Max Planck Institute

About 700 million years ago, basically the entire planet iced over in a period often called “Snowball Earth.” Now researchers have found fossil fats that help fill in the story of how life bounced back after this global cataclysm, and how we humans might owe our very existence to them.

Current anti-anxiety medication comes with some negative side effects, but researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine have now identified a protein in the brain that may be the key to new, more targeted treatments.

Scientists working on the cutting edge Wendelstein 7-X nuclear fusion reactor are reporting the experimental device has achieved its highest energy density and the longest plasma discharge times for device of this type, marking another step forward in the quest for clean fusion power. ​​

​Movies can receive Adults-Only or Adult-Accompaniment ratings for a number of reasons, although quite often it's due to scenes that are too upsetting for younger viewers. According to a new study, it may soon be possible to arrive at such ratings simply by testing the air in a theater.

Early hominins were known to have cross-bred when they crossed paths, and now the most direct evidence of those meetings has been found. By sequencing the genome of a hominin bone from a Siberian cave, anthropologists have discovered the direct descendant of a Neanderthal and a Denisovan.

Discoveries that back up Einstein’s theory of general relativity are still being made. The latest comes from the Max Planck Institute, where astronomers have watched how the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way pulls and stretches the light from a star as it makes its closest pass.

The latest tidings from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, creators of the Wendelstein 7-X, are that a new record has been set for the fusion product – another significant step along the path to practical fusion power.

Living cells follow instructions encoded in DNA to construct organisms. It’s long been thought that one DNA sequence would always create the same protein, but now researchers have found the first exception to this “universal rule,” a microbe that chooses between two different translations each time.

Most medical micro-robots are limited to one method of movement and might not handle complex terrain. Now, a team from the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems has developed a “millirobot” that can walk, crawl, jump, climb, roll, swim and carry loads like a microrobotic Mario.

Scientists have now sequenced the genome of the Mexican axolotl, and have identified a few key genes hidden amongst its extremely complex genetic blueprint that shed some light on its remarkable regeneration capabilities.

If you’re feeling stressed, you might want to think twice before seeking comfort in junk food. A new study from the Max Planck Institute has found that a stress-related protein could increase the chances of diabetes and obesity, but blocking that protein could prevent those illnesses from occurring.

Astronomers have observed an occultation of a distant star to get a better look at the little-known dwarf planet Haumea, which orbits the Sun beyond Neptune. Scientists were able to pin down the planet’s size, shape and density, and make a surprising new discovery: Haumea has a rocky ring around it.