Latest news from University of Vienna on Newswise en-us Copyright 2025 Newswise 115 31 / /images/newswise-logo-rss.gif /articles/flipping-the-script-inverse-design-as-game-changer-in-physics/?sc=rsin /articles/flipping-the-script-inverse-design-as-game-changer-in-physics/?sc=rsin Tue, 04 Feb 2025 05:00:29 EST An international team of researchers, led by physicists from the University of Vienna, has achieved a breakthrough in data processing by employing an "inverse-design" approach. This method allows algorithms to configure a system based on desired functions, bypassing manual design and complex simulations. The result is a smart "universal" device that uses spin waves ("magnons") to perform multiple data processing tasks with exceptional energy efficiency. Published in Nature Electronics, this innovation marks a transformative advance in unconventional computing, with significant potential for next-generation telecommunications, computing, and neuromorphic systems. University of Vienna /articles/sharks-and-rays-benefit-from-global-warming-but-not-from-co2-in-the-oceans/?sc=rsin /articles/sharks-and-rays-benefit-from-global-warming-but-not-from-co2-in-the-oceans/?sc=rsin Thu, 30 Jan 2025 05:50:25 EST Sharks and rays have populated the world's oceans for around 450 million years, but more than a third of the species living today are severely threatened by overfishing and the loss of their habitat. An international research team led by palaeobiologist Manuel A. Staggl from the University of Vienna has now investigated whether and how global warming influences the diversity of sharks based on climate fluctuations between 200 and 66 million years ago. According to the study, higher temperatures and more shallow water areas have a positive effect, while higher CO2 levels have a clearly negative effect. The study was recently published in the scientific journal "Biology". University of Vienna /articles/thawing-permafrost-threatens-up-to-three-million-people-in-arctic-regions/?sc=rsin /articles/thawing-permafrost-threatens-up-to-three-million-people-in-arctic-regions/?sc=rsin Thu, 16 Jan 2025 06:15:39 EST In an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary study, an international team led by the University of Vienna and the Danish Technical University/Umea University examined the social risks for Arctic regions associated with thawing permafrost. They identified five key risks related to infrastructure, transport and supply, water quality, food security and health. The scientists found that the thawing permafrost posed an increased risk of exposure to infectious diseases and release of contaminants, and interruptions of supply routes. The study has been published in the renowned journal Communications Earth and Environment. University of Vienna /articles/cleopatra-s-sister-remains-missing/?sc=rsin /articles/cleopatra-s-sister-remains-missing/?sc=rsin Fri, 10 Jan 2025 05:55:36 EST An interdisciplinary research team led by anthropologist Gerhard Weber from the University of Vienna, together with experts from the Austrian Academy of Sciences, has analysed a skull that was found in the ruins of Ephesos (Turkey) in 1929. It was long speculated that it could be the remains of Arsinoe IV, the sister of the famous Cleopatra. University of Vienna /articles/conservation-paradox-invasive-species-are-often-threatened-in-their-native-range/?sc=rsin /articles/conservation-paradox-invasive-species-are-often-threatened-in-their-native-range/?sc=rsin Fri, 06 Dec 2024 05:00:12 EST Non-native species introduced by humans are among the main causes of global species decline - they were partly responsible for 60 percent of the species that have become extinct worldwide in recent decades. In Central Europe, non-native mammals include species such as the Norway rat, the mouflon and the mink. Now a study led by biologists from the University of Vienna and La Sapienza University in Rome shows that some of these species introduced by humans are themselves endangered in their native range. The study has been published in the current issue of the journal Conservation Letters. University of Vienna /articles/sharing-is-caring-central-europe-s-first-farmers-lived-in-equality/?sc=rsin /articles/sharing-is-caring-central-europe-s-first-farmers-lived-in-equality/?sc=rsin Fri, 29 Nov 2024 05:00:00 EST An international team of researchers led by Pere Gelabert and Ron Pinhasi of the University of Vienna and David Reich of Harvard University has produced the