Archive of News and Press Releases
Summer School "Climate and Ocean" on RV Polarstern
On Saturday, November 12th, the research vessel Polarstern will set off for a one-month expedition towards Cape Town from Bremerhaven. On board there are 25 outstanding young scientists from the marine research, who together with twelve teachers explore the interactions between the ocean and the atmosphere.
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New satellite technology promises great progress for glacier research
Scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute are developing with experts from the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) a new satellite measurement method for the observation from space of the large ice masses of Greenland and the Antarctic. “Tandem-L” is the name of a new satellite radar system, which launched in the year 2022 could provide urgently needed data concerning the shrinkage of the ice sheets in both hemispheres. Concerning the construction of the radar and the launch of the satellite mission of the same name, the Science Council is to advise the…
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Research Minister Wanka visits the University of Oldenburg
Federal Research Minister Professor Johanna Wanka visited the University of Oldenburg on Tuesday, focussing on the new Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity. The new institute will bundle and expand the research excellene in this field of the Alfred Wegener Institute and the University of Oldenburg. AWI Director Prof. Dr. Karin Lochte attended as well.
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Mealtime for Microbes
Sulfur is an essential element of life in the ocean. But so far, researchers know little about the amounts of sulfur and its processes of decomposition. A research team with the participation of the AWI could now conclude a part of the knowledge gap. Their results have now been published in the journal Science.
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Homebound through the ice.
During the sixth week of expedition PS101 we are making our way home through the ice. A FRAM “superbuoy” station needs to be rescued before we leave the ice.
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Oasis of life in the ice-covered central Arctic
Under the ice of the Arctic, unknown habitats conceal an unexpected variety of living beings. On October 23rd, 46 scientists are expected to return to the home port in Bremerhaven from an Arctic expedition with the research vessel Polarstern. Over the past six weeks, they had explored life in ice, ocean and seabed with new robots and camera systems.
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Discovering the ice-covered Arctic deep-sea: Of robots, minerals and microbes
The fifth week of expedition PS101 has made significant progress in the study of hot vents and seamounts under the ice-covered seas. The under ice robot NUI samples the seafloor.
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Mystery of archaeal butane degradation solved
Researchers from the Research Group for Deep-Sea Ecology and Technology of the Helmholtz Association and the Max Planck Society discovered microbial communities thriving on the hydrocarbon butane without the help of molecular oxygen. The microbial consortia, obtained from hydrothermally heated sediments in Guaymas Basin, Gulf of California, use unprecedented biochemistry to feed on butane.
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Germany is proposing a Marine Protected Area in Antartica
The European Union has submitted a proposal, prepared by Germany, to the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) for a marine protected area (MPA) in the Antarctic Weddell Sea. AWI scientists have compiled and analysed the scientific data on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
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New Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity
Marine ecosystems provide us with food and raw materials, they have an impact on air quality and global climate, they break down harmful substances and serve as places of recreation and tourism. The functioning of these ecosystems – and thus also the basis for human well-being – depends on the biological diversity of the oceans. The way climate change and human influences change marine biodiversity will in future be examined by scientists in a new institute: as was recently decided by the senate of the Helmholtz Association, the Helmholtz Institute for…
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