Earliest Animals Developed Later Than Previously Thought
Sponges belong to our earliest ancestors. However, fossils, molecules and genes disagree on the rise of these early animals. A large international team of researchers…
Max Planck Institute
Scientists Realize Optical Version of Schrödinger’s Thought Experiment
An old thought experiment now appears in a new light. In 1935 Erwin Schrödinger formulated a thought experiment designed to capture the paradoxical nature of…
Researchers Discover Human-Specific Gene for Building a Bigger Brain
The human brain owes its characteristic wrinkled appearance to its outer layer, the cerebral cortex. During human evolution, the neocortex, the evolutionarily youngest part of…
Scientists Identify Synaptic Protein Target for New Anxiolytic Treatments
Anxiety disorders are severe mental disorders in which patients suffer from intense fears and anxiety or from sudden, inexplicable panic attacks. In extreme cases, the…
LIGO and Virgo Reveal Four New Sources of Gravitational Waves
Scientists have carried out a closer analysis of previously recorded data from the LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave detectors, tracking down four new signals. They…
Scientists Paint a New Comprehensive Picture on How Humans Think
It is one of the most fundamental questions in neuroscience: How do humans think? Until recently, we seemed far from a conclusive answer. However, scientists…
AI Controlled Quantum Error Correction System Capable of Learning
Neural networks enable learning of error correction strategies for computers based on quantum physics Quantum computers could solve complex tasks that are beyond the capabilities…
Scientists Use Gene Therapy to Successfully Treat Mitochondrial Diseases
Mitochondrial disease is now thought to be the second most commonly diagnosed genetic disease worldwide, and, unfortunately, there are still no proven treatment strategies for…
Study Shows Sun-Like Stars Rotate Differentially
Like our sun, distant stars are rotating spheres of hot gas. Stars, however, do not rotate like solid spheres: regions at different latitudes rotate at…
VGP Project Releases Fifteen New Genomes
The International Vertebrate Genomes Project (VGP) has officially launched and released 15 new reference genomes representing all five vertebrate classes – mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians,…
Size of Nucleolus Plays Important Role Protecting Cells Against Infection
All cells in the body have the basic ability to protect themselves from infection, called the innate immune response. But how cells do this is…
ATLAS Experiment Observes the Decay Signature of the Higgs Boson
The ATLAS Collaboration at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has – at long last – observed the Higgs boson decaying into a pair of bottom…
AWAKE Collaboration Has Breakthrough Building New Type of Particle Accelerator
There is a good chance that soon a new door will open to physicists, offering them new insights into the mysteries of the universe. The…
Scientists Discover Possible Treatment for Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease
Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease is the most common hereditary neuropathy and affects more than two million people worldwide. Researchers at the Max-Planck-Institute for Experimental Medicine and the…
New AI System Identifies Personality Traits from Eye Movements
Computers are gradually learning to interpret human behaviour – and can now also do so by analysing the way people use their eyes. A team…
Scientists Reveal Homo Sapiens’ Secret of Success
A new study argues that the greatest defining feature of our species is not ‘symbolism’ or dramatic cognitive change, but rather its unique ecological position…
Like a Huge Spiral, the Milky Way Floats in Space
For thousands of years, people have been puzzling over the milky strip that extends across the entire firmament. In the modern era, Galileo Galilei discovered…
Researchers Discover Self-Healing Mechanism in Seed Pods
An international team of researchers including members of the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces has discovered a self-sealing mechanism in the seed pods…