Research

At the end of the Cretaceous, 66 million years ago, a large meteorite impact event caused the most recent of five major mass extinction events in the Earth’s history. The dinosaurs, marine species and whole groups of ammonites were wiped out. Although the ecosystems recovered fairly quickly, their a...

For many of us, once we open a packet of crisps there is no stopping us – we keep eating until it is empty. Food chemists at FAU have now discovered a possible explanation for why some types of food are more tempting than others. Contrary to previous assumptions, the ratio of certain components in f...

International team of researchers finds evidence of large-scale tectonic changes in the Pacific region 50 million years ago. A chain of extinct volcanoes that mostly lie under water stretches across the Pacific from Hawaii to Kamchatka. This chain, known as the Hawaiian-Emperor Chain, is the trail ...

FAU chemists and physicists aim to increase the efficiency of solar cells considerably. Doubling the amount of electricity produced by solar cells is just a difficult as it sounds. Chemists and physicists at FAU are carrying out intensive research on this topic. They are investigating singlet fissio...

FAU researcher Prof. Dr. Julien Bachmann receives ERC grant of 1.9 million Euros FAU has counted another success in the tough competition for European research funding, as Prof. Dr. Julien Bachmann has been awarded the European Research Council’s (ERC) prestigious 1.9-million-euro ERC Consolidator ...

Astronomers identify thermonuclear supernova as cause Ten years ago, a team of astrophysicists led by researchers at FAU discovered an inconspicuous star in our galaxy, US 708, that turned out to be moving incredibly fast. Based on new observations that the FAU team were involved in, the cause of i...

How does the sugar get into the beet? This question has been investigated by researchers at FAU’s Division of Molecular Plant Physiology in collaboration with colleagues from the universities of Kaiserslautern, Cologne and Würzburg, and the companies Südzucker AG and KWS Saat AG. They have discovere...

More parasites due to rising sea levels Climate change leads to steadily rising sea levels. The risk of floods is not the only consequence. An international working group involving FAU researchers has shown that various types of parasites have been spreading rapidly as a result of rising sea levels...

Magnetite is often used as a catalyst in chemical reactions. Other metal atoms can be bonded on its surface in such a way that they remain separated from one another and do not form larger metal particles. Researchers suspect that this speeds up chemical reactions particularly well. However, how thi...