global industry, it [...] Watch video

Modern humans colonized the whole planet and replaced all other hominids, such as Neanderthals. This evolvement raises interesting evolutionary questions concerning both species. The paleoanthropological research presented in this video looks at a moment in time when both co-existed. In order to find out about the differences between them, JEAN-JACQUES HUBLIN looks at both species’ use of technology, behavior, and [...] Watch video

More people from more places are migrating to more places, leading to greater linguistic, religious and ethnic diversity, especially in urban areas. In this video, STEVEN VERTOVEC analyzes this super-diversification and considers how societies can best respond to the challenges it presents. With sources ranging from U.N. and World Bank migration data to more ethnographic, everyday research, Vertovec observes that [...] Watch video

It is very difficult to learn something new if you haven’t unlearned what you have done before. In this video, CAROLIN GÖRZIG shows how we can better understand and influence the processes by which terrorist groups learn and unlearn violence. Drawing on insights provided by the deradicalization of organizations like the Provisional IRA (Irish Republican Army), and with fieldwork ongoing in territories including [...] Watch video

Traditional theory holds that Homo sapiens’ first moved Out of Africa into Eurasia along coastal routes some 60,000 years ago. In this video, MICHAEL PETRAGLIA explodes this theory demonstrating that modern humans emerged from Africa much earlier and, at least some of the time, via inland routes. Employing satellite imagery to identify ancient rivers and lakes in what are present-day desert regions, the team pinpointed [...] Watch video

Aesthetic experiences make a vital contribution to our lives. In this video, focusing on responses to artwork, architecture and natural landscapes, EDWARD VESSEL explores how aesthetic experiences function in the brain. Employing functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), Vessel attempts to correlate subjects’ aesthetic responses with data from two brain regions, the ventral occipitotemporal cortex and the default [...] Watch video

Research has shown that the practice of comparing is determined more by the actors doing the comparing than by the phenomena being compared. In this video, focusing on Cuba in the long nineteenth century, ANGELIKA EPPLE explores how comparisons based on race and skin color evolved in parallel with the changing makeup of that society. With contemporary discourse witnessing an upsurge in race-based comparisons keen to [...] Watch video

To have empathy is often defined as the capacity to imagine or feel like other people feel. In the philosophical tradition morality and empathy have often been seen as intertwined or as one being the condition of the other. More recently, this close link has been questioned. Practical philosopher MONIKA BETZLER investigates how the human capacity to empathize with others is related to the concept of morality. In this [...] Watch video

The lasting effects of colonization on African societies have been long acknowledged. In this video, ERIC ANCHIMBE examines the particular effects of British colonization in Africa, focusing on how people use language in their daily lives to make and refuse offers. Employing methods including discourse completion task questionnaires, interviews and participant observation, Anchimbe analyzes the data obtained using the [...] Watch video

Some sciences like geology, astronomy or demography require a time scale of observation and study of phenomena that lasts longer than a human life span – and even that of civilizations. These “Sciences of the Archives” rely on the contribution of scientists who store their data and knowledge for the generations following after them. In this video LORRAINE DASTON explains how an interdisciplinary group of scholars [...] Watch video

The island of Mayotte forms part of the Comoros archipelago in the Indian Ocean. While Mayotte is part of France and the EU, other islands of the archipelago like Grande Comore and Anjouan are not. In this video, REMI TCHOKOTHE analyzes the tensions that this situation has caused, focusing on how they have been expressed in literary works. Employing close readings of writings by Nassur Attoumani and Soeuf Elbadawi [...] Watch video

For music artists, the marketing possibilities of digital media have opened up new opportunities independent from the major music industry. MICHAEL AHLERS has examined this process using the German Gangsta rapper Kollegah as example. As Ahlers describes in this video, his research team conducted an interdisciplinary two-part study in focusing on Kollegah’s skill set and knowledge in one part and in the other one on the [...] Watch video

