Like a snapshot, amber preserves bygone worlds. An international team of paleontologists from the University of Bonn has now described four new beetle species in fossilized tree resin from Myanmar, which belong to the Kateretidae family. They still exist today, with only a few species. As well as the about 99 million years old insects, the amber also includes pollen. It seems that the beetles helped the flowering plants to victory, because they contributed to their propagation. In turn, the beetles benefited from the new food source. The results have now been published in the journal "iScience".

An immune reaction in the brain seems to play a major role in the development of Alzheimer's disease. In a way, it "adds fuel to the fire" and apparently causes an inflammation that, in a sense, keeps kindling itself. The study has now been published in the journal Cell Reports.

Toxic personality is a term used to describe people who behave greedily, immodestly and unfairly and take the truth very lightly. Dr. Mareike Kholin, Bastian Kückelhaus and Prof. Dr. Gerhard Blickle from the Department of Psychology at the University of Bonn found out why such people can still succeed in their careers. The trick that leads to the top is social skill. The results are presented online in advance in the journal "Personality and Individual Differences". The print version will be published in April.

The Rectorate of the University of Bonn, in agreement with the faculties, has decided on further measures with the aim of slowing down the spread of the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). In particular, as of Monday, 16 March 2020, all examinations in the University's area of responsibility originally planned for the coming weeks will be cancelled and postponed to a later date. As things stand at present, the examinations are to be made up for before the start of the summer semester's lectures.

In order to fight the spread of the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), the Ministry of Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia has ordered that the lecture period in summer semester 2020 shall begin on April 20, 2020. Lectures at the University of Bonn will therefore also start on this date.

The richest 50 percent of Germans have doubled their wealth since reunification - the poorest 50 percent have gained practically nothing. This is shown by the new study "The Distribution of Wealth in Germany, 1895 to 2018" by the Cluster of Excellence ECONtribute of the Universities of Bonn and Cologne. It is the first comprehensive analysis of the long-run evolution of wealth inequality in Germany. The results are based on historical tax data, studies and surveys as well as rich lists of the last 125 years. The Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister of Finance Olaf Scholz was presented with the study in Berlin.

// Update from April 3, 2020: due to the Coronavirus, this event will not take place in May and is postponed to September 2020. Further details will be announced as they become known. End of update. // The University of Bonn is calling all talented researchers and professionals to showcase their most innovative ideas. Early-career researchers, entrepreneurs and professionals can apply to take part in Falling Walls Lab Rhineland on May 25, 2020, to present their research work - in 3 minutes each. Applications are due April 15, 2020. Selected participants will compete to win a trip to the Falling Walls Lab Finale in Berlin and a ticket to the Falling Walls Conference.

City dwellers take more antibiotics than people in rural areas; children and the elderly use them more often than middle-aged people; the use of antibiotics decreases as education increases, but only in rich countries: These are three of the more striking trends identified by researchers of the NRW Forschungskolleg “One Health and Urban Transformation” at the University of Bonn in a recent study. They evaluated 73 publications on the use of antibiotics in the outpatient sector around the world. The subject is of great importance: Too many antibiotics are still being administered. Possible consequences are resistances: Already there are hardly any effective drugs available against some bacteria. The study will be published in May in the International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, but is already available online.