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Climate strategies of large European cities: urban green could help but is rarely used on the strategic planning level
26 Aug 2026 | Green spaces could play a key role in helping cities to cope with the effects of climate change, yet they still play only a minor role in climate strategies. These were the findings of researchers at MLU and Justus Liebig University Giessen (JLU) who analysed the climate strategies of 25 major European cities. Of the approximately 2,500 individual measures evaluated by the team, only 11.6 per cent included green spaces and urban open spaces. Cities mainly focus on measures to reduce or prevent greenhouse gas emissions. The study was published in the journal “Progress in Disaster Science”.
Tiny carbon rings enable a new form of quantum control
07 Jul 2026 | Quantum states can be precisely controlled with the help of tiny carbon rings measuring only a few nanometres in size. This is made possible by a class of rarely utilized electromagnetic dipoles called toroidal moments. Using computer simulations, physicists at MLU have now found a way to generate and control these nanostructures without any loss. The findings were published in the journal “npj Computational Materials” and create new opportunities for quantum computer technology.
Plant biodiversity in Europe: Study shows why an increase in plant species isn’t good news
29 Jun 2026 | The number of plant species in many ecosystems in Europe has grown rather than shrunk over the last 100 years. However, this is not necessarily cause for celebration as this local increase is primarily due to generalists and non-native species, which compete with the original native species. Moreover, the overall number of species has not increased across Europe. These were the findings of an international research team led by MLU. In its latest study, published in the scientific journal “Nature Communications”, the team analysed more than 57,000 time series of plant biodiversity across various habitats in Europe.
Researchers at MLU solve a 50-year-old mystery: how acid removes water from proteins
01 Jun 2026 | Proteins systematically lose their protective hydration shell when their environment becomes more acidic. Until recently this was just a theory. State-of-the-art imaging techniques have helped researchers at MLU directly observe this process for the first time at the level of the individual water molecule. This has answered a question in biochemistry that had remained unanswered for 50 years. In an article published in “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” (PNAS), the team writes that this knowledge could help to develop more stable proteins.
