Bon voyage! The energy carrier hydrogen is picking up speed

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effzett FORSCHUNGSZENTRUM JÜLICH’S MAGAZINE

NORTH–SOUTH ROUTE

Bon voyage!

The energy carrier hydrogen is picking up speed

EDIBILITY

GRIP

TAKE-OFF

Sensors checking foodstuffs

Finding the optimal tyre

Quantum computers are ready

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AS W E S E E IT

Binning Sida Waste? Weeds? Nothing of the sort! What’s growing in this yellow wheelie bin is actually Sida hermaphrodita. The biomass of this green plant can be used for heating or to produce packaging and insulation material. Moritz Nabel (right) and Silvia Schrey (left) from the Institute of Bio- and Geosciences (IBG-2) planted several of these forbs in very poor-quality soil.

They wanted to show that Sida also grows in nutrient-deficient soils, thus not taking valuable cultivation area from food plants such as wheat. The advantage of the bins: inside the plants are surrounded by about the same amount of soil as they would have at their disposal in a field furrow.

TO PI C S

N E W S IN B R IE F

5

Magnetic vortices: a door to the past

C OV E R S TO RY

Six decades of scientific curiosity A selection of notable Jülich advances

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Energy going places

Treasure trove waste water What minerals can tell us about the Earth’s magnetic field.

16 Storage, transport, use – hydrogen can advance the Energiewende.

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Ready for take-off!

Quantum computers – an interview with physicist David DiVincenzo

RESEARCH

How biochemists salvage valuable molecules

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All fresh?

SECTIONS

Science friction

Editorial 4

Publication details 4

What’s your research all about?

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2.2 plus

A printable sensor is to collect information from the cooling shelf.

26

Thumbs up

14

27

Bo Persson calculates why tyres slip.

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3

Research in a tweet 28

4

E D I TO R I A L

Special substance In 1766, British scientist Henry Cavendish conducted a simple ­experiment: he dipped metals into hydrochloric acid, generating a then unknown gas. When heated, it produced a jet of flame and a loud bang. Cavendish was sure: his “inflammable air” must be phlogiston – a “heat substance” that many researchers at the time believed to exist in flammable materials. One decade later, the Frenchman Antoine Laurent de Lavoisier disproved the phlogiston theory. He also gave the gas its final name: hydrogène, which means “water producer”, since water is formed when the gas is burned.

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We know today that hydrogen formed very shortly after the Big Bang – and it is the most abundant chemical element in our solar system: 93 % of all atoms are hydrogen atoms. It is also hoped the gas will transform our energy supply system, particularly the storage and transport of energy. As our cover story reveals, Jülich researchers also work in this field.

Many other substances also form the focus of research by Jülich ­scientists: for example biosurfactants for green chemistry, minerals ­providing information on the Earth’s history, and delicate gold ­layers indicating whether a food product is still edible.

We hope this issue makes for interesting reading matter.

Your effzett editorial team

Publication details effzett Forschungszentrum Jülich’s magazine, ISSN 2364-2327

Graphics and layout: SeitenPlan GmbH, Corporate Publishing Dortmund

Published by: Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany

Images: Forschungszentrum Jülich (23 top left); Forschungszentrum Jülich/Sascha Kreklau (2, 3 bottom left and bottom centre, 15 bottom, 17, 20); Forschungszentrum Jülich/Ralf-Uwe Limbach (9, 24 bottom, 18–19, 28); Forschungszentrum Jülich/Dr. Regine Panknin (7, 13); Forschungszentrum Jülich/ Karl Peters (22 left); Forschungszentrum Jülich/ Florian Rubach (23 bottom left); Forschungszentrum Jülich/Wilhelm-Peter Schneider (6 bottom); A Capella Science (27 left); FAU/Kurt Fuchs (11); FAU/Georg Pöhlein (12); Ursula Kaufmann (27 right); mtkang/Shutterstock (4); © Heiner Müller-Elsner/European XFEL (26); © The Nobel

Conception and editorial work: Annette Stettien, Dr. Barbara Schunk, Christian Hohlfeld, Dr. Anne Rother (responsible under German Press Law) Authors: Marcel Bülow, Dr. Frank Frick, Christian Hohlfeld, Matthias Lauerer, Katja Lüers, Katharina Menne, Dr. Regine Panknin, Dr. Arndt Reuning, Dr. Barbara Schunk, Ilse Trautwein, Dr. Janine van Ackeren, Angela Wenzik, Erhard Zeiss, Peter Zekert

Foundation (2007), Photo: Hans Mehlin (23 right); Oceloti/Shutterstock (3 left, 24–25 top); SeitenPlan illustrations cover story; Smit/Shutterstock (5 top); Benjamin van der Spek/Shutterstock (6 top); Sergey Ryzhov/Shutterstock (14–15 top); Marc Ward/Shutterstock (3 top centre, 16); Reprinted with permission from Nano Lett., DOI: 10.1021/ acs.nanolett.6b01344. Copyright 2016. American Chemical Society (5 bottom) Contact: Corporate Communications, Tel: +49 2461 61-4661, Fax: +49 2461 61-4666 Email: info@fz-juelich.de

N E WS IN B R IE F

AT M O S PH E R I C R E S E A R C H

Night work with side effects When night falls, the nitrate radicals come out to play: unhindered by sunlight, which destroys them during the day, this is when the gas molecules accumulate in the atmosphere and begin their work, cleansing the atmosphere of hydrocarbons. An international team of atmospheric researchers has now found out that this night work may have unforeseen side effects: the compounds formed during this process – the waste products so to speak – cause more particles to be present in the air. The researchers now want to find out whether and how the particles influence air quality and climate.

– I N S T I T U T E O F E N E R GY A N D C L I M AT E R E S E A R C H –

M AT E R I A L S R E S E A R C H

No quivering please!

Tiny nanomagnets are viewed as the future of data s­ torage. Jülich physicists have found a new approach to identifying suitable materials: “zero-point” energy.

This is the energy that a system has at absolute zero, i. e. -273.15 °C. The researchers found out that a very low zero-point energy is particularly advantageous since the magnetic moments of atoms then quiver significantly less. Stable magnetic moments are important for ensuring stored information does not get lost.

– PETER GRÜNBERG INSTITUTE –

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N E W S IN B R IE F

PH YS I C A L C H E M I S T RY

Life in lava pores Hot, porous lava rock and cooling sea water: these factors may have assisted at the birth of the first building blocks of life more than three billion years ago.

