In the “Science in Motion” series, scilog opens a window to the many-faceted world of basic research. Internationally renowned researchers from Austria’s world of science report on current projects, insights and questions relating to their disciplines.
In his FWF-funded START project, silviculturist Rupert Seidl investigates disturbance processes in forests. These are caused by natural influences such as windthrow, forest fires or the bark beetle. Climate change is another factor increasingly affecting the forest ecosystem. Seidl’s field research explores the impact of these phenomena on nature and people. Watch video “Forest problems”
At the Austrian Research Institute for Artificial Intelligence a group around computer scientist and linguist Brigitte Krenn teaches robots the art of speaking and understanding with the support of the Austrian Science Fund FWF. Learning a language is more than just training vocabulary and grammar. It is also about facial expressions, body language and situations […] Watch video “Robots in language school”
He was one of the first authors among philosophers to contribute to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) latest assessment report. The Austrian researcher Lukas Meyer deals, among other things, with intergenerational justice – a central question that also arises in dealing with climate change. As head of an FWF-funded doctoral programme, Meyer has […] Watch video “Climate change and its consequences”
Why are women drug addicts considered to be one of the most despised fringe groups in European society? The artist Ulrike Möntmann from the University of Applied Arts Vienna sought the answer to this question in the arts-based research project “THIS BABY DOLL WILL BE A JUNKIE”, funded by the FWF. Möntmann collaborated with female […] Watch video “This baby doll will be a junkie”
Regular insulin monitoring several times a day is an essential and demanding task for diabetics. At night, blood sugar levels can drop and lead to dangerous hypoglycaemia. A research group led by mathematician Sergei Pereverzyev, supported by FWF, has now developed a smartphone app (DIA SafeLife) based on mathematical models to predict night-time hypoglycaemia in […] Watch video “When mathematics saves lives”
Chemist and materials scientist Miriam Unterlass uses nature as a model to produce materials that are particularly stable and temperature-resistant. Instead of toxic solvents, the START prize winner of the Austrian Science Fund FWF uses hot water to produce plastics, hybrid materials or organic dyes for medical applications. – A globally unique and promising method […] Watch video “The plastics revolution”
How did brands shown in Austrian advertising films between 1950 and 2000 become established, and which symbols contributed to the formation of a national identity after WWII? In a project funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF, the economic and social historian Franz X. Eder and his team were the first to explore the function […] Watch video “The impact of advertising on national identity”
All over the world, pathogens and parasites introduced from other places represent a major threat to biodiversity. Small indigenous populations, such as Darwin’s finches on the Galapagos Islands, are particularly jeopardized. The Galapagos Islands are one of the few tropical archipelagos with a largely intact birdlife and, thus, an ideal workplace for the evolutionary biologist […] Watch video “Evolution in real time”
A team of researchers from Innsbruck discovered the model for the development of a biological superglue at the Adriatic Sea. The one millimetre small flatworm called Macrostomum lignano can adhere to the sea water several times a second and dissolve again, explains project head and zoologist Peter Ladurner. Such biological adhesives have one major advantage: […] Watch video “A super glue for the body”
In Austria alone there have been 5,000 flash floods due to heavy rainfall since the 1970s. Researchers expect such natural hazards to become more frequent and more severe as a result of climate change. Maria Papathoma-Köhle, supported by the Austrian Science Fund FWF, is developing an index for the physical vulnerability of buildings in order […] Watch video “Climate change and resilient buildings”