In this video, climate researcher and MPI GEA Director Prof. Ricarda Winkelmann talks to Max Planck President Prof. Patrick Cramer about the role humans play in the Earth system. How do our activities change the Earth system and trigger climate change? And what can we do about it?
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Physicist Albert Einstein died 70 years ago. Science historian Jürgen Renn talks about the fascination surrounding Einstein and his scientific influence, which continues to this day.
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Synthesizer Podcast (in German)
February 06, 2025
What does the future hold for chemistry? What does ‘chemistry turnaround’ mean? Why are cultural scientists and social scientists concerned with this question? In the Synthesizer podcast, Benjamin Steininger looks at the transformation of chemistry.
Interview with Dr. Benjamin Steininger. Crude oil is the substance that made modernity possible: a miracle cure for progress, inventions and mobility. But burning oil harms the climate and endangers humanity. We know that. Nevertheless, we can't get away from it. (Audio in German)
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From artificial intelligence to sustainable energy solutions - great expectations are attached to new technologies. The marketing departments of companies often promise us a golden future. What will really change? (Video in German from Bayern2)
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Episode 1 features Dr. Patrick Roberts and Dr. Yoshi Maezumi on a recent trip to Sri Lanka discussing how they use novel methods to study the emergence of past cities in tropical environments. This includes a discussion of how past populations honed food production strategies, water management systems, and the use of fire to support large populations in these dynamic landscapes and what this might teach us about tropical urban sustainability in the present. (Video in German)
What do Antarctic glaciers and extreme weather, retail chains and political role-playing games have in common? Ricarda Winkelmann is researching the Anthropocene in Jena. Prof Ricarda Winkelmann speaks with Petra Pinzler and Stefan Schmidt of Zeit Online. (Audio in German)
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The Thuringian Research Prizes have been awarded for scientific excellence since 1995. This year, one prize went to the University of Jena and another to the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology in Jena. Audio in German.
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Fuel-forage-food. This is the common rule of three describing the conflict over the distribution of agricultural production: Fuel for machines, feed for animals, or food for people. Facing the social debate about ways out of the energy crisis, the Werkleitz Festival 2024 (Fuel or Food) aims to take a fresh look at this conflict. On Friday May 31 the festival and the respecitive exhibition was opened with quite some publicity at the center of Halle (Saale). MPIGEA researcher Dr. Benjamin Steininger is one of the co-curators of the exhibition and got interviewed by Deutschlandfunk-Kultur about "The nitrogen conspiracy.”
An open society and a strong democracy - that is what the leading science organizations are calling for. According to a statement, the challenges of our time require a diversity of talents. Video from MDR in German.
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Podcast: “Networking with plants in the Anthropocene”. Interview with Prof. Patrícia Vieira from the MPI-GEA project RESILIENT: Forest Cities - Utopia and Development in the Modern Amazon.
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Dr. Jennifer Miller and Dr. Yiming Wang discuss how their research into ostrich eggshell beads reveals symbolic behavior and social networks in the distant past
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From the Leakey Foundation’s “Origin Stories” Podcast: Travel through 50,000 years of human history following clues hidden inside beads made from ostrich eggshells. In this episode, researchers Jennifer Miller and Yiming Wang share how these tiny artifacts reveal a sweeping story of ancient social networks, cultural connections, and human adaptability.
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Anyone who has a dog is convinced that the relationship between dog and human is something unique. A close bond, unshakeable, perhaps even love. Dogs are the most popular pets worldwide. But why does the relationship between humans and dogs feel so special? Do dogs really love us? And if so, why? (Audio in German)
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How political should science be? A conversation with Jürgen Renn about research into the Anthropocene and responsibility in the climate crisis. (Audio in German)
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Wissen Was News (Video in German) - Researchers from MPI-GEA have now analyzed the fragrances of a mummy for the first time and recreated the smell. These are the richest and most complex balsams identified so far for this period of Egyptian history.
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