Jülich physicists verified that under these conditions, sufficient amounts of formamide aggregates in the hollows of lava rock. From the little molecule, nucleobases may thus have formed – and these are the building blocks of DNA and RNA, the macromolecules which store and process hereditary information.

– INSTITUTE OF COMPLE X SYSTEMS –

Federal President visits In September, Federal President Joachim Gauck visited Forschungszentrum Jülich. During his two-hour stay, he learnt about advances in brain and Alzheimer’s research as well as supercomputing.

Together with children, young people, and trainees, he conducted experiments at the JuLab Schools Laboratory.

He was impressed by the basic research and interdisciplinarity of Forschungszentrum Jülich and praised the institution as a “beacon of science and research”.

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Understanding switching The first memristive memory ­systems, ReRAMs, have been ­available on the market for three years now. However, the ­switching processes taking place inside the small, extremely fast, and ­energy-efficient storage devices have been insufficiently researched. Jülich and Aachen researchers have now developed a microscopic method by which they can clarify what happens on the ­nanoscale during switching processes. This simplifies the ­future design of R ­ eRAMs and makes switching properties adjustable in a targeted way.

– PETER GRÜNBERG INSTITUTE –

1,100 hours . . .

… that’s how long a silicon–air battery from Jülich produced electricity for – such a long operating time had not previously been achieved by any battery based on this cheap and environmentally friendly technology.

The flow of current had often ceased after only a few minutes. Jülich scientists have discovered the reason: continuous self-discharging of the battery uses up the liquid electrolyte. A pumping system now keeps on refilling the liquid. In the long term, the Jülich experts want to completely stop the self-discharging effect by means of additives in the electrolyte.

– I N S T I T U T E O F E N E R GY A N D C L I M AT E R E S E A R C H –

E FFICIE NT AND AFFORDABLE

UNCLUMPING AL ZHE IME R ’ S

IMPROVE D TOLE R ABILIT Y

Terahertz sources are used in body scanners at airports and in the ­quality control of food products. A new concept developed by an international team of researchers permits devices to become more efficient and to make use of the entire spectrum of radiation. Additionally, such sources would be easier to operate and cheaper to produce.

Thrombocytes are not only i­ mportant for blood clotting, but appear to be also directly involved in the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. An international team of researchers has found that they facilitate the formation of protein aggregates in the brain’s blood vessels. Inhibiting thrombocytes could therefore play a significant role in therapies.

Neutron researchers have found a way to improve the solubility of the cancer drug Paclitaxel: using a special carrier substance, which forms a raspberry shape together with the drug, smaller amounts of infusion solution can be injected, thus potentially improving the tolerability of therapies. Paclitaxel is used in patients suffering from breast cancer, for example.

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T IOV C T E ELTRHSETO M ARY

Production e. g. electricity from wind power

Electrolysis

H2 O

water is split into hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O 2) using electricity

Storage

H2

e. g. incorporating the hydrogen in an organic carrier liquid such as LOHC

O2 Transport distributing the hydrogen via fuel tankers or trains

Car

Filling station

driven by fuel cells

supplying hydrogen

Storage

H2

centralized or decentralized, directly where hydrogen is needed

H2

NORTH–SOUTH ROUTE Hydrogen could help store surplus energy and transport it to where it is needed: one option could be to use the carrier liquid LOHC.

Conversion into electricity hydrogen is converted back into electricity in fuel cells

O2 H2 O

Use electricity for households or companies

Feed-in electricity is distributed via the grid

Energy Energy

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going places

By 2050, 80 % of our electricity consumption is to be produced from ­renewable sources. But sun and wind are not available around the clock; energy storage solutions are therefore in higher demand than ever.

And it is here that hydrogen could prove invaluable. Jülich researchers ­consider all components of this chain: our journey through Germany will range from hydrogen generation and storage right up to potential ways of exploiting this energy carrier.

Heavy clouds are drifting across the flat country.

On this gusty autumn day, the wind turbines in the North German Plain are spinning at full blast, producing more electricity than industry and private households need. In order to keep the electricity grid stable, the suppliers need to shut down some of the turbines. For this purpose, they move the rotor blades into the “feathering position”. Valuable energy is lost as a result. But it is exactly this energy that we may make use of in future.

Around 400 km to the southwest, Prof. Detlef Stolten whips out his pen and produces columns of numbers on the paper in green ink. At Jülich’s Institute of Energy and Climate Research (IEK-3), the expert has calculated an energy scenario in accordance with the Federal Government’s requirements for CO2 reduction until 2050. By this date, greenhouse gas emissions are expected to decrease by 80 % relative to 2010. “These ambitious targets are only achievable if electricity is generated almost completely by renewable energies,” says Detlef Stolten. In other words, switching off wind turbines is not only uneconomic, it also contradicts the Energiewende objectives.

There are, however, two problems: due to their fluctuating nature, the wind and the sun don’t

Detlef Stolten works on technologies and concepts for the production, storage, and distribution of hydrogen.

supply energy steadily; high power peaks also usually occur at times during which this electricity is not needed. Scientists from numerous institutions are working on solutions to store surplus energy so that it can be used whenever there’s not a breeze stirring or thick clouds covering the sky.

One option is hydrogen.

More accurately, the production of hydrogen via electrolysis. “Water is nearly inexhaustible. Using electricity from renewable sources, it can be split into its components oxygen and hydrogen. And this gas can finally be burned to produce water.

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T IOV C T E ELTRHSETO M ARY

A closed energy system can thus be established,” says Prof. Peter Wasserscheid, chemist at Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg and HI ERN, a branch office of Forschungs­ zentrum Jülich. His research addresses such systems. Thus, the future may see every wind farm in Germany’s north equipped with one or more electrolyzers, humming away softly while splitting water.

TRANSPORT

Reusable bottles filled with gas

H2O

H2 O2 WATER SPLITTING

Efficient and affordable At Jülich, researchers are working on the latest generation of these machines, which will perfectly fit in with renewable, fluctuating sources. The scientists call them PEM electrolyzers because they contain a swollen plastic film on the inside: a polymer electrolyte membrane.

They work with high current densities, making them capable of using large quantities of solar and wind energy so that they can produce more hydrogen than conventional electrolyzers. They also adapt to sudden fluctuations in the electricity grid within seconds. However, hydrogen from PEM electrolyzers is relatively expensive because their efficiency still has to improve. As part of the Ekolyser project, the group of researchers headed by Detlef Stolten are looking for cost-efficient alternatives to the noble metals with which the plastic films are still coated today. They also develop membranes that are better able to conduct electricity and simultaneously display a higher long-term stability than conventional materials.