Unlike in Sociology, extensive research on disability has not been conducted in Cultural Studies. In this video, SUSANNE HARTWIG analyzes the ways in which disability has been portrayed in aesthetic texts and how this has developed over time. While stereotypical and reassuring representations of disability remain the norm, Hartwig observes that more unsettling depictions (which lead readers/spectators to question their [...] Watch video

Over the last two decades the discovery of planets outside our solar systems has enabled researchers to study how planetary systems form - the major question within the field of astronomy today. These planetary systems and the respective planets vary significantly from each other. In order to understand how these differences come about, the research presented in this video goes back to the birth sites of planets and [...] Watch video

What makes exoplanets habitable? BARBARA ERCOLANO pursues this overarching question by focusing on the birth sites of these planets. Planets are born in the circumstellar disk that surrounds every young star. The specific research question presented in this video centers on the star TW Hydrae, which is very close to earth. The researchers investigated whether the T Tauri star “TW Hydrae” has a protoplanetary disk that [...] Watch video

Galaxies are filled with particles traveling very close to the speed of light; these are so-called ultra-relativistic particles. Until recently, it was very difficult to investigate these particles because of a lack of good observational data and they have been rather neglected in the study of astrophysics. As JIM HINTON explains in this video, his research group is interested in understanding how these particles [...] Watch video

What are the building blocks of our universe that everything is made of? In this video, ASTRID EICHHORN explains how her work seeks to reveal the fundamental microscopic structure of space-time. While recent pioneering experiments have confirmed aspects of Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, this work seeks to overcome the limitations of current observational technology through theoretical investigations of the [...] Watch video

Every galaxy seems to have a supermassive black hole in its center. A black hole is defined as such because nothing can escape from a certain point inside, not even light. There is, however, a last stable orbit which is called the event horizon outside of which gas can still radiate away. This event horizon might be the key to understanding black holes and, therefore, observers are interested in resolving the event [...] Watch video

Gravity is the decisive force driving the formation and evolution of cosmic structures. BJÖRN MALTE SCHÄFER is interested in the properties of gravity on very large scales as well as in very specific questions concerning structure formation, such as how galaxies acquire their angular momentum, how they start rotating, and how galaxies interact with surrounding structures. Currently, the understanding of gravity is based [...] Watch video

Over decades, beliefs such as ’the magnetic fields of planets in our solar system are all the same’ or ’moons don’t have magnetic fields’ were widely held. Using the example of Ganymede, Jupiter’s biggest moon, both premises were proven wrong. ULRICH R. CHRISTENSEN examines the theory of the so-called iron snow regime as the cause of magnetism: This theory assumes that iron crystallizing at the top of [...] Watch video

So far, the understanding we have of cosmic structures comes from numerical simulations. As MATTHIAS BARTELMANN explains in this video, his research group has developed a different method to calculate the statistical properties of cosmic structures in order to better understand why they evolve in the way they do. The researchers employed concepts of statistical field theory and could therefore use much simpler dynamical [...] Watch video

Behavior is flexible and we can adapt it according to certain needs or particular contexts. ILONA GRUNWALD KADOW and her team are interested in the underlying neural mechanisms in the brain and also the genes that allow us to exhibit flexible behavior. As Grunwald Kadow explains in this video, they used fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) and genetic methods in their experiments. Their findings suggest that internal [...] Watch video

Our memories define who we are. Here, learning and memory are essential but how does the brain process and store information? Neurons are the elemental cells that compute and store this information in several ways. ALESSIO ATTARDO is interested in synapses. Synapses are the connections between neurons and this is where information flows. Specifically, Attardo focuses on the basic principles that govern synaptic plasticity [...] Watch video

The research presented in the video investigates how endosomes are able to transport material back to the cell surface in a process called recycling or endosomal exocytosis. In order to do so, endosomes have to have their own identity which is defined by a phosphoinositide, Phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate (PI3P). To deliver the material to the cell surface the endosomes have to get [...] Watch video

T cells are an important component of the body’s immune system. As ERIKA PEARCE explains, there are several types of T cells which form consecutively during the immune response and serve different purposes. Effector T cells combat pathogens from infections or tumors while memory T cells provide protective immunity to prevent re-infection or reoccurring cancer. The research presented in this video investigates how the [...] Watch video

