In the context of an international research project and with funding from the Austrian Science Fund FWF, a research group from Vienna investigated how aerial images taken with thermal imaging cameras can improve our understanding of water flows in the ground. Their analyses are relevant to both agriculture and climate research. Continue reading “Everything flows – but where to?”
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”
Under certain circumstances, ant colonies can team up to form huge supercolonies extending across thousands of kilometres and displace native species, if they refrain from aggressive behaviour. A research group from Innsbruck is now investigating how this situation can arise. Continue reading “Non-aggressive behaviour facilitates ant invasion”
Fungi play an important role in the forest ecosystem, for instance as wood-decaying agents. Biotechnology specialist Daniel Kracher is investigating how exactly these processes work. In his host city of Manchester, the Schrödinger Fellow enjoyed the extremely open research culture and reciprocated by sharing samples of traditional Austrian cuisine. Continue reading “Sachertorte in Manchester”
A new model is designed to visualize material flows of the world economy and global production chains. Using large amounts of data that trace the path from the origin of a product to its consumer will make it easier to develop efficient strategies for conserving resources and protecting the climate. Continue reading “Visualizing the environmental impact of consumerism”
In a European research project backed by the Austrian Science Fund FWF, researchers tested stakeholder approaches to scenarios of future land use in five European model regions. For Austria, the Mostviertel region was taken as an example for discussing and weighing the tensions arising between the poles of uncompensated benefits for the ecosystem, farming productivity […] Continue reading “Scenarios for future land use”
On the Greek island of Samothrace, a team of researchers from Vienna have been investigating the interaction between human society and nature in order to prevent the collapse of the system. In this context, many local processes have been initiated to ensure a sustainable future for the island community. Continue reading “Waste, goats and a research project”
The biologist Eva Ringler talks about strategic planning for poison dart frogs, surprising moments in field research and why there are so many roads to success. Continue reading “From cannibal to model father”
In a project funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF, a research group from Graz is investigating how fat for the production of biodiesel can be produced using genetically modified yeast cells. Continue reading “How to extract biofuel from yeast cells”
Fertilisers and pest control are central elements of agriculture and have a direct impact on the composition of species found in crop fields. Supported by the Austrian Science Fund FWF, a research group and helping hands from the University of Innsbruck are engaged in field research, using ecological and molecular methods to find out which […] Continue reading “Manure boosts beneficial predators in agriculture”