The electricity generated in the windy north of Germany could then be cheaply converted into hydrogen that could initially be stored in underground salt domes.

But how does a dairy in southern Bavaria profit from this? One option is to store the hydrogen in the north, convert it back into electricity there when needed, and conduct it to the south. This could happen through the long power lines that are planned to stretch across the country, such as the electricity highway from Schleswig-Holstein to Bavaria. But open-air power lines are controversial. Underground lines, as are being planned in Bavaria in particular, are significantly more expensive. Another approach would be to send the hydrogen itself on the journey: via special pipelines or the existing road or rail network.

Peter Wasserscheid’s team has developed a method of safely storing and transporting hydrogen.

For this, the researchers bind the hydrogen in a liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC). Among the unsaturated hydrocarbons is an oily substance called dibenzyltoluene – under the right conditions, it positively sucks up hydrogen. A single litre of the liquid can swallow more than 650 litres of hydrogen. The result is a non-inflammable, non-explosive compound that is similar to diesel. It can be easily stored and transported at room temperature. Using a catalyst, the hydrogen is then separated when needed, for example to generate electricity.

“This organic liquid is a kind of reusable bottle for hydrogen. After all, it can be filled and emptied again and again,” explains Peter Wasserscheid.

By means of LOHC technology, large amounts of energy could be stored over long periods of time and used up when needed. It also offers another option of transporting hydrogen in addition to pipelines and pressure tanks – just how sustainable and feasible it is remains to be seen: “For example, we could collect and store the surplus electricity from the North Sea in LOHC form for two weeks. A fuel tanker or train could then

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»LOHC serves as a »LOHC serves as a reusable for reusablebottle bottle for hydrogen. all, hydrogen.After After all, it can and it canbe befilled filled and emptied and emptiedagain again and again.« again.«

Peter Wasserscheid’s research includes options of chemically storing and transporting hydrogen.

transport the liquid, containing the hydrogen, across the country, for example to Nuremberg.

It would first be stored there,” Wasserscheid explains one conceivable scenario. If, during a rainy day, the Bavarian dairy’s photovoltaic system were to not generate sufficient electricity, wind energy from the north could then be used to bridge the time when sunlight is not available.

O2

H2 H2O USING HYDROGEN (I):

Choosing the right catalyst After arrival in Nuremberg, the sustainably produced hydrogen would then be close to the end of its journey. The Bavarian city would have facili-

ties in which the stored energy could be released.

It can then be supplied not only to the dairy, but also to factories and homes. For this purpose, the hydrogen must be converted back into electricity as efficiently as possible – by means of fuel cells.

These modules are similar to electrolyzers, but in them the process is reversed: hydrogen and oxygen react to form water, generating electricity in the process. Jülich researchers have been developing and improving various types of fuel cells for 20 years, optimizing materials and chemical processes which they test in their own prototypes. The goal is high efficiencies and long lifetimes. For these solid oxide fuel cells, the scientists have already received 95 patents, and set some records – most recently last autumn: a high-temperature fuel cell of this type was the world’s first to achieve an operating time of 70,000 hours. That’s eight years!

The foundation of HI ERN further increased the number of fuel-cell experts at the Institute of Energy and Climate Research. The scientists working in Bavaria are concerned with the centrepiece of fuel cells: “We’re particularly interested in what happens at the catalyst on the electrode.

It’s there that the decisive chemical reactions take place,” says Prof. Karl Mayrhofer. The catalysts are usually made of expensive noble metals such as platinum. In order to make optimal use of the valuable material, the researchers want to distribute it finely on the electrode surface – in the form of nanoparticles. “If I wear a ring made of platinum, it has a surface area of 2–3 cm². ­

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T IOV C T E ELTRHSETO M ARY

However, it’s not just the activity of the catalyst that is decisive for industrial applications, but also its stability. “We have developed a catalyst material that is both highly active and stable in the long term,” says a delighted Karl Mayrhofer.

His team observed that over time the catalytic nanoparticles on the carrier material mass together to form larger particles – at the cost of the active surface. The researchers then developed a material that prevents this: the catalyst has to be renewed less frequently, which has a positive effect on the running costs. “Although we conduct basic research, these are application-relevant issues,” summarizes the chemist.

Karl Mayrhofer develops catalyst materials for fuel cells and electrolysis devices.

USING HYDROGEN (II): If I split the ring into nanoparticles, I still have the same amount of platinum, but an enormous number of individual tiny particles – and therefore an enormous number of tiny surfaces.

Adding these up results in an area as big as a football field. Since the reactions in a fuel cell occur right there, at the surface of the catalyst, I can thus increase its activity considerably,” says the Austrian.

Going places But the hydrogen journey doesn’t have to end in the fuel cells of the Nuremberg facility. Along the way, other takers await: hydrogen fuel stations.

There are already 34 of them in Germany. After all, fuel cells work not only in stationary but also in mobile systems, for example as a fuel for cars.

Detlef Stolten emphasizes this significance of

ARTIFICIAL PHOTOSYNTHESIS

Sun instead of wind Regions with lots of solar radiation can also contribute to sustainably producing the energy carrier hydrogen. Photovoltaics expert Dr. Jan-Philipp Becker from the Institute of Energy and Climate Research (IEK-5) and his colleague Bugra Turan are imitating a natural process in this context: photosynthesis. “Instead of a plant leaf, we use a solar cell. It collects the sunlight. But instead of electricity, it produces hydrogen. We can simply submerse it in an aqueous

electrolyte, place it in the sun, and shortly afterwards, the gas will begin bubbling.”

This would be impossible with a conventional silicon cell: their voltage is insufficient. The components developed by the Jülich researchers headed by Prof. Uwe Rau, however, consist of three or four individual cells stacked on top of each other seamlessly. The total voltage thus surpasses the limit which must be achieved in order to split water. Such multilayer solar cells also make very efficient use of the spectrum of sunlight: each layer collects a certain range of light, so that nearly the entire spectrum of white light is covered. This is also reflected in its efficiency: Jülich’s stack cell has a record-breaking efficiency of 9.5 %, meaning that almost 10 % of the sun’s energy

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hydrogen for the transport sector: “This gas is the only realistic option to drastically reduce the carbon dioxide emissions of the transport sector.

Fuel cell vehicles are already being introduced to the market. All major car manufacturers worldwide are active in this area.”

