news 2021

By Beate Mosing A physicist at TU Graz is developing a new method to make the processes in our atmosphere visible. If we think this through, it opens up new opportunities for environmental research - and perhaps even potential for counteracting climate change. The ozone layer in the Earth's stratosphere "swallows" rays and in this way protects humans and animals from radiation damage.

By Christoph Pelzl Study led by TU Graz shows that apple trees inherit their microbiome to the same extent as their genes. The results lay the foundation for new breeding strategies for healthy and climate-robust fruit and vegetables. Agriculture is facing enormous challenges worldwide due to global changes caused by human activities.

By Christoph Pelzl TU Graz, JOANNEUM RESEARCH, AVL and Fraunhofer Austria have developed a method to validate test drives through highly realistic driving simulation studies and to substantially simplify the approval process for automated driving systems. Further images for download at the end of the text Driving simulator tests are popular - for understandable reasons: any scenario can be simulated at the touch of a button.

Distinct ecological niches: Tropical species profoundly alter ecosystem functioning in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea - with unknown consequences. Assemblages of tropical non-indigenous species in the Eastern Mediterranean have biological traits that markedly differ from those of native biological communities.

By Birgit Baustädter The clear answer at TU Graz is by diverse research and green innovations. And this is exactly how the University is working for a more sustainable future. Increasingly extreme weather events, such as torrential rain, hurricanes, droughts and intense snowfalls, clearly show that our world is in the midst of a climate crisis.

By Beate Mosing The grey clouds of exhaust from industry are not only not a pretty sight, they are partially responsible for climate change, the effects of which we are now clearly experiencing. But it could also work differently. Turning waste streams, or more precisely, CO2, into a raw material is Regina Kratzer's declared goal.

Study shows that microplastics do not contribute to the mobility of organic pollutants in agricultural soils In agriculture, large quantities of nanoand microplastics end up in the soil through compost, sewage sludge and the use of mulching foils. The plastic particles always carry various pollutants with them.

Agriculture is the main source for the majority of the input of reactive N to terrestrial systems; large amounts of fertilizer N are lost from the root zone as nitrate through leaching and denitrification. Avoiding the combination of high external inputs with low resource use efficiency remains a major concern for the sustainability of N in agroecosystems.

Ancient sediments from caves have already proven to preserve DNA for thousands of years. The amount of recovered sequences from environmental sediments, however, is generally low, which difficults the analyses to be performed with these sequences. A study led by Ron Pinhasi and Pere Gelabert of the University of Vienna and published in Current Biology successfully retrieved three mammalian environmental genomes from a single soil sample of 25,000 years bp obtained from the cave of Satsurblia in the Caucasus (Georgia).

Specialised bacteria in the oceans seafloor consume and recycle nucleic acids from dead biomass While best known as the code for genetic information, DNA is also a nutrient for specialised microbes. An international team of researchers led by Kenneth Wasmund and Alexander Loy from the University of Vienna has discovered several bacteria in sediment samples from the Atlantic Ocean that use DNA as a food source.

By Barbara Gigler The extent to which the composition of the microbiome of apples and oil pumpkins depends on the geographical location and what insights can be derived from this for breeding, health and shelf life of the fruits is shown in two recent publications by researchers at TU Graz. Additional at the end in the text We refer to the microbiome as the community of microorganisms that exist in or on all organisms, including bacteria and fungi.

Carbonized plants contain harmful free radicals Every year, an estimated four percent of the world's vegetated land surface burns, leaving more than 250 megatons of carbonized plants behind. For the first time, a study by the University of Vienna has now recorded elevated concentrations of environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFR) in these charcoals - in some cases even up to five years after the fire.

International survey shows different perceptions in science and practice To minimize negative impacts of agriculture on biodiversity and related ecosystem services, "biodiversity-friendly" management is needed. Why scientific results are rarely translated into agricultural practice could be explained by their different perceptions of agricultural biodiversity, according to the results of a recent survey of European scientists and farmers.

An international team of scientists with Fridgeir Grímsson from the University of Vienna has found a previously unknown fossil fly species in old lake sediments of the Messel Pit, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Germany. In the stomach of the fossil insect, pollen from various plants could be detected, which allows rare insights into the feeding behavior, the ecology and the role of the fly as a pollinator.

Women and the Global South are strikingly underrepresented Most publications in leading scientific journals are by male authors from English-speaking countries. This changes only slowly, according to a recent study on diversity in top authorship, concludes Bea Maas from the University of Vienna. Her new study examines the (non-existent) diversity in top authorship in science.

By Barbara Gigler Nature and man must constantly adapt to new living conditions. A research team from Graz has investigated how this is done and which genes play an important role in this process using the model system of the Great Lakes of East Africa. Global warming, environmental change, dried up food sources: nature and man must constantly adapt to new living conditions.

By Christoph Pelzl Research association led by TU Graz wants to use the heat contained in the discharged tunnel water to supply energy to entire city districts. As part of the FFG programme "City of the Future", a sustainable concept for the city of Innsbruck is being developed. Additional Images for download at the end of the text After completion in about ten years, the Brenner base tunnel is expected to provide relief for transit traffic between Italy and Austria.

Agriculture and climate experts have warned for some years that extreme climate events including severe droughts with frequent heatwaves drop the production of major staple food crops like wheat causing a severe threat to food security.

Changes in daylength are a well-established annual timing cue for animal behavior and physiology. An international collaboration of scientists led by Kristin Tessmar-Raible at the Max Perutz Labs, a joint venture of the University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna, now shows that, in addition to daylength, marine bristle worms sense seasonal intensity changes of UVA/deep violet light to adjust the levels of important neurohormones and their behavior.

Most native species are going locally extinct, while introduced tropical species thrive An international team led by Paolo G. Albano from the Department of Palaeontology at the University of Vienna quantified a dramatic biodiversity collapse of up to 95 per cent of native species in the Eastern Mediterranean.