Being easier to observe, the aboveground components of ecological systems tend to be considered of predominant importance. In this video, STEFAN SCHEU explains the extent to which the healthy functioning of these systems is dependent on what happens underground. With visual observation impossible, Scheu employs isotope labeling to trace the paths taken by particular elements belowground. Where it was heretofore understood [...] Watch video

It has been known since the 1980s that sugars are central to the growth of plants. High levels of carbohydrates enable the plant to assimilate nitrogen to increase amino acid synthesis which then enables them to make proteins more quickly which, in turn, allows the plant to grow faster. It is still unclear, however, how plants sense their levels of carbohydrates and how they regulate their metabolism and growth based on [...] Watch video

Multicellular organisms first took their place in the evolutionary chain some 450 million years ago. In this video, THOMAS BOSCH seeks to extend our understanding of how human and animal bodies function via analysis of these ancient creatures. Focusing on the freshwater polyp Hydra and employing techniques including molecular cell biology, modern sequencing technology and in depth study of stem cell behavior, Bosch argues [...] Watch video

All cells in our bodies contain the same genetic information. Yet, these cells make up very different parts of the body like liver, heart, and eyes. This is achieved by expressing certain genes and inactivating others. The protein MOF is known to play an important role in this process: DNA does not flow freely in the cell nucleus but is packaged by histone proteins. There, MOF facilitates reading the genetic information [...] Watch video

Mankind is increasingly polluting the atmosphere across the planet. The research detailed in this video is interested in the questions of how this pollution is generated and how it affects the health of people. The investigators found, as JOS LELIEVELD explains, that air pollution leads to millions of premature deaths since it causes, for instance, fatal cerebrovascular and respiratory diseases. The researchers also [...] Watch video

Plants have at least two ways of defending themselves against herbivores. They can do so directly by producing toxins or compounds that are anti-digestive, or they can indirectly defend themselves by emitting volatile compounds that attract predators and parasitoids of the herbivores. MEREDITH SCHUMANN investigates these indirect defenses. As she explains in this video, there are both fast and slow components to [...] Watch video

Plants use certain chemical compounds to defend themselves against animals that feed on them. As JONATHAN GERSHENZON explains in this video, dandelions are a very good model to research the defences of plants because they are especially robust. The research team therefore investigated dandelions to identify the compound that protects the roots from being damaged by insects. They studied dandelions from different regions [...] Watch video

Streptococcus pneumoniae kills millions of people worldwide. For the subgroup serotype 8, prevalent in the United States and Western Europe, there is no vaccine to date. In this video, PETER H. SEEBERGER explains the approach of his research group to create a synthetic sugar vaccine against this bacterial infection that works in mice. They relied on synthetic chemistry to assemble sugar chains from monomers; the [...] Watch video

KAI SUNDMACHER’s aim is to introduce a more sustainable process to chemicals production. As he explains in this video, for new technological developments in chemical process engineering a new methodology is needed that is able to include many decision variables in order to find the best pathway from the raw materials to the target product. Therefore, his research team developed an elementary process function (EPF) [...] Watch video

Currently, the petrochemical industry uses fossil fuels as the source of carbon for the production of many things, including plastics. This is problematic because carbon dioxide adds to climate change and, in addition, fossil fuels are running out. Therefore, LARGUS ANGENENT and his research group are looking for new sources of carbon. As he explains in this video, their aim is to convert waste into the chemicals needed [...] Watch video

Rainfall has a large impact on how life functions on earth and this, in turn, has great implications for both the ecosystem and human well-being. The research presented in this video investigates the ways in which the pollution of the air system affects the working of clouds and how they produce rain. By measuring the aerosol particles in clouds in specific areas, MEINRAT O. ANDREAE explains, the research team discovered [...] Watch video

The Eurasian forests are an important component in the earth’s climate system: Forests contain a lot of carbon in the vegetation and in the soil. But their role under warming conditions is still unclear – on the one hand, a higher CO₂ level in the air acts like a fertilizer for plants that grow and thus store more CO₂ in the [...] Watch video