The “reusable hydrogen bottle” could also be used in this case, as Peter Wasserscheid explains: “I could very well imagine a fuel tanker to be filled at a refinery in Leuna near Leipzig to transport 20,000 litres of diesel and 3,000 litres of LOHC. Both are hydrocarbons that could be produced at this chemicals facility. Leuna also has the advantage that several wind farms are located nearby.” Diesel production, large-scale electrolysis of hydrogen, and hydrogenation of LOHC could then be effected at one industrial site – and the heat released by LOHC hydrogenation could very well be used for other production processes. The fuel tanker would then deliver both products – hydrogen and diesel – to a conventional fuel station.” Thus, the existing infrastructure could be used for both, with synergies resulting. All that would be required from such a fuel station would be an additional tank and a container with a facility to convert the hydrogen back into its usable form and compress it according to demand. In Hydrogenious Technologies GmbH, Peter Wasserscheid has co-founded a company that produces prototypes for LOHC applications: “We build and sell commercial prototypes. But our users are willing to contribute to the further development of the facilities – for example by providing us with data of practical relevance.” The company wants to conclude this

phase by the end of next year. According to the researcher, anyone could then buy such facilities with the appropriate warranty and service options.

“Hydrogen technology is a cycle that simply makes sense,” summarizes Peter Wasserscheid.

In his view, Forschungszentrum Jülich offers the ideal environment for this. “The activities at the various institutes in the field of hydrogen research – production, storage, conversion into electricity – complement each other perfectly.”

The implementation of this technology is thus quite literally on a good path. Hydrogen can start on its journey.

ARNDT REUNING

ends up in the hydrogen produced. The maximum efficiency so far achieved by comparable silicon-based multilayer cells is only 7.8 %.

Currently, Jan-Philipp Becker and his colleagues are working on transferring artificial photosynthesis from the laboratory into practice. For this purpose, they have developed a cell that is considerably larger than the usual fingernail-sized components.

Their prototype has an area of 64 cm2. It can be combined with further basic components to form systems whose size is in no way inferior to conventional solar panels.

Bugra Turan and Jan-Philipp Becker (right) have developed the first complete design for a compact electrolysis facility using sunlight. Their concept is already patented.

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RESEARCH

All fresh?

Is the yoghurt still good? And how can you instantly tell? Conventionally, the best before date helps consumers decide. Dr. Alexey Yakushenko has now shown that this could be done much more accurately.

Something shimmers in Alexey Yakushenko’s palm. The gleam originates from a transparent 10 x 10 cm² piece of plastic foil.

Or rather from the ultrathin netted layer of gold deposited on it. Eight sensors are printed on the foil. “These are our prototypes,” says the 30-year-old physicist from the Peter Grünberg Institute (PGI), who has been working on the Fëdorov project for two years. The delicate structures are printable radio tags which are designed to display how fresh a food product really is. This printability also gave the project its name: Fëdorov, named after Ivan Fyodorov, who advanced printing technology in Russia in the 16th century.

study conducted by the University of Stuttgart in 2012 shows that on average, a German household discards around 82 kg of foodstuffs per year. In other words, one in eight food products ends up in the landfill. Their only flaw is the best before date.

Scientists from PGI have been researching printed sensors for around four years. Yakushenko was already concerned with electrochemical sensors reading cell signals in his master’s thesis. Initially, however, he considered applications in the medical sciences. At a trade show for printable electronics, the idea of real-time freshness testing of food products came to the young scientist in 2011. “Back then, this kind of thing didn’t exist,” Yakushenko remembers. His stated aim: “We are planning to replace the best before date.”

Politicians have now recognized the need for action. In a newspaper interview, German Federal Minister of Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture Christian Schmidt stressed that most products can be used significantly longer than the imprint on the packaging states: “We throw away huge amounts of good foodstuffs just because producers include too much of a safety buffer.” The development of the innovative sensors could thus be right on time.

Vegetables, fruit, bread, or meat: food products which are not even necessarily spoilt are destroyed at great effort. A

Not everyone knows what this important imprint actually means. Producers use it to simply guarantee that the product will be 100 % fresh and flavourful until that date. But the product may be perfectly edible for much longer.

SENSOR IN THE PACKAGING

What’s interesting is how the novel freshness detectors could work in future: The producer would enclose a sensor with the food product or stick it on the packaging. It could determine

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82

kilogrammes of food is thrown away by an average German household every year.

The pure layer of gold currently adorning the prototypes is not suitable for mass production. A quick glance into the future shows what the novel sensor will be capable of: fresh tags could talk to smart fridges, which would then take on the role of the handheld scanner in the supermarket. If, for example, the milk in the glass bottle has gone off, the fridge would promptly alert the owner via radio signal and a suitable application – and thus warn against consumption.

PLANNED SPIN-OFF On the path from an idea to the supermarket, it’s not only the researcher’s inspiration that counts, but also the funding available for the project. “We as Forschungszentrum Jülich and the Helmholtz Association offer support for our scientists,” says Dr. Andrea Mahr from Innovation Management. “Spin-off companies are desirable and welcome.” Yakushenko and his team are planning just that for 2017. The actual founding of a company takes only a week, but finding investors and developing a business model and a business plan takes a lot of time. “That’s where we help,” says Mahr. The smart little product, which has the potential of rendering the best before date obsolete, may change the entire market. After all, the innovative tags might not only represent an enormous help for producers and supermarket chains, but could also lower costs for trade – as well as soothing the general public’s feeling of unease.

M AT T H I A S L AU E R E R

various freshness parameters, for example by measuring the pH or the content of oxygen or ascorbic acid in liquids or gaseous products. The sensor would “sleep” until the moment that an employee at the grocery store activates it with a short electric pulse using a wireless transponder. The device would not become active on its own. The mini sensor on the packaging would rapidly transmit its information to the handheld reader – via radio signal and in real time. Within seconds, the employee at the grocery store would know what state the product is in. Is it still fit for consumption? Or are there already changes which may have a negative effect on the quality of the butter or the yoghurt and which mean that the product should no longer be sold?

Before the sensor is commercially available – which is planned for 2022 – the high requirements imposed by producers and retailers must be met. After all, if each chip costs more than about 1 cent, products will become noticeably more expensive.

Negotiations are already being conducted with some producers who are interested in printing the new sensors later – industrially and cheaply. Yakushenko: “For this purpose, we have to develop special printable materials, known as functional inks, which exhibit certain chemical or biochemical sensitivity. Gold alone as a carrier is not sufficient.”

With a view to success: Alexey Yakushenko examines the ultrathin radio tags printed on foil.