most complete set of Early Neolithic genetic data from Central Europe to date. The results of this study, just published in Nature Human Behaviour, reveal that the culture responsible for the expansion of agriculture in Central Europe 8,000 years ago showed no signs of population stratification. University of Vienna /articles/a-groundbreaking-new-approach-to-treating-chronic-abdominal-pain/?sc=rsin /articles/a-groundbreaking-new-approach-to-treating-chronic-abdominal-pain/?sc=rsin Fri, 22 Nov 2024 05:15:17 EST A research team at the University of Vienna, led by medicinal chemist Markus Muttenthaler, has developed a new class of oral peptide therapeutic leads for treating chronic abdominal pain. This groundbreaking innovation offers a safe, non-opioid-based solution for conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), which affect millions of people worldwide. The research results were recently published in the international edition of the renowned journal Angewandte Chemie. University of Vienna /articles/parkinson-s-drug-changes-the-gut-microbiome-for-the-worse-due-to-iron-deficiency/?sc=rsin /articles/parkinson-s-drug-changes-the-gut-microbiome-for-the-worse-due-to-iron-deficiency/?sc=rsin Thu, 21 Nov 2024 06:00:56 EST In a groundbreaking new study, conducted within the framework of the FWF-funded Cluster of Excellence "Microbiomes drive Planetary Health", scientists from the University of Vienna, in collaboration with the University of Southampton, Aalborg University and Boston University, have revealed that the widely prescribed Parkinson's disease drug entacapone significantly disrupts the human gut microbiome by inducing iron deficiency. The study, published in Nature Microbiology, provides new insights into the often-overlooked impact of human-targeted drugs on the microbial communities that play a critical role in human health. University of Vienna /articles/how-marine-worms-regenerate-lost-body-parts/?sc=rsin /articles/how-marine-worms-regenerate-lost-body-parts/?sc=rsin Mon, 18 Nov 2024 05:00:00 EST Many living organisms are able to regenerate damaged or lost tissue, but why some are particularly good at this and others are not is not fully understood. Molecular biologists Alexander Stockinger, Leonie Adelmann and Florian Raible from the Max Perutz Labs at the University of Vienna have now made an important contribution to clarifying this question in a new study. University of Vienna /articles/complex-sound-patterns-are-recognized-by-newborn-brains/?sc=rsin /articles/complex-sound-patterns-are-recognized-by-newborn-brains/?sc=rsin Fri, 25 Oct 2024 06:05:45 EST A team of researchers, including psycholinguist Jutta Mueller from the University of Vienna, has discovered that newborns are capable of learning complex sound sequences that follow language-like rules. This groundbreaking study provides long-sought evidence that the ability to perceive dependencies between non-adjacent acoustic signals is innate. University of Vienna /articles/recognizing-the-strengths-of-socio-economically-disadvantaged-students-leads-to-better-grades/?sc=rsin /articles/recognizing-the-strengths-of-socio-economically-disadvantaged-students-leads-to-better-grades/?sc=rsin Mon, 21 Oct 2024 06:00:24 EST In their new study, psychologist Christina Bauer from the University of Vienna and her international team show the influence societal narratives can have on students' self-image and their performance. The researchers presented reverse narratives to socio-economically disadvantaged students: instead of portraying them as weak, they emphasized their strengths. University of Vienna /articles/chickpeas-sustainable-and-climate-friendly-foods-of-the-future/?sc=rsin /articles/chickpeas-sustainable-and-climate-friendly-foods-of-the-future/?sc=rsin Wed, 16 Oct 2024 06:00:02 EST Climate change has a negative impact on food security. An international research team led by Wolfram Weckwerth from the University of Vienna has now conducted a study to investigate the natural variation of different chickpea genotypes and their resistance to drought stress. University of Vienna /articles/checking-out-the-boundaries-milestone-in-lipidomics-achieved/?sc=rsin /articles/checking-out-the-boundaries-milestone-in-lipidomics-achieved/?sc=rsin Thu, 10 Oct 2024 06:00:39 EST Results of the first phase of a Ceramide Ring Trial have just been published in the renowned journal Nature Communications, representing a significant landmark in the field of lipidomics. University