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Reception in Namibia
To mark the arrival of the Polarstern in Walvis Bay, Dr Thorsten Hutter, the German Ambassador to Namibia, visited the ship with his delegation. They were welcomed in the Blue Salon by Captain Felix Kentges, the interim director of the AWI, Prof. Dr. Maarten Boersma, and the expedition leader, Prof. Dr. Karen Wiltshire. The afternoon concluded with a presentation on the completed training expedition and a tour of the ship.
![[Translate to English:]](/fileadmin/_processed_/2/6/csm_20110324_Benthos_EasternWeddellSea_05_TomasLundalv_36e3db1219.jpg "Marine benthos in the Eastern Weddell Sea")
Research icebreaker Polarstern sets sail for the Antarctic Weddell Sea
An international research team led by the University of Rostock is investigating the impact of climate change on biodiversity in Antarctica.
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Gwyn Griffiths Underwater Robotics Award
The international professional association Society for Underwater Technology (SUT) promotes research and knowledge transfer in underwater and marine technology. Every year, it presents the Gwyn Griffiths Underwater Robotics Award (GGUR), which recognises outstanding achievements in underwater robotics. We congratulate Christian Katlein, who received the award this year.
International training on board Polarstern completed
After an expedition lasting around one month, a hard-working international group of young marine scientists is arriving in Walvis Bai in Namibia on board the Polarstern. They have been taking part in a specialised training voyage aboard the German research icebreaker.
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International cooperation on climate research
On 8 December, the AWI signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the IBS Centre for Climate Physics at Pusan National University. The agreement strengthens the existing collaboration between Germany and South Korea in the areas of high-resolution earth system modelling, climate–ice sheet interactions, climate change physics and the promotion of young scientists.
Mission for ancient climate clues beneath 500 m of Antarctic ice gets underway
An international team has set up a remote camp on the ice 700 km from the nearest base (New Zealand’s Scott Base), to attempt to drill for mud and rocks holding critical insights about the fate of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet in our warming world.
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What calling and singing reveal about bowhead whales
Bowhead whales likely reproduce beneath the sea ice northwest of Spitsbergen, while using the open water in the eastern Fram Strait as a migration corridor. This conclusion comes from researchers in the Ocean Acoustics Group at the Alfred Wegener Institute, who recorded the calls of bowhead whales using underwater recorders and analysed the records with artificial intelligence. Their study on bowhead whale habitat use in relation to sea-ice cover has now been published in the journal Scientific Reports.
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Cultural Heritage Protection in Bremerhaven
Cultural heritage is an important part of Bremerhaven's identity. In the event of damage caused by fire or water, the emergency network of Bremerhaven’s cultural and scientific institutions ensures that valuable objects are preserved. Staff from a total of 13 institutions, including Christian Salewski from the AWI, take care of securing and professionally treating the damaged cultural assets. For this purpose, a container with special cleaning and packaging materials is needed.
Findings about the functional principles of eye evolution
How does eye development work in invertebrates and what role does light play in the shaping of the adult nervous system? An international team led by the University of Vienna and the Alfred Wegener Institute has investigated these questions in marine bristleworms. The results show that the invertebrates' eye growth is based on a ring of neural stem cells and is regulated by ambient light even in adult worms. Such properties have previously mostly been investigated in vertebrates. The study was published in Nature Communications. To the University of…
International cooperation in Antarctica
The AWI has joined forces with the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI) to share an ice-capable vessel that will resupply three Antarctic research stations for the next ten years. The Silver Mary will visit the Neumayer-Station III every other season, along with Norway’s Troll station and British Halley VI station The partnership builds on the successful UK-German partnership in 2023 and 2024. To the original press release from the BAS.