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RESEARCH

Magnetic vortices: a door to the past

UNEXPECTEDLY ROBUST

The Earth is like a huge magnet whose magnetic field changes again and again. When and how can be observed using an electron microscope.

The magnetic field surrounding our planet not only protects us from cosmic radiation – birds and bees use it to find their bearings. For this purpose, they follow an inner compass, their magnetoreception. But the geomagnetic field is constantly changing – and not only in terms of strength: several times during the course of the Earth’s history, it has reversed its polarity, i.e. north and south pole have switched places. Magnetite minerals dating back millions of years reveal such fluctuations.

To put it more precisely: there are tiny magnetic nanovortices in the magnetite that permit insights into the past – and at around 100–1000 nanometres, they are just about the size of a virus. These vortices are like historic compass needles. They are “frozen” in the state in which the geomagnetic field was when the minerals formed. At least, that’s the theory: for a long time, it wasn’t clear how reliable the information gained from the minerals is. Could the magnetic vortices have changed during the course of time, for example due to fluctuations in temperature or pressure, or to extreme climate changes or volcanic activities?

So far, only theoretical considerations existed on this issue. Together with the team headed by Prof. Rafal Dunin-Borkowski from Jülich’s Ernst Ruska-Centre for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons, Dr. Trevor Almeida from Imperial College London was for the first time able to experimentally show that the vortices are unexpectedly robust and therefore reliable magnetic recorders indeed. “Although they change their strength and direction at increased temperatures, they revert back to their initial state while cooling down,” explains Rafal Dunin-Borkowski.

In order to observe the vortices, the researchers used a special electron-microscopic method: electron holography. “It works similarly to the magnetic field of a bar magnet that you can make visible by means of metal shavings – we just work with a resolution in the nanometre range,” says Almeida. This requires a special high-resolution electron microscope like the one operated by ER-C. The researchers imitated the natural temperature fluctuations during climate changes or volcanic eruptions by heating and cooling the magnetite crystals in special sample holders. The greatest challenge: at high temperatures, the tiny magnets kept on sticking together, which can change the magnetic vortices and thus falsify the measurement. “But after a lot of time at the microscope, I had found sufficient isolated magnetite particles with which I was able to perform the experiment,” he says.

The findings of Almeida and his colleagues are of interest not only for geologists: measuring weak magnetic fields is also of significance for other fields. “In information technology, for example, tiny magnetic structures play a vital role. Here, electron holography can help, for example, to reach the limits of data storage and processing,” says Dunin-Borkowski.

K AT H A R I N A M E N N E

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What’s your research all about, Dr. Graf?

Dr. Alexander Graf, leader of a BMBF young investigators group at the Institute of Bio- and Geosciences – Agrosphere

“I want to find out how we can reduce the amount of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere using plants and soils. Currently, they convert around one third of our emissions into biomass. But climate change and human interference affect this process. I measure under what ­conditions and how much CO2 is stored and released by plants and soils. Such data help to improve climate models and can even give us first clues as to how farmers can cultivate fields in a climate-friendly manner, and improve soil fertility at the same time.”

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RESEARCH

Ready for take-off!

Quantum computers are ready to take off, says David DiVincenzo. In our interview, the physicist explains what they will be used for and to what extent they could be useful or threatening.

Prof. DiVincenzo, how would you explain to me as a layperson what a quantum computer is?

A bit, the object of today’s information technology, consists either of the number 1 or the number 0. And there is no doubt whatsoever as to whether this object is a 1 or a 0. It’s like this pen: it’s either unquestionably here, or – if I put it somewhere else – it’s unquestionably there. Things are different in the quantum world: there, an object can be in one place and somewhere else at the same time. This contradicts our everyday experience as well as our intuition – just like other aspects of quantum physics. This is why quantum computers – which are based on the laws of quantum physics – are so difficult to understand. For example, the qubit, the object of quantum computing, can be both 0 and 1 at the same time. This property, among others, can be used to solve some tasks more rapidly than is possible with bits and digital computers.

Will quantum computers replace our computers in the future?

I don’t think that’s likely. Our digital computers are almost universally applicable. In many areas, a quantum computer will have no additional value compared to such computers. But scientists like me have for a while had our minds set on certain applications for which quantum computers will be far superior to conventional computers.

What applications are these?

Firstly, the simulation of materials because they consist of atoms and electrons. These are components which obey the laws of quantum physics and we will therefore be better able to understand and predict their properties using quantum

computers than we can now. Secondly, quantum computers may contribute to developing a novel network through which data may be exchanged more securely and partners can work together more securely than through the digital Internet.

Thirdly, a quantum computer will be able to solve a series of complex mathematical problems more efficiently than conventional computers. This is of interest not only for pure mathematics, but also, for example, for the technology currently used to encrypt and decrypt data.

Speaking of decrypting data, this issue is the reason why there are concerns that quantum computers could be powerful weapons in the hands of intelligence agencies or criminals. What’s your reply to that?

Firstly, the Internet is by no means safe, even today – there is no need for quantum computers for that. Even the encryption technology that is currently used in Internet banking and messenger services will be so insecure in ten years’ time that it should be scrapped. But there is also some good news: there are already alternative means of encryption for such classic Internet services that could not be cracked even with a quantum computer. Hopefully, such methods will be operational on a wide scale in ten years. Additionally, pure quantum communication networks offer long-term security. It’s in the nature of these systems that any eavesdropping activity will be detected.

As far back as the early 1990s, there were reports that researchers had realized a quantum computer based on organic molecules. How far are we today?

The experiments conducted 20 years ago were well suited to demonstrate the principles of quantum mechanics and to

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produce individual qubits. As a result of theoretical deductions, I already predicted back then that quantum systems based on organic molecules could not be enlarged from a few qubits to 100 or more qubits. This limit in scalability was subsequently confirmed. At the end of the 1990s, theorists had the the idea of realizing qubits in solids, which was then achieved in the early 2000s. Today, there are solid-state systems which in my opinion can be upscaled from currently five or ten qubits to significantly more: the quantum computer is ready for take-off.

The US-based company D-Wave has already sold some specimens of a device that they call a quantum computer. But experts still argue whether it really is one. What’s your opinion?

The D-Wave computer has certain properties of a quantum computer. But I wouldn’t describe it as such. One reason for this is that its qubits can only take a superposition state between 0 and 1 for some nanoseconds (billionths of a second).

This is why even future versions will solve very few tasks more efficiently than conventional computers.