of Vienna /articles/macaques-give-birth-more-easily-than-women-no-maternal-mortality-at-birth/?sc=rsin /articles/macaques-give-birth-more-easily-than-women-no-maternal-mortality-at-birth/?sc=rsin Mon, 07 Oct 2024 15:00:00 EST An international research team led by the University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna has used long-term demographic data from Japanese macaques - a monkey species within the family of Old World monkeys - to show that, unlike humans, there is no maternal mortality in these primates linked to childbirth. University of Vienna /articles/alternating-currents-for-alternative-computing-with-magnets/?sc=rsin /articles/alternating-currents-for-alternative-computing-with-magnets/?sc=rsin Thu, 26 Sep 2024 01:05:36 EST A new study conducted at the University of Vienna, the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart, and the Helmholtz Centers in Berlin and Dresden takes an important step in the challenge to miniaturize computing devices and to make them more energy-efficient. University of Vienna /articles/northern-adriatic-collapse-of-predator-prey-relationships-from-the-1950s-onwards/?sc=rsin /articles/northern-adriatic-collapse-of-predator-prey-relationships-from-the-1950s-onwards/?sc=rsin Wed, 25 Sep 2024 01:05:05 EST Predatory snails drill holes in the shells of their prey. Using these boreholes, a research team led by palaeontologist Martin Zuschin from the University of Vienna was able to create a time series of predator-prey relationships in the northern Adriatic over the past millennia. This showed that human influences led to a collapse in predator-prey relationships from the 1950s onwards. University of Vienna /articles/an-unexpected-result-the-mammalian-inner-ear-is-a-striking-example-of-convergent-evolution/?sc=rsin /articles/an-unexpected-result-the-mammalian-inner-ear-is-a-striking-example-of-convergent-evolution/?sc=rsin Tue, 17 Sep 2024 05:00:14 EST A new study reveals the surprisingly convergent evolution in the inner ear of mammals. An international research team led by Nicole Grunstra from the University of Vienna and Anne Le Maitre from the Konrad Lorenz Institute (KLI) for Evolution and Cognition Research (Klosterneuburg) showed that a group of highly divergent mammals known as Afrotheria and distantly related, but ecologically very similar mammals independently evolved similar inner ear shapes. The study has just been published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications. University of Vienna /articles/how-a-salt-giant-radically-reshaped-mediterranean-marine-biodiversity/?sc=rsin /articles/how-a-salt-giant-radically-reshaped-mediterranean-marine-biodiversity/?sc=rsin Thu, 29 Aug 2024 14:00:00 EST A new study paves the way to understanding biotic recovery after an ecological crisis in the Mediterranean Sea about 5.5 million years ago. University of Vienna /articles/scientific-consensus-can-strengthen-pro-climate-attitudes-in-society/?sc=rsin /articles/scientific-consensus-can-strengthen-pro-climate-attitudes-in-society/?sc=rsin Mon, 26 Aug 2024 06:00:33 EST Climate scientists have long agreed that humans are largely responsible for climate change. A new study, co-led by Bojana Većkalov from the University of Amsterdam and Sandra Geiger from the University of Vienna, finds that communicating the scientific consensus about climate change can clear up misperceptions and strengthen beliefs about the existence and the causes of climate change. The team surveyed over 10,000 people from 27 countries on 6 continents. The study has just been published in the renowned journal Nature Human Behaviour. University of Vienna /articles/molecular-compass-points-way-to-reduction-of-animal-testing/?sc=rsin /articles/molecular-compass-points-way-to-reduction-of-animal-testing/?sc=rsin Tue, 20 Aug 2024 06:00:08 EST In recent years, machine learning models have become increasingly popular for risk assessment of chemical compounds. However, they are often considered 'black boxes' due to their lack of transparency, leading to scepticism among toxicologists and regulatory authorities. To increase confidence in these models, researchers at the University of Vienna proposed to carefully identify the areas of chemical space where these models are weak. They developed an innovative software tool ('MolCompass') for this purpose and the results of this research approach have just been published in the prestigious Journal of Cheminformatics. University of Vienna