With a population exceeding 500 million, the participation of less than 5 million EU citizens in a recent survey on abolishing daylight saving was, to say the least, disappointing. In this video, THOMAS TRÖGER explores how voting rules can be used to account for the problem of voter abstention. Analyzing how voter actions will result in optimal outcomes (Nash Equilibrium) under different voting rules, Tröger identifies [...] Watch video

Innovation is very important for economic growth and, often, small start-ups are a key generator of innovation. For this, access to patents is essential for innovative start-ups. However, a few dominant companies often hold these patents in a market field and refuse to license their technology to others, as MONIKA SCHNITZER explains in this video. She has investigated whether antitrust measures, such as compulsory [...] Watch video

Informal political processes like polls, petitions and protests have become easier to organize in the social media age. In this video, STEPHAN LAUERMANN explores both the nature of these processes and how we can assess their effectiveness. Using game theory to analyze three dimensions of participants’ motives for taking part in informal political processes, Lauermann finds that where participation involves costs, this [...] Watch video

Why do some financial bubbles lead to financial crises while others do not? In this video, ISABEL SCHNABEL examines the role that individual financial institutions play in the relationship between asset price bubbles and systemic risk. Employing the BSADF test to identify asset bubbles and ΔCoVaR (the Delta Conditional Value-at-Risk) to measure systemic risk at the individual bank level, Schnabel highlights a clear [...] Watch video

The choices that we make as parents are among the most important that we make in our lifetimes: whether to have children, how many children to have, what form of education should we provide. In this video, MATTHIAS DOEPKE explains how the economic method can help us to understand the choices that parents make. Economic factors clearly constrain parental choice and, drawing on the concept of parenting style developed in [...] Watch video

Social science researchers need to use modeling to understand complex real-life phenomena. But how does a researcher decide which of the available models is most appropriate? In this video, MARCO SARSTEDT analyzes the metrics employed by researchers in assessing PLS (Partial Least Squares) models, outlining how such assessments can be optimized. Running a Monte Carlo simulation study, Sarstedt explains the inadequacies [...] Watch video

In recent years, corporations have become more decentralized and decision-making power within the company has moved from the top level to lower levels of management. DALIA MARIN and her research team are interested in the question of how international trade has affected these changes in the organization of firms. As she explains in this video, they have used recent mathematical models of trade and have combined these with [...] Watch video

Claims that less than 10% of published scientific papers can be reproduced have led to increased interest in replication, a process whereby researchers check the validity of published empirical findings. In this video, MAREN DUVENDACK investigates why replication has faced particular resistance in economics. Analyzing some 200 replication studies that have appeared in leading economics journals over the past 60 years, [...] Watch video

Student testing is increasingly popular around the world. Though it aids accountability, people have begun to wonder about the consequences of too much testing. In this video, LUDGER WOESSMANN analyses the effects on student learning of different types of testing. With PISA (the Programme for International Student Assessment) providing data on students, schools and testing regimes in 59 participating countries, the study [...] Watch video

The research presented in this video looks into the rightfulness of engaging other states in the protection of EU borders. This happens when EU member states cooperate with the migrants’ countries of origin or transit countries in order to hinder refugees from crossing the border, e.g. by providing training or boats for border patrols. As NORA MARKARD explains, one central finding is that when a EU state outsources [...] Watch video

How does religious normative knowledge spread throughout the world? How is such normative knowledge translated, adapted and regionalized in particular geographical domains? In this video, THOMAS DUVE analyzes the processes by which normative knowledge is globalized and localized with a specific focus on religious knowledge. Focusing on places that came into contact with the Iberian empires in the early modern period, Duve [...] Watch video

The importance of the human right to work is recognized by its inclusion in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In this video, NICOLAS BUENO proposes that we reflect on its necessity and reimagine it as something more ambitious, as a new human right to freedom from work. Analyzing the historical context in which labor and fundamental economic rights emerged, Bueno observes that they were conceived to protect not [...] Watch video