You are concerned with quantum computers from the perspective of a theorist. What does that mean?

In contrast to practitioners, I am not bound to laboratory equipment, technology, or a method. Neither am I dependent on supercomputers or codes like other theorists. What I need is simply a piece of paper to write on, in order to develop ideas.

I also think about how these ideas can be useful in experiments or how they can be applied.

Can you give an example of such an idea?

In current qubit experiments, components are used for signal processing which were described in a book as early as the 1960s. The more qubits are used in a system, the more of these centimetre-long circulators are necessary. I was reading up on something in that book some time ago when I had an idea for an alternative circulator, which works according to a completely different principle. Its great advantage is that it is smaller than the conventional circulator and a large number can be integrated on a single chip.

Together with a postdoc, I’m further developing this idea. I now have a patent for it, and I’ve also written some publications on the topic.

T H E I N T E R V I E W WA S C O N D U C T E D BY F R A N K F R I C K .

David DiVincenzo Prof. David DiVincenzo is viewed as a pioneer in the field of quantum information. His name is associated with the ­development of criteria that a quantum computer must fulfil, the “DiVincenzo criteria”. The physicist is a director at ­ Jülich’s Peter Grünberg Institute – Theoretical Nanoelectronics (PGI-2) and teaches at the JARA Institute for Quantum Information at RWTH Aachen University. In 2010, the American was awarded an Alexander von Humboldt Professorship, Germany’s most valuable international research prize.

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RESEARCH

Science Friction Tyres should roll – both in summer and in winter. But as soon as the roads glaze over, the rubber loses its grip. A case for physicist Dr. Bo Persson, whose work focuses on friction all year round.

He’s really not all that interested in car tyres – he doesn’t enjoy driving too much and much prefers his local car workshop to change the winter tyres. And yet, the theoretical physicist from the

Peter Grünberg Institute is among the most eminent international experts when it comes to car tyres. Time and time again, large tyre manufacturers such as Pirelli or Continental seek advice from the modest, grey-haired Swede who chose to move to Jülich. And even the elite of motor sports – Formula 1 racing – recently knocked on his door. They are all on the search for a magic formula for the perfect tyre: it should be as durable as possible, have more grip, and yet offer less rolling resistance. What seems like squaring the circle to lay people has been one of the biggest challenges for the tyre researcher for decades.

With his research, Bo Persson helps to develop the optimal car tyre.

» Knowledge on friction acquired a long time ago is still not taken into consideration. «

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After all, increased grip and decreased resistance radically contradict each other. Persson helps to solve these conflicting goals by developing models to predict tyre grip. In 2015, for example, he and a number of South Korean colleagues showed what happens on the molecular level in the presence of friction and what factors play a role in the prediction of perfect rubber mixtures.

“For the first time, we took shear forces into consideration. These are particularly important when rubber moves across asphalt fairly slowly,” says the researcher.

AN EVERYDAY PHENOMENON For more than 20 years, the 64-year-old has been concerned with tribology, the science of friction and wear. Friction occurs everywhere in daily life: when you walk, drive your car, or vacuum the floor – but also in almost every technology or application in industry, such as pumps, motors, seals, or implants. It is estimated that friction and wear cause losses of 2–7 % of the gross national product in industrialized countries every year – “and that’s just because knowledge on friction that was acquired a long time ago is still not taken into consideration,” Persson remarks in annoyance. He discontinued his spectroscopy investigations of the surfaces of solids in ultrahigh vacuum in the early 1990s since the topic was too far off reality for him. Instead, he took up tribology and in 1995 wrote the book “Sliding Friction – Physical Principles and Applications”. It has become a standard work cited in nearly every scientific publication on the topic.

Since then, tyre manufacturers have been following Persson’s considerations on friction with great interest. In the late 1990s, the Italian tyre manufacturer Pirelli called him for the first time and wanted to know more about the link between friction and rubber – i.e. car tyres. “I conducted some research on the topic, developed a theory on static friction, and within two months I had written my most important paper on tribology,” says the scientist, who has authored more than 400 publications. His “Persson theory” made it possible for the first time to calculate and predict how well a tyre made of a certain rubber mixture will grip the asphalt – without first having to manufacture a whole tyre.

But Persson’s interest is focused not only on tyre grip: he is also just as intensively concerned with other systems in which friction plays a role.

How can the contents of a syringe be injected under a patient’s skin with the least amount of friction, i.e. pain? How can rubber seals be made more effective? And why is ice so slippery?

Using his “ice formula”, the friction of objects on an icy surface at different temperatures and velocities can for the first time be calculated.

In the long term, this may make it possible to optimize materials such as rubber or steel for a particularly slippery or nonslip behaviour on ice – it’ll probably be the ice skaters knocking on Persson’s door next. He is currently busy writing a book on friction phenomena on the nano scale: “Electromagnetic Fluctuations at the Nanoscale” will be published soon.

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years – that’s for how long Bo Persson has worked on the science of friction and wear.

THE SILENT THINKER'S HAPPINESS In spite of the thematic diversity, the physicist puts his heart and soul into linking basic research, advisory services, and application.

Certain problems in industry arouse in him the ambition to solve them. “That sounds trite, but it isn’t really. Only with a good deal of creativity can many of the factors causing the problem be reconciled,” says Persson. That’s why he prefers sitting in his office, thinking, calculating, programming software to put solutions into formulae, and applying for funding so that his research can be put into action. In between, he likes travelling around the world, preferably to Japan, South Korea, and the US, advising tyre manufacturers, or presenting his research findings at conferences.

Stopping to think or giving his brain a holiday from scientific thinking by reading a mundane crime novel – inconceivable: “Picasso painted until his death, and that’s what it’s like for me with thinking.” If he can’t find a solution, the thoughts accompany him – at home, when going to sleep, or in the garden. And then, inspiration suddenly strikes when he least expects it. And then? “Then I’m happy – at least for a while. Until the next problem presents itself.”

Braking distance shrinking 1985

75 m

1990

72 m

1995

71 m

2000 2005 2010 2015

61 m 58 m 55 m 52 m

During the past 30 years, the braking distance of cars in wet conditions has decreased by a third. This is partly thanks to improving tyres.

The numbers indicate the braking distance at a speed of 100 km/h.1

K ATJ A L Ü E R S

1 Source: Stefan Torbrügge, Continental Reifen Deutschland GmbH: Testing and Understanding of Tire–Road Interaction on Wet Roads, 2015 Reifen & Fahrwerk symposium, Vienna, 2015

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RESEARCH

Six decades of scientific curiosity Through the past 60 years, Jülich scientists have produced­ enormous amounts of data. They have developed numerous ideas, filed various patent applications, and gained many basic insights.

