When it comes to the energy transition, there has to be the right chemistry. This makes it possible to store electricity from the wind and sun in fuels and base materials for chemical production and also to use CO2 for this purpose. However, the corresponding chemical compounds can only be produced efficiently with the right catalysts; these are, however currently still in short supply. In the now officially opened Max-Planck-Cardiff Centre on the Fundamentals of Heterogeneous Catalysis (Funcat), three Max Planck Institutes and the Cardiff University have joined forces to pursue new paths in catalyst research which rely, among other things, on artificial intelligence. As a test case for the new approach, the researchers are developing reaction accelerators that convert CO2 into useful substances.

当人们合作良好时，他们的大脑活动模式和生理过程就会同步。创造这种同步性可以提高团队表现。

According to a new study from an international team led by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, the oxygen-deficient zones that occur in the open ocean shrank in long warm periods of the past.

People typically spend 90 percent of their lives inside, at home, at work or in transport. Within these enclosed spaces, occupants are exposed to a multitude of chemicals from various sources, including outdoor pollutants penetrating indoors, gaseous emissions from building materials and furnishings, and products of our own activities such as cooking and cleaning. In addition, we are potent mobile emission sources of chemicals that enter the indoor air from our breath and skin.

香肠的正确裂缝，不仅仅是一个物理问题。位于美因茨的马克斯普朗克聚合物研究所的一个研究小组研究了植物蛋白的特性如何影响素食香肠的口感。利用这一发现，第一批公司已经改变了他们的食谱，使他们的香肠的质地更接近肉类。

A research team at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena disclosed the complete biosynthetic pathway for the formation of strychnine in the plant species Strychnos nux-vomica (poison nut). The researchers identified all genes involved in the biosynthesis of strychnine and other metabolites and expressed them in the model plant Nicotiana benthamiana. This enabled them to show that these extremely complex and pharmacologically important molecules can be synthesized using "metabolic engineering" methods.

香水的手性特征可以揭示香水的真假。同样，植物排放的手性特征可以提供有关植物是否健康或患病的信息。美因茨马克斯普朗克化学研究所和美因茨约翰内斯古腾堡大学 (JGU) 的研究人员开发了一种创新方法，能够识别和监测此类手性特征。大多数天然手性物质以不同相对数量存在的两种镜像形式存在。因此，每种植物和每种香水都必须有其独特的手性标志。利用他们的新方法，研究团队首次能够以高灵敏度实时识别复杂气体混合物中的手性化合物。

When bacteria, fungi, mosses, lichens and algae combine on dry land, they form so-called biological soil crusts. These cover about twelve percent of the total global land surface, and up to one third of the surface in dry areas. Biological soil crusts play an important role in consolidating soils, making them more stable and less likely to be stirred up by the wind. Since dust particles in the atmosphere have an impact on the climate, soil crusts fulfil an important function in several respects. An international team of researchers around biologist Bettina Weber of the University of Graz and research associate of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry provide, for the first time, comprehensive facts and figures on the importance of biological soil crusts for the regional and global dust cycle, both under current and future conditions.

更多的血液流向生殖器，脉搏增加和瞳孔放大：这些身体特征表明一个人被性唤起。但欲望也可以在呼吸中检测到，正如一个国际研究小组的研究表明的那样。根据这项研究，在性唤起的人的呼吸中发现了挥发性分子的特征特征。测试对象呼出的异戊二烯和二氧化碳减少，而某些神经递质的降解产物浓度增加。据研究人员称，这一发现可能有助于临床上更好地评估性唤起，从而有助于评估性困难。

工程师们在大约100年前发现的东西，只要脊椎动物存在，就已经被大自然所利用。正如应变下的钢丝增加了预应力混凝土的抗断裂性一样，骨骼变得特别坚硬和坚固，因为它们的胶原纤维由于嵌入的矿物纳米颗粒而受到应力。这种应力也会传递到颗粒上。马克斯·普朗克胶体和界面研究所的一个研究小组观察到，不仅羟基磷灰石（形成骨骼的矿物成分），而且具有不同晶体结构的其他矿物也会在材料中产生预应力。研究人员首次实时跟踪了胶原蛋白和矿物质颗粒在蛋白质纤维中沉淀时压力是如何积聚的。这些发现可用于开发用于医疗应用的胶原蛋白混合材料等。