The Belle II cooperation project at the Japanese research center KEK is helping researchers from all over the world to hunt for new phenomena in particle physics. The international experiment has now reached a major milestone after a team successfully installed a new pixel detector in its final location in Japan. The size of a soda can, the detector was developed in order to make out the signals coming from certain types of particle decays, that can shed light on the origin of the matter-antimatter asymmetry that has been observed in the universe. The installation ran without a hitch and is a key milestone in the evolution of the experiment and German-Japanese research collaboration.

The downward trend for real estate prices in Germany was partially halted in the second quarter of 2023. Compared with the first quarter of 2023, many prices are even rising slightly again, although there is still a significant drop compared with the previous year and the peaks. This is shown by the latest update of the German Real Estate Index (GREIX), a project of ECONtribute and IfW Kiel, which evaluates the actual sales prices of German real estate according to the latest scientific standards. All data for currently 18 German cities and their districts are freely available at www.greix.de. 

Many substances change their properties when they are cooled below a certain critical temperature. Such a phase transition occurs, for example, when water freezes. However, in certain metals there are phase transitions that do not exist in the macrocosm. They arise because of the special laws of quantum mechanics that apply in the realm of nature’s smallest building blocks. It is thought that the concept of electrons as carriers of quantized electric charge no longer applies near these exotic phase transitions. Researchers at the University of Bonn and ETH Zurich have now found a way to prove this directly. Their findings allow new insights into the exotic world of quantum physics. The publication has now been released in the journal Nature Physics.

How can we assess what students learn? Test scores of standardized examinations are designed to quantify student knowledge. But what if education starts revolving around the test-scores themselves, rather than what these were originally designed to measure? Indicators are proxy measures, intended to capture some complex underlying reality. But if the measure becomes a target, then this can lead to distortions. The ubiquity of this phenomenon was studied by Yohan J. John from Boston University, Leigh Caldwell from the Irrational Agency in London and Dakota E. McCoy from Stanford University. Oliver Braganza from the University of Bonn is the last author. He answered our questions. 

When the MS Wissenschaft docks at Germany’s former capital from August 3-6 (Thursday through Sunday), the University of Bonn will be on board. A team from the University has designed and built an exhibit for the science vessel that is aligned with the topic for Science Year 2023—“Our Universe.” Members of the public are invited to a panel discussion titled “Dialogue on Deck: Black Holes and the Limits of Space and Time” to be held on board the ship at 6pm on Friday, August 4. 

Fourteen teachers at the University of Bonn have been presented with teaching prizes from the University in recognition of their dedication to the profession. The lecturers—six women and eight men—were chosen by the students themselves. They were handed their prize certificates by Prof. Dr. Klaus Sandmann, Vice Rector for Teaching, Learning and University Development, at a ceremony on the Hofgarten lawn in Bonn that formed part of the Universitätsfest and was attended by over 4,000 people.

Innovative production methods are needed in order to tackle global challenges such as climate change, population growth and ecosystem loss. This has put strategies for a sustainable bioeconomy that place greater emphasis on using renewable raw materials firmly on the political agenda, both in Europe and around the world. When pursuing strategies of this kind, however, it is important to get the people who will be affected on board first. This is the finding from a study that three researchers from the Institute for Food and Resource Economics at the University of Bonn have recently published in the journal “Technology in Science.”

Gases that are harmful to health and the climate are produced wherever livestock are kept. Although there are various ways of supposedly reducing these emissions, it is often impossible to say with any certainty how effective they are. This is because recording precise levels of harmful gases has so far been a laborious, costly and time-consuming process. A Germany-wide joint project is now setting out to change that with the help of more than €10,5 million in funding from the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture. The official funding certificate has been presented yesterday by Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir at a ceremony in Potsdam. Among other things, the methods being developed are intended to identify particularly efficient ways of reducing emissions.