Better air due to slurry acidification

Large quantities of excrements are produced in livestock farming. When it is stored in the barn and spread on the fields as fertilizer, ammonia is produced. The gas is harmful to health and also significantly pollutes the environment. A retrofit solution for existing barn systems promises a remedy: A study by the University of Bonn shows that this can reduce ammonia emissions by around 40 percent just inside the barn. It reduces the production of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, even more significantly. The method could therefore also make an important contribution to the fight against climate change. The results will be published in the Journal of Environmental Management, but are already available online.

A new look at the power houses of cells

The German Research Foundation (DFG) is establishing a new priority program coordinated by the University of Bonn. Prof. Dr. Thomas Becker from the Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and his colleagues are focusing their attention on how the power houses of the cell (mitochondria) are integrated into the cellular proteostasis network. Proteostasis stands for the basic cell biological processes such as the folding, transport and degradation of proteins. A deeper insight into the interplay of mitochondria and proteostasis network may contribute to better understanding of neurodegenerative diseases and aging processes. The DFG is funding the supraregional network with around 7.8 million euros for an initial period of three years.

New research group on the deformation of structures and infrastructure

Roads, bridges and dams age. How long can such structures still bear the weight? The new research group “Deformation Analysis with Terrestrial Laser Scanner Measurements (TLS-Defo)” at the University of Bonn wants to make a step forward in answering these questions. The German Research Foundation (DFG) will fund the group with around 2.4 million euros over the next four years.

How plants adapt to nitrogen deficiency

Nitrogen as a fertilizer can increase yields. However, too much nitrogen can also have negative effects, such as groundwater pollution, high energy consumption in fertilizer production and the generation of climate-relevant gases. Science is therefore looking for ways to help crops thrive with less nitrogen. Researchers at the University of Bonn have discovered gene variants of the nitrate sensor NPF2.12 that trigger a signal cascade chain at low soil nitrogen levels. This induces stronger root growth, resulting in improved nitrogen utilization. The study had already been published online in advance in "New Phytologist." The final version has now been published.

All Key Players at One Table

The UN Water Conference, held at the United Nations headquarters in New York March 22-24, was attended by Prof. Dr. Mariele Evers, who is the UNESCO Chair for Human-Water Systems at the University of Bonn Department of Geography. Dr. Evers was there as a member of the German government delegation, joined by members and partners of the BonnWaterNetwork.

Statement

As communicated by the University of Bonn on Oct. 26, 2022, allegations of serious misconduct were made against a member of the University's Faculty of Law and Economics in social media.

The current employer of the person accused at the time announced today that an independent investigation had found no conduct corresponding to the allegations.

On the trail of the big questions of particle physics

In seeking an explanation to what holds the world together at its core, particle physicists face many unresolved mysteries. The matter and energy we know make up only five percent of the cosmos; but what is the remaining “dark matter” and “dark energy” made of? Why is there so much matter but so little antimatter in the universe? And why do the second most common known particles in the universe, called neutrinos, have such tiny masses? To answer these fundamental questions, the new Clausius Professor Jun.-Prof. Dr. Lena Funcke and her team are developing models beyond the Standard Model of particle physics and applying novel computational methods for calculating model predictions for future experiments. This will be a new research focus at the University of Bonn in the Transdisciplinary Research Area “Building Blocks of Matter and Fundamental Interactions” (TRA “Matter”).

New ATLAS result weighs in on the W boson

The W boson is the mediator particle of the electroweak force. Discovered in the 1980s at CERN, its properties remain challenging to measure within the Standard Model of particle physics. An international team has now presented a new and improved W-boson mass measurement by the ATLAS experiment at CERN. Physicists from the University of Bonn were involved in the results: Dr. Philipp König and Dr. Oleh Kivernyk are part of the ATLAS team, which has now presented the results at the Moriond electroweak conference. The two young scientists work in the research groups led by Prof. Dr. Klaus Desch and Priv.-Doz. Philip Bechtle and Prof. Dr. Ian Brock at the Physics Institute.

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