Tropical deforestation causes widespread degradation of biodiversity and carbon stocks. Researchers from the German Center of Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) and Leipzig University were now able to test the relationship between land tenure and deforestation rates in Brazil. Their research, which was published in Nature Communications, shows that poorly defined land rights go hand in hand with increased deforestation rates. Privatising these lands, as is often promoted in the tropics, can only mitigate this effect if combined with strict environmental policies.
Cancer cells use an unusual mechanism to migrate into new tissue and form metastases there. The same process probably also keeps some immune cells on their toes. This is the result of a recent study led by the University of Bonn. According to the study, certain structures, the centrioles, increase in number. This makes it easier for them to maintain their direction and thus migrate more quickly to the lymph nodes, where they activate other immune cells. The results have now been published in the Journal of Cell Biology.
The University of Bonn, the University of Cologne and Forschungszentrum Jülich are placing their joint Center for Earth System Observation and Computational Analysis (CESOC) on a new contractual footing. As a joint scientific facility of the three partner institutions, an internationally visible focal point has been created to globally observe and comprehensively understand the Earth system and to predict changes. The center is additionally strengthened by a memorandum of understanding now signed with the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), which has moved to Bonn in 2021.
The University of Bonn will be celebrating its International Days from October 19 to 31, which will be dedicated to its international partnerships and the varied activities and services it offers relating to internationality. From high-caliber speakers and roundtables featuring guests from around the world through to the state awards presentation ceremony and a range of artistic performances, there is bound to be something for anyone who might be interested. One of the real highlights will be the Japan Day on October 26.
The University of Bonn is to welcome in the new academic year 2022/2023 with a ceremony in the fully occupied main auditorium of its main building starting at 5 pm on Tuesday, October 18. All members of the University, including students in particular, are warmly invited to attend: The proceedings will be livestreamed online.
In the latest World University Rankings published by the British magazine Times Higher Education (THE), the University of of Bonn has moved up 23 places compared with the previous year and is now ranked 89th among the almost 1,800 educational institutions evaluated worldwide. For the World University Rankings, various indicators are collected in the five areas of research, teaching, citations, knowledge transfer and international outlook.
In fossil leaves, puzzling structures are often visible under the microscope. Researchers at the University of Bonn have now been able to show for the first time that they originate from calcium oxalate crystals. On the one hand, their discovery facilitates the identification of the ancient plant remains. But it also provides answers as to how the ability to form such crystals arose and what function they presumably perform. The results have now been published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports.
Understanding the brain with artificial intelligence - that is the major research goal of Dominik Bach, who has been Hertz Professor in the Transdisciplinary Research Area "Life and Health" at the University of Bonn as of April this year. At an international symposium centering on his inaugural lecture, he invited several colleagues to discuss their research at the interface between neuroscience, mathematics and computer science.