In politically sensitive regions of the West Balkans, the mineralogist and crystallographer Tamara Đorđević investigates mining waste contaminated with arsenic and other toxins. In order to understand how these ticking time bombs affect the environment, she examines their crystal structure with cross-disciplinary expertise from crystallography and chemistry. Continue reading “New materials discovered in toxic mining waste”
A European research consortium is exploring the roots of social isolation and loneliness among the elderly. Keeping gender aspects in mind, use of long-term data and country comparisons will for the first time provide a more accurate picture of social exclusion in old age and reveal its impact on society. Continue reading ““Social contacts are a buffer against constraints””
In order to keep the intestinal mucosa and the entire organism healthy, intestinal epithelial cells have developed various protective functions involving a number of maintenance mechanisms that protect cells from stress. In chronic inflammatory bowel diseases, these mechanisms are often disrupted, although the trigger for these diseases remains unclear. Suspected culprits include a high-fat diet and defective maintenance. Continue reading “Faulty maintenance endangers intestinal health”
As the “King of Swing”, clarinettist and bandleader Benny Goodman was the archetypical representative of the US entertainment industry in the late 1930s. It is less well known that he also made a name for himself in the sphere of classical music, especially in the USA. The Schrödinger fellow Elisabeth Reisinger explores that side of Goodman’s career on the US East Coast. Continue reading “The most intellectual of US rivers”
Wittgenstein Award winner Adrian Constantin is fascinated by the multifarious patterns of movement in the atmosphere and oceans of the Earth. Using the tools of his field of expertise, mathematician Constantin, who conducts research and teaches at the University of Vienna, wants to get to the bottom of these phenomena, which depend on innumerable factors. Continue reading “Understanding the Earth’s system of waves and currents”
In the course of its history, Europe experienced many epidemics before Corona. For centuries, states have sought to contain them through active countermeasures. The Graz-based historian Christian Promitzer explored how scourges such as plague and cholera were combatted under the Habsburg Empire in the 19th century, finding some parallels with today. Continue reading “Social distancing under the Habsburg Empire”
