Viewpoint
The number of people living in liberal democracies is declining. The democracies that remain, meanwhile, are fragile, not least because many people view politics and political parties with skepticism. Steffen Mau, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Political and Social Science in Göttingen, analyzes the many reasons behind these developments and suggests how democracies might retain or regain their appeal.
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Back in his student days, Peter Falkai wanted to explore the human mind. Once he became a scientist, he dedicated himself to researching a form of mental illness: schizophrenia. Falkai himself is at all times cool, calm, and collected. Since 2024, he has served as both Medical Director at the Research Clinic and Director at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich.
Physics and Astronomy
Auroras are the nice side of space weather. But the solar system also has its storms. The Sun can unleash particle storms that cause considerable damage to technical infrastructure on Earth. Partly with the aid of new telescopes, specialists from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research want to better understand why our star is especially active every 11 years. One of their main goals is to be able to forecast solar storms with enough warning to enable mitigating steps to be taken.
Materials and Technology
AI agents have undergone rapid development and demonstrate extraordinary capabilities in certain areas like communication or software programming. Krishna Gummadi, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems, clarifies what characterizes an AI agent and comments on the benefits they offer and risks they pose to individuals and society as a whole.
Biology and Medicine
Some nematodes exploit the molecular arsenal of bacteria to kill and preserve their prey. Helge Bode and his team at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg have analyzed the microbes’ defensive compounds and in the process discovered a wide range of potential applications for them: as environmentally friendly pesticides or repellents, they could protect crops from pests or keep malaria-carrying mosquitoes at bay.
Culture and Society
Does mandatory family protection in the law of succession still make sense in the modern world? Who is liable for climate-related damages? Does the law need scandals in order to evolve? Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law are shaping the future of the law – just as the Institute’s founder, Ernst Rabel, did 100 years ago.
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Basira Mir Makhamad 31, is a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology in Jena. In her doctoral thesis, she presented the first systematic archaeobotanical study of the Silk Road. For this work, she was awarded the Otto Hahn Medal by the Max Planck Society.
