Viewpoint
The impact of CO2 emissions on climate change has been known for several decades. However, the global community has not yet managed to reduce it. Understanding the reasons behind this and what action must be taken are questions for the social sciences, as economic sociologist Jens Beckert explains. The Director at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies also outlines directions for a more successful climate policy.
Visit to
Luiz Gama, first a slave himself, then a lawyer, liberated hundreds of people from slavery. But does anyone still know him today? Bruno Rodrigues de Lima, scholar at the Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory, is keeping his memory alive. As the young lawyer from Brazil says, the human rights activist’s work is anything but done.
Today, it seems self-evident that the primary goal of diplomacy is to secure peace among nations. Whether this succeeds depends on two factors: the skills of the political negotiators and the expertise in the background. The Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law has provided such expertise now for 100 years, leaving its mark on contemporary history.
The largest astronomical observatory is so large that it won’t fit on Earth. It’s called Lisa, and it will be able to detect when a 2.5-million-kilometer segment of space shrinks by even one atomic diameter. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Hanover and Potsdam helped develop the gravitational-wave detector. By observing cosmic waves, they hope to gain an insight into strange processes deep in outer space.
Lake Tanganyika in East Africa, formed ten million years ago, boasts an extraordinary diversity of species. For decades, researchers have flocked to its shores to study its unique ecosystem. Among them is Alex Jordan from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Konstanz, who considers the lake a paradise. With the aid of modern technology, Jordan aims to analyze the behavior of the cichlids that live in Lake Tanganyika.
The first self-driving cars are already on the road. Yet the technology is not yet fully developed, and certain ethical issues remain unsolved. It is also high time to think about how the new technology can promote sustainable transportation in the future.
Aluminum production generates massive quantities of toxic red mud. Moreover, the steel industry is a huge contributor to climate change with its CO2 emissions. A team from the Max Planck Institute for Sustainable Materials has discovered a way to tackle both problems with a single process – one which would also be economically viable.
Post from
Max Planck researchers collaborate with partners in more than 120 countries. In this article, they write about their personal experiences and impressions. Elizaveta Bobkova from the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg spent three months in Bordeaux as part of the German–French exchange program Salto. She mastered complicated lab technologies, served as a juror for a synthetic biology competition, and practiced her favorite sport: figure skating.