There is no global regulation, let alone any hard-law treaties, that deal with the interactions between humans and animals even though these have been globalized in many areas, such as for food, agriculture, or the procurement of pets. This is why ANNE PETERS has initiated a research program on Global Legal Animal Studies as she explains in this video. Analyzing international law and comparing domestic laws, she has [...] Watch video

In the new digital economy the problem of data protection is not only heatedly debated but also has become the subject of academic research. New business models are emerging based on the current digital transformation of manufacturing and the digital transformation of many smart products. These smart products, such as autonomous cars, collect a huge number of data. The question arises: Who owns the data and how should the [...] Watch video

Through immigration, our society is becoming more diverse. However, the integration and inclusion of migrants is often difficult. ANUSCHEH FARAHAT is interested in the question of how this inclusion can be promoted through the means of law. In particular, she focuses on the structural obstacles migrants face when attempting to participate in society, such as when entering the job market or higher education. As she [...] Watch video

The research presented in this video deals with the understanding of contracts and contract law. As MARKUS REHBERG explains, the main focus of contract law so far has been the moment of conclusion between the contracting parties, but a basic principle to fully comprehend the nature of contracts is still missing. He suggests to use the “justification principle”, outlined in the video, to solve this problem and explains [...] Watch video

How do lawgivers define what makes a good parent? NADJMA YASSARI is interested in the impact of the principle of the best interests of the child on custody decisions in the Middle East and countries with common heritage from Islamic family law. As she explains in this video, her research team adopted a comparative inner-Islamic approach. They did not only examine the legal aspects of the question but they also put each [...] Watch video

Aesthetic experiences make a vital contribution to our lives. In this video, focusing on responses to artwork, architecture and natural landscapes, EDWARD VESSEL explores how aesthetic experiences function in the brain. Employing functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), Vessel attempts to correlate subjects’ aesthetic responses with data from two brain regions, the ventral occipitotemporal cortex and the default [...] Watch video

In the 1980s researchers showed that damaged nerves in the spinal cord have the ability to regrow. Chemical engineers contribute to the field of spinal cord repair by developing biomaterial scaffolds that support cell and nerve growth inside the body after an injury. In the research project explained by LAURA DE LAPORTE in this video, such scaffolds were developed and tested: The special architecture of the developed [...] Watch video

Stroke is one of the most frequent neurological disorders, befalling over 250.000 persons each year in Germany alone. The research underlying this video explores the role of non-invasive methods for stroke diagnosis and therapy. The use of functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), which produces image-signals on the basis of the oxygen-concentration in the blood, allows for the detection of increased or decreased [...] Watch video

The gut microbiome has a significant influence on various diseases ranging from malnutrition to chronic inflammation. It is largely shaped by environmental factors, like diet and lifestyle. How the genetics of the individual affect the composition of the microbiome, however, was largely unknown. RUTH LEY explains in this video that the research team addressed this question by comparing the microbiome of over 1000 twin [...] Watch video

Almost everybody has to deal with stress sometimes. But what is stress? It is a reaction of the body to a challenging situation which elicits a stress response in the body. Stress is also a risk factor for disease and this is an area that MATHIAS V. SCHMIDT and his research team focus on. The most prominent stress-related disorders are psychiatric disorders and metabolic disorders. Specifically, as Schmidt explains in [...] Watch video

T cells are an important component of the body’s immune system. As ERIKA PEARCE explains, there are several types of T cells which form consecutively during the immune response and serve different purposes. Effector T cells combat pathogens from infections or tumors while memory T cells provide protective immunity to prevent re-infection or reoccurring cancer. The research presented in this video investigates how the [...] Watch video

Our immune system has evolved many different cells with different functions to prevent infections. One of these functions is cellular cytotoxicity; this means that cells are able to kill other cells. Natural killer cells (NK cells) are one type of these cells that can achieve cytotoxicity. CARSTEN WATZL experiments with NK cells in order to find out how they protect themselves from their own cytotoxic machinery and how [...] Watch video

