Research in Germany

Over several years, SARS-CoV-2 produced new variants that spread rapidly worldwide and triggered waves of COVID-19 infections. This pattern may now be undergoing a lasting change.

A new machine learning method (Euclidean Fast Attention (EFA)) enables global atomic interactions in chemical systems to be represented more efficiently. This could allow chemical and materials science processes to be simulated more accurately in the future, potentially accelerating the development of new drugs, more efficient batteries, and more sustainable materials.

A new study led by researchers from the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin reveals how the loss of large mammals can ripple through ecosystems in unexpected ways, even affecting amphibian larvae living in temporary ponds. By examining changes in nutrient dynamics over more than two decades, the researchers show that declines in large herbivores are associated with a system-wide reduction in nitrogen isotope values in aquatic habitats, highlighting how disruptions in terrestrial wildlife populations can cascade across ecosystem boundaries.

The GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung and the international accelerator facility FAIR have made an important contribution to the success of the Artemis II Moon mission. A camera specially developed for use in space was successfully tested in advance under realistic conditions at the GSI and FAIR particle accelerator.

A research team with scientists from MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen studies the hemispheric origin of Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) and find a high Southern Hemispheric contribution over the past 800,000 years. The results, now published in the journal Nature Communications, highlight an important and direct pathway from high southern latitudes to the tropical oceans.

The need for medical treatments for rare diseases such as Leigh Syndrome is high. However, low patient numbers make research into treatments difficult. Together with a team from the University of Luxembourg, researchers from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) and University Hospital Düsseldorf (UKD) have succeeded in utilising artificial intelligence (AI) to establish a model that enables a better understanding of Leigh Syndrome. In the course of this work, they succeeded in identifying new drug candidates for the treatment of the disease. The researchers from Düsseldorf and Luxembourg have now published the findings in the renowned scientific journal Nature Communications.