Viewpoint
The number of Bafög recipients is at its lowest level in 25 years. Yet, many young people are eligible for this financial aid. Economist Sebastian Riedmiller is studying what deters students from applying. One insight: targeted information could help to ensure greater educational equity.
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For researcher Mercy Akinyi, getting out into nature is more than just a way to unwind – it’s part of her job. Together with her Max Planck Society – supported group in Kenya, she investigates how environmental conditions and cultural factors influence the spread of pathogens, and what containment measures can be taken.
Biology and Medicine
If a space probe were to land one day on Saturn’s moon Enceladus or another distant world, would humanity recognize life there if it existed? The building blocks of life, amino acids and nucleobases, are certainly abundant in space. But what exact ingredients and environmental conditions are needed for life to emerge? Researchers at the Max Planck Society hope to find the answer by looking back and asking: how did living biology emerge from lifeless chemistry on Earth in the first place?
Culture and Society
Vanessa Rau and Dekel Peretz, together with researchers working on the international “Encounters” project, have examined encounters between Muslims and Jews in six European cities. One thing they didn’t anticipate at the beginning of the project: the events of October 7, 2023, and their consequences.
'Environment and Climate
New regulations aim to promote the circular economy within the EU and reduce raw material consumption and waste in a particularly resource-intensive sector – the fashion industry. Antonia Sommerfeld from the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg examines the legal framework necessary to enable a circular economy.
Materials and Technology
Blockchains form the backbone of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, but they can also be used to process all kinds of transactions. They not only avoid the need for institutions such as banks or notaries, but they are also designed to be inherently secure against theft and fraud. However, blockchain-based applications are by no means invulnerable. Clara Schneidewind and her team at the Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy in Bochum are identifying security vulnerabilities in applications of this kind.
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Max Planck researchers collaborate with partners in more than 120 countries. Here they write about their personal experiences and impressions. Jinyi Shangguan, formerly a scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, has taken over as head of a Max Planck Partner Group at the Kavli Institute at Peking University. Together with his team, he is researching supermassive black holes – mysterious objects from the early days of our universe.