The use of continuum robots – robots that are not composed of rigid links and joints but are continuously bending structures – opens up completely new possibilities for surgery: With this tool surgeons can reach locations in the human body which they would not be able to reach with traditional surgical instruments. This enables them to e.g. remove brain tumors in a minimally invasive way. There are a vast number of [...] Watch video

The microscope is an essential tool in many areas of scientific research. In this video, ULRIKE FUCHS explains how the latest developments in laser technology can significantly improve microscopy. Focusing on fluorescence microscopy, Fuchs demonstrates the advantages of using a laser with a “top hat” shaped beam distribution in place of the standard Gaussian beam distribution. Delivering striking improvements in areas [...] Watch video

For more than one hundred years, scientists have been working to uncover how turbulent flows occur. This would enable them among other things to predict how pollutants spread in water or how pollen travel in air. As EBERHARD BODENSCHATZ explains in this video, new insights are offered by an approach based on Lagrangian Particle Tracking Technique: The researchers focused on a single particle in a fluid and followed it [...] Watch video

So far, the understanding we have of cosmic structures comes from numerical simulations. As MATTHIAS BARTELMANN explains in this video, his research group has developed a different method to calculate the statistical properties of cosmic structures in order to better understand why they evolve in the way they do. The researchers employed concepts of statistical field theory and could therefore use much simpler dynamical [...] Watch video

What are the building blocks of our universe that everything is made of? In this video, ASTRID EICHHORN explains how her work seeks to reveal the fundamental microscopic structure of space-time. While recent pioneering experiments have confirmed aspects of Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, this work seeks to overcome the limitations of current observational technology through theoretical investigations of the [...] Watch video

Exoplanets are planets beyond our own solar system. Since they do not emit much light and moreover are very close to their parent stars they are difficult to detect directly. When searching for exoplanets, astronomers use telescopes to monitor the brightness of the parent star under investigation: Changes in brightness can point to a passing planet that obstructs part of the star’s surface. The recorded signal, however, [...] Watch video

The objectives of the research in theoretical physics presented in this video are to understand the fundamental physics behind the properties of black holes and to find out whether black holes are unique in their way of information-processing. As GIA DVALI explains, the research he developed together with CESAR GOMEZ has two important findings. Firstly it shows that quantum criticality is the basic principle of the [...] Watch video

The silicon-based technology that is used today to access and compute information is reaching its limits. To further improve computing capacity, this essentially two-dimensional technology, as STUART PARKIN puts it, needs to give way to the three-dimensional approach of spintronic devices that use not only electric current but also the spin of the electrons. In this video, he explains how the research team created a new [...] Watch video

Understanding the behavior of liquids in porous materials is important for very different areas of our lives, ranging from the recovery of oil from rock to water holding capacities of different soils. The study presented in this video is dedicated to the quest for the mechanisms behind these processes. STEPHAN HERMINGHAUS explains that, starting out, the researchers had several ideas for what the general principle might [...] Watch video

There is an extensive discussion about the connections between climate change related disasters and armed conflicts like civil wars. JONATHAN DONGES explains in this video how the research team looked at this relationship in more detail. Their new approach connects natural disasters with large economic effects, potentially related conflicts as well as the socioeconomic contexts. The findings show that in countries with a [...] Watch video

We can see progress all over the world, such as technological transformations, or rising life expectancies and literacy rates. Are these improvements in material conditions accompanied by a change in moral standards? So far, such questions have mainly been discussed in the area of philosophy. CHRISTIAN WELZEL is interested in finding empirical evidence that allows tangible conclusions on this matter. As he explains in [...] Watch video

It is very difficult to learn something new if you haven’t unlearned what you have done before. In this video, CAROLIN GÖRZIG shows how we can better understand and influence the processes by which terrorist groups learn and unlearn violence. Drawing on insights provided by the deradicalization of organizations like the Provisional IRA (Irish Republican Army), and with fieldwork ongoing in territories including [...] Watch video

India has been known to be a state that never changes. Since the 1980s, and especially after the 1990s, however, India’s growth trajectory has begun to evolve and change from its static status quo. RAHUL MUKHERJI has investigated the reasons for this change, as he explains in this video. For this, he looked at historical processes and compared processes that have achieved successful change to processes that have failed [...] Watch video

