News
Enormous diversity from evolutionary explosion of flowering plants
An international study involving researchers from the University of Göttingen investigated the evolution of flowering plants using advanced DNA sequencing technology. The researchers discovered that there was an evolutionary explosive development of flowering plants producing enormous diversity. Over 130 million years ago, this explosion in diversity gave rise to more than 80 per cent of the major lineages of flowering plants that exist today. The results were published in Nature. more…
How cells boost gene expression
The function of non-coding RNA in the cell has long been a mystery to researchers. Unlike coding RNA, non-coding RNA does not produce proteins – yet it exists in large quantities. A research team from the University of Göttingen has now discovered an important function of antisense RNA (asRNA): the researchers found that asRNA acts as a "superhighway" in cell transport and thus accelerates gene expression. The results were published in Nature. more…
The analysis of the universe
The European Southern Observatory (ESO) has signed an agreement with an international consortium of institutions to develop and build ANDES, the ArmazoNes High Dispersion Echelle Spectrograph. The ANDES instrument will be installed on ESO's Extremely Large Telescope (ELT). The scientific objectives are to search for signs of life on exoplanets, identify the first stars, test variations in the fundamental constants of physics and measure the acceleration of the expansion of the universe. The Institute of Astrophysics and Geophysics at the University of Göttingen is also involved in this project. more…
Visiting flowers and transporting pollen in fragmented landscapes
Traditionally, interactions between plants and their pollinators are analysed on the basis of visits to flowers. A research team led by the University of Göttingen studied wild bees on chalk grassland. The researchers analysed both the networks showing visits to flowers and the networks where pollen was transported. They found that the visits by bees to flowers were not always associated with pollen collection. The results were published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. more…
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Further news
Young Scientist Award for Professor Viola Priesemann
During this year's spring conference of the German Physical Society (DPG), Professor Viola Priesemann received the Young Scientist Award for Socio- and Econophysics. The physicist conducts research at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization and the University of Göttingen. The prize is endowed with 7,500 euros and honors her work on propagation processes in complex systems. more…
Long-period oscillations control the Sun’s differential rotation
The interior of the Sun does not rotate at the same rate at all latitudes. The physical origin of this differential rotation is not fully understood. A team of scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research discovered, that the long-period solar oscillations play a crucial role in controlling the Sun’s rotational pattern. more…