Archive

Monarch butterflies employ a sun compass on their long-distance migration. Surprisingly, a new study shows that the compass is only established during flight.

The question of the causes of species extinction confronts science with complex tasks. Dr Sarah Redlich from the Biocentre on the challenge of creating a study design.

Their work is most frequently cited in publications of other scientists. Four researchers from the University are therefore included in the Highly Cited Researchers 2021 List.

Urbanisation appears to be another key factor for insect decline. This is shown by a study in which the impact of climate and land use on insects was disentangled for the first time.

Poxviruses have found a unique way of translating their genes into proteins in the infected organism. A team of researchers from Würzburg shows for the first time how the molecular machinery involved works at an atomic level.

The higher the biological diversity in an ecosystem, the better the important processes there function. A heterogeneous environment promotes this effect, while intensive land use weakens it, as a new study shows.

The newly funded EU Horizon 2020 project Safeguard will address the decline of wild pollinators, its effects on biodiversity and ecosystem services, and options to restore pollinator diversity.

The time deadwood in forests needs to decompose depends on climate as well as on fungi and insects. Researchers have now quantified the contribution of deadwood to the global carbon cycle.

With her research, biochemist Katalin Karikó laid the foundation for the development of RNA vaccines against the coronavirus. Now she is being honoured for this by the Würzburg Societas Physico-Medica.

In the fruit fly Drosophila, a hormone helps to balance rest and activity. This is shown by a new study of a research team led by the University of Würzburg. Might humans have a hormone with comparable function?

Light pollution makes it difficult for dung beetles to find their way. This is probably also true for other nocturnal insects and birds, as researchers suspect.

The characteristics of plants of the same species can have different genetic causes depending on their origin. This is shown by a recent study at the University of Würzburg.

Plant researchers have a potent new tool at disposal: In the journal Science Advances, a research team from Würzburg shows how to close the stomata of leaves using light pulses.

If plants are flooded, they lack oxygen and their cells over-acidify. A sensor protein detects this and triggers a stress response. Researchers have now presented details about this topic in the journal Current Biology.

A three-dimensional atlas of the bumblebee brain is now available. It will allow to even better research how nerve cells are interconnected and how they process information.