Latest Jena University Stories
Zoologists of the University Jena (Germany) are on the trail of the evolution of body contractionsAll animals move "“ cheetahs faster, snails more slowly. Muscle contractions are the basis of all movements, at least according to general opinion. But there are animal groups, that don't have any muscles at all, as they branched off from the evolutionary path before muscle cells evolved. However these animal groups, for instance the sea sponges, are not immovable. Sponges are able to contract...
Psychologists of the University Jena demonstrate the impact of their IPSY program to prevent addictionTheir numbers are rising, but their age is dropping: children and young adults who drink so much that they have to go to the hospital. Binge-drinking is sadly fashionable amongst the under 20-year-olds. But how can adolescents be effectively protected from alcohol and substance abuse?"Information alone is not good enough", Dr Karina Weichold of the Jena University (Germany) knows....
Scientists demonstrate that environmental lithium uptake promotes longevityProfessor Dr. Michael Ristow's team along with Japanese colleagues from universities in Oita and Hiroshima have demonstrated by two independent approaches that even a low concentration of lithium leads to an increased life expectancy in humans as well as in a model organism, the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans. The research team presents its results in the online edition of the scientific publication European Journal...
Zoologists of the University Jena clarify the role of the gene FOXN3 for the development of the clawed frog"Don't be a frog!" people say in jest when someone hesitates instead of acting straight away. However to be called a frog should actually be a reason to strengthen one's self-confidence. After all frogs are real winners "“ at least from the point of view of evolutionary biology: Nearly 6.000 species are known today. "In terms of numbers frogs are superior to all the other amphibians,...
How to look younger without plastic surgery? Psychologists of the Jena University (Germany) have a simple solution to this question: Those who want to look younger should surround themselves with older people. Because when viewing a 30-year-old we estimate his age to be much younger if we have previously been perceiving faces of older people."People are actually quite good at guessing the age of the person next to them," Dr. Holger Wiese says. The psychologist of the Jena University is...
Psychologists from Jena University, Germany, show how the accent shapes our perception of a person"I have ready!" With this sentence the FC Bayern Munich coach Giovanni Trapattoni finished a furious rant about his team's performance in 1998. And "Mr Angelo" in a coffee advert points out to his neighbour with a mischievous smile: "I don't have a car at all". In both cases the Italians are unmistakeably recognizable and so the exuberant temperament of the first and...
Chemists from the Jena University improve the process for the fabrication of sharp atomic force microscopy tipsScientists from the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena (Germany) were successful in improving a fabrication process for Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) probe tips.Atomic Force Microscopy is able to scan surfaces so that even tiniest nano structures become visible. Knowledge about these structures is for instance important for the development of new materials and carrier systems for...
Scientists from Jena University develop a hand prosthesis that eases phantom painThe pain of losing a body part is twofold, as the patients not only suffer from wound pain. Often they are also affected by so called phantom pain. Unlike bodily wounds which will eventually heal, phantom pain often lasts for years and sometimes a lifetime. "Phantom pain is very difficult to treat", says Professor Dr Thomas Weiss from the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena. "Mostly they prove to be...
A team of astronomers from Germany, Bulgaria and Poland have used a completely new technique to find an exotic extrasolar planet. The same approach is sensitive enough to find planets as small as the Earth in orbit around other stars. The group, led by Dr Gracjan Maciejewski of Jena University in Germany, used Transit Timing Variation to detect a planet with 15 times the mass of the Earth in the system WASP-3, 700 light years from the Sun in the constellation of Lyra. They publish their work...
Energy from hydrogen "“ scientists from all over the world work on this solution to overcome the energy crisis. Amongst other things they try to use the sunlight as driving force for the splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen. In trying to copy the photosynthesis in the laboratory a team of scientists of the Universities of Jena and Erlangen-Nürnberg and of the Institute of Photonic Technology (IPHT) in Jena (Germany) made a huge step forward. The physicists and chemists were able...
