Promising antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 * competition between magnetic orders * mangrove collapse

SAVE THE DATE: Alumni Online lecture on the history of Karneval on February 2nd, 2021

On February 2nd, 2021, we invite you to join us for another edition of our online lecture series 'Alumni Online'. Dr. Dagmar Hänel will be talking about the history of Karneval. Dr. Hänel is the head of the LVR-Institut für Landeskunde und Regionalgeschichte in Bonn. The talk will be held in German. More information and the link to the registration form will be send out via e-mail in the coming days.

New promising antibodies against SARS-CoV-2

An international research team led by the University of Bonn has identified and further developed novel antibody fragments against the SARS coronavirus-2. These "nanobodies" are much smaller than the classic antibodies used to treat US President Donald Trump, for example. They therefore penetrate the tissue better and can be produced more easily in larger quantities. The researchers at the University Hospital Bonn have also combined the nanobodies into potentially particularly effective molecules. These attack different parts of the virus simultaneously. The approach could prevent the pathogen from evading the active agent through mutations. Read more

Physicists observe competition between magnetic orders

hey are as thin as a hair, only a hundred thousand times thinner—so-called two-dimensional materials, consisting of a single layer of atoms, have been booming in research for years. They became known to a wider audience when two Russian-British scientists were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010 for the discovery of graphene, a building block of graphite. The special feature of such materials is that they possess novel properties that can only be explained with the help of the laws of quantum mechanics and that may be relevant for enhanced technologies. Researchers at the University of Bonn have now used ultracold atoms to gain new insights into previously unknown quantum phenomena. They found out that the magnetic orders between two coupled thin films of atoms compete with each other. Read more

Climate change caused mangrove collapse in Oman

Most of the mangrove forests on the coasts of Oman disappeared about 6,000 years ago. Until now, the reason for this was not entirely clear. A current study of the University of Bonn now sheds light on this: It indicates that the collapse of coastal ecosystems was caused by climatic changes. In contrast, falling sea level or overuse by humans are not likely to be the reasons. The speed of the mangrove extinction was dramatic: Many of the stocks were irreversibly lost within a few decades. Read more

The corona pandemic influences all aspects of our lifes - thus also studying, researching and working at the University of Bonn. You can read more about this in the new edition of the university magazine 'forsch' (in German). Besides the pandemic and its influence on teaching and research, you can learn more about the new research profile of the University of Bonn in this edition.

You can find the latest 'forsch' as well as previous editions at https://www.forsch.uni-bonn.de.