news 2022

A long-necked dinosaur from northern Germany was a so-called nest fledger Europasaurus was a long-necked, herbivorous dinosaur on four legs. The dinosaur lived in the late Jurassic period about 154 million years ago on a small island in what is now northern Germany. Researchers from the Universities of Vienna and Greifswald have now examined fossil skull remains of Europasaurus using computer tomography.

A research group at the University of Bern is studying how plants "breathe". They have gained new insights into how grasses develop efficient "breathing pores" on their leaves. If important landmark components in this development process are missing, the gas exchange between plant and atmosphere is impaired.

A large-scale study by the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) and partners has found that rectal artesunate (RAS) has no beneficial effect on the survival of young children with severe malaria when used as an emergency treatment in resource-constrained settings. The study, which took place under real-world conditions in three African countries, concludes that the use of RAS is unlikely to reduce malaria deaths unless underlying health system weaknesses are addressed.

2022 was another bumper year for news from the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and health. Here are some of our highlights: January we showed how early data for multivariant COVID-19 vaccine booster shows promise. The first results of an early trial of a multivariant COVID-19 vaccine booster, launched in Manchester in September 2021, showed it is driving a comprehensive immune response.

A research team at the University of Leipzig Medical School has discovered a new mechanism associated with severe childhood obesity. A genetic alteration leads to an unusual expression of a gene related to the control of the feeling of hunger. Until now, this alteration has not been detected with general genetic diagnostics in obesity.

After extensive analyses, researchers found the cause of the concrete scandal in County Donegal, Ireland, where structural damage has been causing red faces and protests for years: Concrete walls of thousands of houses are riddled with cracks, necessitating expensive repairs or even demolition. For the longest time, an excessively high mica content in the concrete was thought to be the reason.

In recent years, language-learning apps, websites, and podcasts have exploded in popularity, promising fun and faster ways to make us fluent. But a new study conducted by UBC English James Stratton finds that one of the best ways of fast-tracking your language acquisition may be to learn a bit of language history - at least when it comes to learning a historically related language.

A comprehensive analysis on particle exhalation in adults and children Children exhale significantly fewer potentially infectious particles than adults - at least this is true for the small respiratory droplets that are predominantly produced in the lungs. This is a key finding of a study conducted by the Max Planck Institutes for Dynamics and Self-Organization and for Chemistry in collaboration with the University Göttingen Medical Center.

Heidelberg scientists decode the genetic foundations of rapid testicle evolution in mammals and humans Evolutionary pressure across male mammals to guarantee the procreation of their own offspring led to a rapid evolution of the testicle. Bioinformatic studies - conducted by an international team of researchers led by Henrik Kaessmann from the Center for Molecular Biology of Heidelberg University - show that this pressure particularly accelerated the evolution of later stages of sperm formation.

From biomedical engineering and quantum hardware through to wave modelling and computer science, here are seven times in 2022 that our researchers led impactful research. Spray coating developed to shield surfaces from viruses, bacteria A first-of-its-kind sprayable coating that can prevent the surface spread of infection from bacteria and viruses, including COVID-19, over a sustained period has been developed by a team of Australian researchers including Professor Antonio Tricoli from School of Biomedical Engineering.

A soap bubble attracts the attention of young and old. Who has never wondered the recipe of these fascinating bubbles or how to get the biggest one - In collaboration with artists, who have a great empirical knowledge of the recipes that work in their acts, a team from the Laboratory of Solid State Physics (CNRS/University of Paris-Saclay) has identified the main ingredients ensuring to get the best bubbles.

A research team at Leipzig University's Faculty of Medicine has discovered a new mechanism that is associated with severe obesity in children. This genetic rearrangement leads to an unusual expression of a gene involved in hunger control and is not detected by most routine genetic tests for obesity.

In recent years, additional financial resources haven allowed launching various local, regional and national projects to tackle and frustrate drug related organised crime. As a result, more awareness has arisen in the Netherlands about the seriousness of this problem and the need to tackle it together.

In new research published in Nature Communications , University of Sussex scientists demonstrate how a highly conductive paint coating that they have developed mimics the network spread of a virus through a process called 'explosive percolation' - a mathematical process which can also be applied to population growth, financial systems and computer networks, but which has not been seen before in materials systems.

The presence and diversity of nearshore corals in the Florida Keys has decreased dramatically throughout the past 30 years, and the colorful fans and sponges that used to inhabit these shallow waters are likely disappearing because of the deteriorating water quality around the islands, new research from the University of Miami indicates.

Study: What makes Voldemort tick? Children's and adults' reasoning about the nature of villains Whether it's on television or in a movie, we love the villain. No matter how egotistical, power hungry or greedy the person is, many of us are still attracted to their dark side-in part because we suspect some may have a redeeming quality.

A new study finds that antibodies produced in the nose decline 9 months after infection, while those found in the blood last at least a year. A new study finds that antibodies produced in the nose decline nine months after COVID-19 infection, while antibodies found in the blood last at least a year.

Researchers from Paul Scherrer Institute PSI and ETH Zurich have discovered how proteins in the cell can form tiny liquid droplets that act as a smart molecular glue. Clinging to the ends of filaments called microtubules, the glue they discovered ensures the nucleus is correctly positioned for cell division.

A new tool to identify small molecules offers benefits for diagnostics, drug discovery and fundamental research. A new machine learning model will help scientists identify small molecules, with applications in medicine, drug discovery and environmental chemistry. Developed by researchers at Aalto University and the University of Luxembourg , the model was trained with data from dozens of laboratories to become one of the most accurate tools for identifying small molecules.

Research team analyses oxygen isotopes in 550 million-year-old samples Several billion years ago, the oceans were probably not as hot as often assumed, but were instead at much more moderate temperatures. This is the conclusion of a research team from the University of Göttingen and the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), Potsdam.