Scientific highlights 2021

Many publications by Max Planck scientists in 2021 were of great social relevance or met with a great media response. We have selected 12 articles to present you with an overview of some noteworthy research of the year

Einstein proven right yet again

The theory of general relativity passes a range of precise tests set by pair of extreme stars more

Spread of Transeurasian languages was due to agriculture

A new study in the journal Nature traces the common ancestry and primary dispersals of Transeurasian languages back to the first farmers moving across Northeast Asia in the Early Neolithic more

How well masks protect

A detailed study shows the maximum risks of being infected by the coronavirus for different scenarios with and without masks more

Life expectancy decreased in most high-income countries

Biggest declines seen in Russia and the US more

Hair analysis shows: Meditation training reduces long-term stress

A study provides the first objective evidence that mental training reduces physical signs of long periods of stress more

Heavy rain forecast from the Eifel maars

Sediment cores indicate more heavy rain events in warm periods and less climate variability in cold periods more

Highly potent, stable nanobodies stop SARS-CoV-2 

Göttingen researchers have developed mini-antibodies that efficiently block the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and its dangerous new variants. more

The birth of exomoons

A distant planet is surrounded by material from which at least one satellite could form more

Pleistocene sediment DNA from Denisova Cave

Sediment DNA tracks 300,000 years of hominin and animal presence at Denisova Cave more

A beetle’s Achilles heel

The pesticide damages the microorganisms necessary for the formation of the exoskeleton of the saw-toothed grain beetle more

Tracking for quantum post

A detector detects photons transporting qubits without destroying the quantum information more

Genotoxic E. coli “caught in the act”

Max Planck researchers and their collaborators reveal transformation of colon organoids in vitro more