Here is a small selection of some of the remarkable research that has been conducted.

PIONEERING WORK – EVEN TODAY

24,000 KILOMETRES...

... that’s how high the stack would be if you were to pile up commercially available PCs to achieve the same power as Jülich’s JUQUEEN supercomputer. It was put into operation in 2012.

Using low-level radioactive substances, positron emission tomography (PET) reveals tumours and inflammations in the body, and also plaque deposits caused by Alzheimer’s disease. Jülich nuclear chemists are still involved in developing devices and ­tracers. In the late 1970s, there were only three PET prototypes in all of Europe – and one of them was located at Jülich. In the ­mid-1980s, Jülich scientists simplified the synthesis of FDG, a ­radioactively labelled sugar. Since then, it has been the most ­w idely used substance in PET diagnostics.

50 MICROKELVIN...

HUGE BRAIN – TINY DETAILS In 2013, Jülich researchers together with Canadian colleagues created the most accurate model of the human brain currently in existence: BigBrain shows the complicated structure of the brain at a resolution of 20 micrometres.

This corresponds to about the size of a neuron.

... that was the record set by Jülich researchers in 1978 for the coldest temperature ever achieved.

It was 50 millionths of a degree above absolute zero, which is –273.15 °C. Such low temperatures were made possible by research into special ­physical effects such as superconductivity.

MEGA MICROSCOPE For many years, lens errors – which were viewed as unavoidable – limited the performance of electron microscopes.

At least until 1997, when Jülich physicist Prof. Knut Urban together with colleagues from Heidelberg and Darmstadt developed a suitable lens system. It improved the resolution to 50 billionths of a millimetre and permits investigations of atomic structures with the highest precision.

NOBLE SPIRIT OF RESEARCH In 2007, Jülich researcher Peter Grünberg (left) and his Parisian colleague Prof. Albert Fert received the Nobel Prize in physics for the discovery of the GMR effect. The GMR effect made it possible to increase the storage capacity of computer hard drives by a factor of ten.

NEUTRONS AGAINST GELLING

SPIES IN THE AIR What do a former Russian spy plane, a zeppelin, and ten commercial airliners have in common? All of them have been providing Jülich climate researchers with data for more than 20 years to improve our understanding of the atmosphere – for example the formation of clouds and their influence on the climate, the self-purifying capacity of the atmosphere, and the influence of the smallest particles on air quality.

“Happy event occurred at 23:42.

Congratulations in order! Name’s DIDO.” This is what a telegram from 14 November 1962 said. It was addressed to Leo Brandt, head of the research state office of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Shortly before midnight, the DIDO research ­reactor had “become critical” – i. e. it was ­producing neutrons constantly.

For almost 50 years, scientists used the neutron source – which was the most powerful in all of Germany for a long time – to examine molecules, materials, and living matter. The results led to additives, for example, which even today inhibit the gelling of diesel fuel during winter.

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RESEARCH

Treasure trove waste water They are usually hidden on some lonely island, or in the deep blue sea: chests full of gold pieces and jewellery.

Some Jülich researchers are looking for their treasure in far less hospitable places – such as waste water. Using special methods, they search for biomolecules which are valuable for science, but also for industry.

It stinks to high heaven: waste water is usually a dark, horriblesmelling swill that is disposed of as quickly as possible. Jülich researchers, however, see the brown muck with completely different eyes: as a veritable treasure trove. But the biochemists headed by Prof. Karl-Erich Jaeger expect neither gold pieces nor valuable jewellery. The treasure they hunt is of a very different, yet valuable, kind: biomolecules.

But what is it that makes these molecules so valuable? One of the driving forces behind the search for them and primary user is the chemicals industry. Enzymes in particular are of special interest. They are biomolecules which may replace chemical catalysts and are therefore also known as biocatalysts. Since these enzymes originate in nature, they offer numerous advantages: they permit reactions in aqueous solutions, work at room temperature, neutral pH, and normal pressure – and do so without harming the environment. In contrast, chemical reactions without biomolecules frequently occur under harsh conditions; often toxic solvents are necessary, or high pressures or temperatures.

An important objective of the chemicals industry is therefore to accelerate as many reactions as possible by utilizing such

The right instincts for their treasure hunt: Karl-Erich Jaeger (left) and Stephan Thies

biomolecules, and to make them more environmentally friendly and efficient at the same time. This is also known as “green chemistry”. Furthermore, renewable materials instead of mineral oil are increasingly used as raw materials to produce bioplastics or base chemicals, for example. But how do you get to the desirable jewellery inside the treasure chest? “First you collect samples, for example a spoonful of dirt, or in our case: waste water from an abattoir. Such samples teem with bacteria producing a variety of biomolecules. Which ones? That depends on the location where the sample is collected, of course,” explains Jaeger. “From the abattoir waste water, we would expect biocatalysts which break down lipids or decompose proteins, for example.” These are the gold pieces.

WHO PRODUCES THE “GOLD PIECES”?

The course of action should be obvious: identifying the bacteria that produce these gold pieces, multiplying them, and thus procuring the treasure. Unfortunately, this rarely works – the waste water contains innumerable bacteria, and firstly, it’s unclear which ones produce the gold pieces and there are usually too few bacteria of one kind to isolate them directly. Secondly, fewer than 1 % of the bacteria contained in such environmental samples can be cultivated in a laboratory. According to Jaeger, “more than 99 % of bacteria thus slip through the net – and with them the biomolecules that they produce.”

Therefore, the researchers have to take the long way round: they use a comparatively new method called metagenome technology. It permits the researchers to isolate the DNA of the microorganisms directly from the sample. It can then be analysed and, if required, multiplied. Following this, the researchers can implant various pieces of DNA into easily multipliable bacteria. They often use the Escherichia coli bacterium, which

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Not everything that ends up in waste water is actually waste. There are also biomolecules in there that are highly interesting for science and industry.

is the “workhorse” of molecular biologists. It is then also capable of producing the biomolecules for which the implanted DNA pieces supply the blueprint.

At this point in time, the researchers are still in the dark about what these biomolecules can actually do. Do they break down lipids or decompose proteins, as expected? The scientists now investigate this systematically – by means of a robot. It distributes the biomolecules into thousands of little pots containing various testing liquids. By changing colour, the liquids then reveal the molecules’ properties. If an enzyme breaks down lipids, for example, then the previously colourless liquid in pot no. 3,752 becomes yellow.

