Max Planck Institute

In future, many diseases may be treated by tiny robots delivering drugs. Taking inspiration from white blood cells, researchers from the Max Planck Institute have unveiled a new micro-robot design that can move against the current of blood flow.

Some bacteria inject toxins into host cells using a syringe-like appendage. Past research has found we could hijack that as a new drug delivery system, and now Max Planck scientists have developed a way to control the mechanism using light.

There are billions of tiny particles called neutrinos streaming through your body right now. But where did they come from? Researchers have now traced back some ultra-high energy neutrinos to their points of origin – radio flares from raging quasars.

Photosynthesis is one of nature’s most useful chemical reactions, so scientists often try to mimic it. Researchers have now developed a new way to make hybrid synthetic-living cells that can use photosynthesis to clear carbon dioxide from the air.

To get a sense of how “normal” the Sun may be, astronomers have compared the Sun to hundreds of similar stars. It turns out that it’s actually far less active than its peers – but is this a permanent personality, or is it just going through a phase?

For the first time, scientists have managed to pick up higher harmonics in gravitational waves. After a round of upgrades The LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave detectors have extended their range, revealing new details about the events behind them.

If you were studying the diet of ancient humans, it certainly wouldn't help if you got their preserved feces confused with those of their dogs. A new analytical system known as coproID is designed to keep that from happening.

A study is offering the most comprehensive demonstration into how volatile organic compounds can spread throughout indoor environments from cigarette smokers’ clothing and bodies, however, the health risks from this kind of exposure are still unclear.

Different materials can play different roles when it comes to trapping and dissipating heat. But could one material have it both ways? A new breakthrough suggests that it could, made by scientists who believe heat needn’t just be a one way street.

Some bacteria use tiny syringes to inject toxins into their host’s cells. Now, researchers from the Max Planck Institute have found a way to use this to our advantage, by swapping out these toxins for other chemicals, like drugs.

Astronomers from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics and at the University Observatory Munich have found the largest black hole using direct mass measurements so far. It has a mass 40 billion times that of the Sun.

Gamma-ray bursts are already the most energetic events we know of in the universe. Now, astronomers have detected the most powerful one ever. The competition isn’t even close, either – it's almost a thousand times more powerful than your average GRB.