news 2016

uni:view magazin Videos Presse Social Media Azure-winged magpies, an Asian bird species, take any opportunity to provide food to their group members, even without receiving any reward themselves. A team of cognitive biologists, lead by Lisa Horn and Jorg Massen from the University of Vienna, showed this type of prosocial behavior experimentally in a bird species for the first time.

uni:view magazin Videos Presse Social Media The chemical properties of atoms depend on the number of protons in their nuclei, placing them into the periodic table. However, even chemically identical atoms can have different masses - these variants are called isotopes. Although techniques to measure such mass differences exist, these have either not revealed where they are in a sample, or have required dedicated instrumentation and laborious sample preparation.

The formation of quasiparticles, such as polarons, in a condensed-matter system usually proceeds in an extremely fast way and is very difficult to observe. In Innsbruck, Rudolf Grimm's physics research group, in collaboration with an international team of theoretical physicists, has simulated the formation of polarons in an ultracold quantum gas in real time.

How does seeing work? What is a good image, and what is a bad image? How do we filter out the essential information from an image - the information we need to recognise what we see? These are key questions for brain researchers as well as computer scientists, such as Thomas Pock, who is always looking for international cooperation to achieve progress in image processing.

Franz Viehböck took off 25 years ago - the one and only Austrian in space. Researchers at TU Graz performed pioneering work in extraterrestrial materials analysis and facilitated the first ever networked communication between several locations on Earth and in space. Friday, 4 October 1991: the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra played the Blue Danube by Johann Strauss as Franz Viehböck glided into the Soviet space station "Mir".

Scientists at TU Wien (Vienna) found a way to compress ultrashort laser pulses, increasing its peak power to half a terawatt - which is equivalent to the output of hundreds of nuclear reactors. It is a very unusual kind of laser: researchers at the photonics institute at TU Wien (Vienna) have built a device which emits ultrashort flashes of infrared light with extremely high energy.

Breast milk contains the optimal mix of nutrients for a healthy development of the baby. Certain complex carbohydrates known as human milk oligosaccharides are among the most important contributors The Institute of Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering at TU Graz is researching in cooperation with the Austrian Center of Industrial Biotechnology ( acib ) how these might be produced industrially.

Intricate nanostructures can be created on crystal surfaces by hitting them with high energy ions. Scientists from TU Wien (Vienna) can now explain these remarkable phenomena.

Mathematical models analysing the interplay between society and hydrological effects have been developed at TU Wien (Vienna).

Electrons reveal their quantum properties when they are confined to small spaces. Scientists from TU Wien (Vienna), Aachen and Manchester have created tiny quantum dots in Graphene.

Electrons reveal their quantum properties when they are confined to small spaces. Scientists from TU Wien (Vienna), Aachen and Manchester have created tiny quantum dots in Graphene. The charged tip of a scanning tunneling microscope and an additional magnetic field lead to localized stable electron states in graphene.

Electrochemists at TU Graz have managed to use monocrystalline semiconductor silicon as an active storage electrode in lithium batteries. This enables an integrated power supply to be made for microchips with a rechargeable battery. Photographic material available for download at the end of the text Small electrical gadgets, such as mobile phones, tablets or notebooks, are indispensable accompaniments of everyday life.

Grey on the outside, green inside: The production of "Öko²-Beton" concrete consumes up to 30 percent less CO2 than the production of standard concrete, and yet the "green" concrete is by no means less stable or less convenient to process. Photographic material available for download at the end of the text.

The remarkable behaviour of platinum atoms on magnetite surfaces could lead to better catalysts. Scientists at TU Wien (Vienna) can now explain how platinum atoms can form pairs with the help of carbon monoxide. At first glance, magnetite appears to be a rather inconspicuous grey mineral. But on an atomic scale, it has remarkable properties: on magnetite, single metal atoms are held in place, or they can be made to move across the surface.

"Exceptional points" give rise to counter-intuitive physical effects. Researchers from TU Wien (Vienna) make use of these phenomena to create a novel kind of wave guide, which is now being presented in the journal "Nature". No matter whether it is acoustic waves, quantum matter waves or optical waves of a laser - all kinds of waves can be in different states of oscillation, corresponding to different frequencies.

Using electron microscopes, it is possible to image individual atoms. Scientists at TU Wien have calculated how it is possible to look inside the atom to image individual electron orbitals. An electron microscope can't just snap a photo like a mobile phone camera can. The ability of an electron microscope to image a structure - and how successful this imaging will be - depends on how well you understand the structure.

One of the benefits of living together is gaining new information from group members. Once a group member starts displaying a new behavior, this behavior frequently spreads to the rest of the group. In a recent study on ravens, Cognitive Biologists Christine Schwab and Thomas Bugnyar from the University of Vienna together with Ipek Kulahci and Daniel Rubenstein from Princeton University and William Hoppitt from Leeds University showed that being socially connected to others is critical in gaining new information.

What motivates people to contribute to trustful moral judgment, which is a public good yet tends to be costly? This is the moral free rider problem. Mathematician Tatsuya Sasaki from University of Vienna and colleagues Isamu Okada and Yutaka Nakai in Japan have put forth a theoretical resolution. The study has been published online in Biology Letters, a journal published by The Royal Society.

Water is liquid at room temperature - astounding for such a small molecule. Insights into the causes are provided by a new simulation method, which has its origins in brain research. Using artificial neural networks, researchers in Bochum and Vienna have examined the atomic interactions of water molecules.

Knowing decisions before they are taken? Preventing stress before it occurs? Interesting new applications in the field of neuro-information systems are explored at TU Graz. Neuro-information systems ( NeuroIS ) investigates the neuro-physiological foundations related to the design, use and impact of information and communication technology.