But here’s the catch: the researchers find only what they are actively looking for – to everything else, they are effectively blind. If no test exists for a certain biomolecule or a certain property, then there is no way of finding this biomolecule.

Every type of jewel needs a different detector.

FURTHER TREASURE DISCOVERED Just such a detector was used by the Jülich researchers recently – and it made further gold pieces in the treasure chest visible: biosurfactants. “The significance of these biosurfactants should not be underestimated: you could say that they are the biomolecules of the 21st century,” says Jaeger. This is because not only the chemicals industry is interested in them – for example, they can be used as additives in cosmetics and detergents which are biologically degradable – but mineral

oil companies as well. If biosurfactants are pumped into the soil, they increase the solubility of oil and thus make it easier to extract. In comparison to conventionally used chemicals, biosurfactants are less harmful to the environment since they are the biological products of various bacteria which would find their way into the soil anyway.

“We were originally looking for enzymes which break down oils and fats,” says Stephan Thies, one of the members of Jaeger’s team investigating the biomolecules. However, the researchers used not only the conventional investigation methods but also – and this was a first – tests identifying biosurfactants. Surfactants are substances that solve fats and oils, contained for example in common household cleaning products and detergents. “Searching for biosurfactants in the fatty abattoir waste water seemed promising since they might help the bacteria living there to break down fats and oils. That’s why we applied the test there. And we succeeded in revealing that such biosurfactants are produced by waste water bacteria and in isolating the interesting biomolecules,” says a delighted Thies.

There is still an enormous gap between the amounts that the researchers can produce in the laboratory and the more than 100,000 tonnes that oil producers need – but using the new detector in the treasure hunt for biomolecules is the first step towards exploiting the vast pool of potential biosurfactants.

JANINE VAN ACKEREN

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FORSCHUNG

Hamburg

460 km Jülich

Lightning strikes Brilliant X-radiation is to bring to light the molecular mechanisms of diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Jülich researchers are also involved in the Hamburg-based project.

2.2

Jülich’s campus measures 2.2 km2. But Jülich scientists are active beyond the campus. This section features brief reports on where they conduct research. This time around, Hamburg is in the limelight.

The ten partners involved in CSSB • Bernhard-Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine • German Electron Synchrotron (DESY) • European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) • Research Center Borstel • Forschungszentrum Jülich • Hannover Medical School • Heinrich Pette Institute • Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research • University of Hamburg • University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf

A light in the tunnel: the 3.4 km X-ray laser facility European XFEL runs underground for the most part.

It flashes 27,000 times every second: not research fascinating,” says Labahn. Using plus out in the open but underground in a huge X-rays, he analyses the structure of cerfacility stretching from the site of the DESY tain proteins in cell membranes that play a research centre in Hamburg-Bahrenfeld to the role in cancer, Alzheimer’s, and fox-tapeworm town of Schenefeld located 3 km away. A laser infections. With his five team members, he has emits the X-ray flashes, each of which is a billion been working at the newly founded Centre for times more brilliant than the X-rays from the best Structural Systems Biology (CSSB) since 2014. conventional sources – at least, that’s the plan for Together, the ten partners of this centre want next year. That’s when the European X-ray Free to decode the attack mechanisms of pathogens Electron Laser (XFEL) is to begin operation. Its down to the atomic level. creators speak of the “light of the future” because the globally unique power of the X-ray source The fact that one of the new state-of-the-art will offer completely new research opportunities. buildings for CSSB is not yet ready to be moved Scientists will be able to investigate complex into, and that XFEL is not yet ready, isn’t slowing molecules, catalysts, and states inside stars.

Labahn’s team: on the one hand, they use the existing storage-ring X-ray source PETRA III. “On In order to have direct access to XFEL, the the other, we are developing a method for our structural biochemists from Jülich’s Institute of samples so that we can then actually examine Complex Systems (ICS-6) are contributing to them using XFEL. Its requirements for a sample the project with their own unit on site. Its head, system are completely different from conventionProf. Jörg Labahn, went from Jülich to Hamburg al ones,” explains Labahn. two years ago: “I find the unique combination of FR ANK FRICK high-brilliance X-ray source and applied health

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THUMBS UP S C IE N C E P O D C AS T S

Research for your ears More and more science podcasts offer understandable, interesting, and entertaining insights into the world of science. In order to give listeners an overview, science enthusiasts have created an online guide: on their website, they introduce the best German-language podcasts on the topics of knowledge and research.

The 40 podcasts also include the Helmholtz Association’s Resonator podcast. Why not have a listen?

– W W W.W I S S E N S C H A F T S P O D C A S T S . D E –

A R T M E E T S S C IE N C E

Suitable atmosphere A CA PPE LL A S C IE N C E

Sing-along science Glasses, stubble, and a lab coat: Tim Blais’ nerdy look is no coincidence. The Canadian also has an extraordinary hobby: he converts current pop songs into educational videos on science. For example, he turns All About That Bass (No Treble) into All About That Base (No Acid) – a song explaining the chemical properties of acids and bases.

In his a cappella creations, he not only sings but also also creates the sounds of all the instruments with his voice and body. His YouTube channel has more than 5 million views – and that number is set to rise.

– W W W.YO U T U B E . C O M/ U S E R /A C A P E L L A S C I E N C E –

Light, mist, and various sounds welcomed visitors to Düsseldorf’s NRW Forum in June: an unusual encounter with the realm of clouds awaited them. Jülich atmospheric researcher Anja Costa and Düsseldorf artist Ben J. Riepe offered a mixture of experiencing and learning. Using a lot of images, Costa explained how clouds form and why they are so important for our climate. Riepe and his singing and dancing bodies, artificially created weather, and many effects created a suitable atmosphere. His varied art project UUUUU(topia) was part of a project entitled “Planet B – 100 ideas for a new world” at NRW Forum.

– W W W. F Z - J U E L I C H . D E/ U T O P I A –

RESEARCH IN A TWEET The future of supercomputers is ­interactive: we’re testing pilot ­ systems specially developed for brain research. #HumanBrainProj Prof. Dirk Pleiter and his colleagues are testing how powerful the systems JULIA – created by Cray – and JURON from IBM and NVIDIA are. Interactively controlling simulations on supercomputers is viewed as a basis for future brain research. It presents computing technology with new challenges. JULIA and JURON use components that are not yet available on the market.

www.fz-juelich.de/hbp-pcp_en