Research

What role does culture play in people’s reaction to disasters? Why do people choose to live near an active volcano? Why do those affected by floods and earthquakes return to the risk areas so soon? Why are international disaster prevention measures unsuccessful or met with a lack of understanding a...

Chemists develop a new method which uses light to regulate biochemical processes The ultraviolet light spectrum is used in research for targeted regulation of biochemical processes, such as protein production or calcium release. However, the harmful effects of UV light have posed a problem for re...

FAU researchers investigate which environmental factors influence the evolution of animals with giant proportions Animals come in all different sizes – from huge whales to tiny crustaceans. Certain species stand out due to their extreme size – such as the giant squid, which can grow to up to 13 met...

Pharmacists at FAU are looking for new ways to treat depression. The model for these investigations is provided by a well-known medicinal plant, St John’s wort, which contains the antidepressive agent hyperforin that the researchers aim to develop further. The project, which forms part of the Europe...

Processes inside the Earth are often difficult for researchers to follow. An international team of researchers including members from Geozentrum Nordbayern at FAU and the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel were able to draw conclusions about the movement of submerged tectonic plates ...

FAU chemists have made an important step towards the vision of nanoscale electronic components. They have shown that electrons can be transported much faster over rigid molecular wires than over flexible ones. Together with partners in Japan, the researchers are working on more effective, lower-cost...

It could be difficult for the NSA to hack encrypted messages in the future – at least if a technology being investigated by scientists at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light in Erlangen and the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg will be successful: quantum cryptography. ...

They are light yet stronger than steel, as a semiconductor they are more efficient than silicon, and they conduct electricity better than copper: carbon nanotubes. For the first time, a team of international researchers, some of whom are based at FAU, have grown single-walled carbon nanotubes in a t...

FAU researchers examine how molecules arrange themselves on surfaces used in new technologies It is a little like throwing pieces of a puzzle at a magnetic board and hoping they will fall into place by themselves. This is roughly what scientists do when they apply molecules to surfaces in order to ...