In fossil leaves, puzzling structures are often visible under the microscope. Researchers at the University of Bonn have now been able to show for the first time that they originate from calcium oxalate crystals. On the one hand, their discovery facilitates the identification of the ancient plant remains. But it also provides answers as to how the ability to form such crystals arose and what function they presumably perform. The results have now been published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports.

Understanding the brain with artificial intelligence - that is the major research goal of Dominik Bach, who has been Hertz Professor in the Transdisciplinary Research Area "Life and Health" at the University of Bonn as of April this year. At an international symposium centering on his inaugural lecture, he invited several colleagues to discuss their research at the interface between neuroscience, mathematics and computer science.

A new study led by the University of Tasmania – with the participation of the University of Bonn – discovered the oldest marine DNA in deep-sea sediments of the Scotia Sea north of the Antarctic continent. The material could be dated to one million years. Such old material demonstrates that sedimentary DNA can open the pathway to study long-term responses of ocean ecosystems to climate change. This recognition will also help assessing current and future change of marine life around the frozen continent. The study appeared in the journal Nature Communications.

Sixteen universities from North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) have come together to form the Humboldtⁿ sustainability initiative. The initiative’s first interdisciplinary summer school has now been held at the University of Bonn, with support provided by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the state of NRW.

How do pollution and climate change affect health and the associated costs? How do people adapt to their environmental conditions, and what factors are crucial for such adaptability? Julia Mink, new Argelander Professor at the University of Bonn, addresses these and other questions. In the Transdisciplinary Research Area "Individuals, Institutions and Societies", she will work at the interface of environmental and health economics.

In this year’s call for applications for the Erasmus+ Worldwide Exchange Programme, the University of Bonn has successfully concluded new cooperation agreements with partner universities in California (U.S.) and Georgia. Its existing collaboration with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University has also been extended. Including the partnerships with institutions in Ghana and Tanzania that are already in place, therefore, anyone interested in the Erasmus+ Worldwide Exchange Programme can now choose to spend time in one of five different countries.

If you need to lurk at the bottom of a water body waiting for prey, it is wise to stay motionless without resisting against the buoyant forces of water. To do so you need a kind of diving belt that helps to sink. One large amphibian species Metoposaurus krasiejowensis, that lived more than 200 million years ago, compensated for buoyancy with a heavy shoulder girdle. Researchers from the Universities of Bonn and Opole (Poland) examined the bones of the girdle under a microscope. The compactness in the interclavicle shows a striking resemblance to the pectoral bones of modern manatees. The results are now published in the Journal of Anatomy.

Many young adults will be opening a new chapter in their lives over the next few weeks as they embark on their studies at the University of Bonn at the start of the winter semester. The University is keen to mark the occasion by inviting all first-semester-students to a welcome event. There will be plenty of information available and activities to join in with, allowing the students to find out all they need to know about living and studying in Bonn. The event will finish with a party in the University Main Building, giving them their first opportunity to make new friends.