A beam of light can only be seen when it hits matter particles and is scattered or reflected by them. In a vacuum, however, it is invisible. Physicists at the University of Bonn have now developed a method that allows laser beams to be visualized even under these conditions. The method makes it easier to perform the ultra-precise laser alignment required to manipulate individual atoms. The researchers have now presented their method in the journal Physical Review Applied.
The dynamics and consequences of techno-political disputes, which in the global information age affect all political levels, will be discussed at the international online conference "Digital Fragmentations and Digital Sovereignty" on September 17 and 18. The Transdisciplinary Research Area “Individuals, Institutions and Societies” (TRA 4) and the Center for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies (CASSIS) at the University of Bonn have invited experts from Europe, the U.S. and China.
How can novel computational methods be used to decipher the genetic causes of psychiatric disorders? To what extent does religion contribute to the formation of ecological awareness? What role do atmospheric aerosols play in the survival of bacteria on plants? These innovative projects are tackled by the University of Bonn together with renowned partner universities around the world. The funds for these Collaborative Research Grants come from the Excellence Strategy - a multi-million funding competition of the German federal and state governments, from which the University of Bonn emerged as the most successful university in all of Germany.
Smart robots, such as vacuuming or mopping robots, are becoming more prevalent in everyday life and will also increasingly take care of tasks in the public sphere in the future. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) has now approved EUR 2.25 million of funding for the Robots in Everyday Life (RimA) transfer center project. Computer Scientists at the University of Bonn will be working on the Benchmarking of Assistance Robots subproject until 2025.
An international study led by the University of Bonn has found evidence of a long-sought effect in accelerator data. The so-called "triangle singularity" describes how particles can change their identities by exchanging quarks, thereby mimicking a new particle. The mechanism also provides new insights into a mystery that has long puzzled particle physicists: Protons, neutrons and many other particles are much heavier than one would expect. This is due to peculiarities of the strong interaction that holds the quarks together. The triangle singularity could help to better understand these properties. The publication is now available in Physical Review Letters.
The goal of tumour conferences is to determine the best treatment for patients with complex cancers. In these interdisciplinary meetings, doctors from various branches of medicine convene to talk about a patient's case - however, the patient is rarely present. In the PINTU study a team of researchers from the University of Oldenburg and the University Hospitals of Bonn and Cologne has now investigated whether cancer patients can benefit from participating in these meetings. The study, which was funded by Deutsche Krebshilfe e.V., has now been published in the journal "Cancer Medicine".
Many different factors are responsible for the spread of infectious diseases. What is known is that the spread process depends essentially on the infectiousness of the pathogen and the immune response of the host, but also on human behavior. This relates, for example, to the extent to which distance regulations are observed. Less often considered, however, is the fact that the factors and their influence can vary greatly between groups of people - both at the biomedical and socioeconomic levels. Mathematicians, physicians and economists now want to take a closer look at this so-called inter-individual variability in a joint collaboration project of the University of Bonn and the University Hospital Munich. The goal is to determine new factors that are relevant for the transmission or containment of SARS-CoV-2 viruses. The German Research Foundation (DFG) is funding the project with several hundred thousand euros, of which 270,000 euros will go to Bonn.
According to the recently published university ranking of the Chinese Jiaotong University in Shanghai, the University of Bonn is among the four best universities in Germany, the best 20 universities in the European Union and among the 100 top universities in the world. Compared to the previous year, Bonn was able to improve by three places to 84th place worldwide.