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Papyrologists decipher manuscript fragment and date it to the 4th to 5th century. For decades, a papyrus fragment with the inventory number P.Hamb.Graec. 1011 remained unnoticed at the Hamburg Carl von Ossietzky State and University Library. Now papyrologists Dr Lajos Berkes from the Institute for Christianity and Antiquity at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU), and Prof Gabriel Nocchi Macedo from the University of Liège, Belgium, have identified the fragment as the earliest surviving copy of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas .

Fishing with rod and reel is much more than just a leisure activity: In many regions of the world, it makes an important contribution to their own diet with fish. This has been shown by an international research team, including Robert Arlinghaus, Professor of Integrative Fisheries Management at the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology (IGB) and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.

A new study from Humboldt-Universität approaches the question from a psychological perspective. A neurocognitive study by researchers at the Institute of Psychology at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU) shows that negative knowledge about an artist influences the perception of the artwork, regardless of the artist's level of fame.

Electromobility and portable electronic devices such as laptops and cell phones are unthinkable without the use of lithium-ion batteries. The problem: highly toxic materials such as cobalt are often used for the cathodes of these batteries, which endanger the environment and the health of people in the countries where they are mined.

Researchers from six German research institutions are making a significant contribution to the development of detectors for a new experiment at CERN, the research centre for particle physics. The European Centre for Nuclear Research CERN close to Geneva has announced plans to conduct a new experiment called SHiP (Search for Hidden Particles) in search for previously unknown elementary particles.

The images taken by US spy satellites since the late 1950s have long been classified. They became publicly accessible in the late 1990s and are used, among others, in climate research and archaeology. Researchers from the Conservation Biogeography Lab of the Institute of Geography at Humboldt-Universität led by Tobias Kümmerle also take interest in the black-and-white photographs.

Research team redesigns phenoxyl radicals with improved oxidation capacity in the lab. Nature uses enzymes for various metabolic processes. These biological catalysts are extremely efficient. Biomimetic catalysts based on inexpensive starting materials from the laboratory that can reproduce the efficiency of the natural enzymes and can function at ambient conditions are therefore of great interest to research and industry.

The 'ten electron rule' provides guidance for the design of single-atom alloy catalysts for targeted chemical reactions. A collaborative team from three British universities and from Humboldt-Universität have discovered a very simple rule to design single-atom alloy catalysts for chemical reactions.

What factors determine which countries people migrate to? Tim Müller from the Berlin Institute for Empirical Integration and Migration Research (BIM) has analysed this in a study of 160 countries. According to the study, important pull factors for migration are not so much social benefits, but rather good job opportunities, democratic conditions and the national language.

With the aid of innovative statistical methods, researchers explore the complex interplay between life cycle, environmental factors and genetic information using wheat as an example. Cereal crops such as wheat are sensitive to climate change. Many studies show that their yield decreases as temperatures rise and extreme weather events increase.

Researchers at the Humboldt University of Berlin have demonstrated a surprising effect present in the fluorescent light of a single atom. Researchers headed by Jürgen Volz and Arno Rauschenbeutel from the Department of Physics at the Humboldt University of Berlin have gained new insights into the scattering of light by a fluorescent atom, which could also be useful for quantum communication.

Researchers at the Institute for Theoretical Biology at Humboldt Universität have solved a long-standing mathematical puzzle about the emergence of electrical activity patterns during insect flight. Together with colleagues at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, they report a novel function for electrical synapses in governing the flight of fruit flies in the current issue of Nature.

The cornerstone for 1000-fold improvement in communication rates for bridging long distances. Diamond is of great importance for future technologies such as the quantum internet. Special defect centers can be used as quantum bits (qubits) and emit single photons. To enable data transmission with practicable communication rates over long distances in the quantum network, all photons must be collected in optical fibers and transmitted without being lost.

A study shows: Diversity of methods leads to improvement of creative cognitive abilities There are many ways to positively influence and promote creative thinking. Scientists at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU), Essex University in the UK, and the University of Potsdam have conducted a study to find out how creativity can be improved.

Freshwater biodiversity is declining at alarming rates. In a large-scale effort, a research team led by the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) and the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin (HU) in cooperation with angling clubs, has conducted whole-lake experiments in 20 lakes to improve ecological conditions.

The hypothesis that the brain's greatest performance potential lies at the boundary between order and chaos has been demonstrated by researchers from the "Science of Intelligence" Cluster of Excellence at the HU, the TU and the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) in a study on a huge school of fish What do the brain and a school of fish have in common? They are both capable of efficient collective information processing, although each unit within them only has access to local information.

Large herbivores such as bison and elk played an important role in our oceans systems for thousands and millions of years, but in this country they were driven out of many areas by humans in the past and became extinct in Germany. For several years, both species have been spreading westward out of Eastern Europe, and sporadic sightings of elk and bison have been made in eastern Germany.

Ancient fossils reveal the evolutionary history of ossification in the spine of land vertebrates A study conducted by researchers from the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin revealed the evolution of ossification patterns in the backbones of four-legged vertebrates. Antoine Verrière and his colleagues were able to reconstruct the patterns of how the bones in the vertebral column formed in the ancestor to all land vertebrates based on a large dataset of modern and fossil vertebrates with the inclusion of rare new data from the 300 Ma old reptile Mesosaurus tenuidens.

Study shows positive perceptions of aging can benefit sexual satisfaction among older adults. Researchers have long known that having a positive outlook can benefit a person's health. Now, a new study by the University of Missouri has found older adults who feel positive about aging have a healthier sex life - a finding that didn't surprise the researcher, who's been studying the benefits of the positive perceptions of aging.

Berlin scientists decipher facial motor control in elephants Elephants have an amazing arsenal of face, ear and trunk movements. The trunk consists of far more muscles than the entire human body and can perform both powerful and very delicate movements. A team of scientists from the Humboldt University of Berlin and the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) now examined the facial motor nucleus of African and Asian elephants, the brain structure that controls the facial muscles of these animals.