In recent years DNA testing has increasingly been used by immigration authorities to facilitate family reunifications and to verify the family relations of applicants. This has affected immigration procedures and the understanding of the concept of family. As TORSTEN HEINEMANN explains in this video, the researchers investigated how DNA testing is introduced into the immigration process and the implications this has for [...] Watch video

The European Union does not have sufficient legitimacy and is not well accepted by its citizens which leads to a negative impact on the process of European integration. DIETER GRIMM identifies three sources of this problem. First of all, the way the European Parliament, the democratic body, is elected and works is too far from the citizens. Second, the principle of subsidiarity is applied differently in every member state [...] Watch video

India suffers from a high prevalence of diabetes and raised blood pressure. In this video, PASCAL GELDSETZER presents a detailed analysis of the prevalence of both conditions in India and asks how they might be better treated and controlled. Using population-based data collected by the Indian government, Geldsetzer shows that there is huge variation in the prevalence of these conditions between different Indian states and [...] Watch video

Why do some cities grow and are prosperous whereas others shrink and decline? VOLKER EICHENER investigates the key factors that determine the development of a city and also suggests a strategy for declining cities to reverse this trend. As he explains in this video, he examined population growth or decline in a given city as well as economic variables, such as industry, age, or social structure and used these data for [...] Watch video

Many android apps that try to use SSL to secure network communication fail in doing so and are insecure. By detecting such security flaws and interviewing the developers, the study presented in this video shows the necessity of rethinking how developers interact with security code. As shown, developers are not, as often implied, infallible. This means that prevention of security problems should be carried out by [...] Watch video

The use of continuum robots – robots that are not composed of rigid links and joints but are continuously bending structures – opens up completely new possibilities for surgery: With this tool surgeons can reach locations in the human body which they would not be able to reach with traditional surgical instruments. This enables them to e.g. remove brain tumors in a minimally invasive way. There are a vast number of [...] Watch video

One hour of sunlight is enough to power the entire planet for over a year. MICHAEL SALIBA is a leading scientist who investigates how we can tap into this abundant energy source in order to produce sustainable electricity in the future. As he explains in this video, the perovskite semiconductor – a new material that was discovered about five years ago – has great potential to advance the use of solar energy. The [...] Watch video

In the modern world, computer applications operate in an environment of increasing complexity. Ubiquitously connected, they rely on continuously changing interfaces with the external world to drive computations based on patterns in big data. In this video, MIRA MEZINI considers how programming technology can optimally respond to this radically changed operating environment. Arguing that accidental complexity can be [...] Watch video

The silicon-based technology that is used today to access and compute information is reaching its limits. To further improve computing capacity, this essentially two-dimensional technology, as STUART PARKIN puts it, needs to give way to the three-dimensional approach of spintronic devices that use not only electric current but also the spin of the electrons. In this video, he explains how the research team created a new [...] Watch video

The quantum spin Hall effect was first proposed by Kane and Mele in 2005. In this video, LAURENS MOLENKAMP outlines how his team’s focus on mercury telluride has provided notable insights into this phenomenon. Conducting transport experiments on special semiconductors grown using a molecular beam epitaxy machine, Molenkamp’s findings include the identification of the quantum Hall effect in a three-dimensional [...] Watch video

The greatest developments in particle physics have been achieved with the help of particle accelerators. To answer open questions on particles, even stronger accelerators are needed but conventional technology encounters limits. The new ‘plasma-wakefield acceleration’ technology is designed to build high performance accelerators that are more compact. As ALLEN CALDWELL explains, the basic idea is to generate a plasma [...] Watch video

KAI SUNDMACHER’s aim is to introduce a more sustainable process to chemicals production. As he explains in this video, for new technological developments in chemical process engineering a new methodology is needed that is able to include many decision variables in order to find the best pathway from the raw materials to the target product. Therefore, his research team developed an elementary process function (EPF) [...] Watch video