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B mesons (pairs of b quarks) and their antiparticles are produced during particle collisions in the Belle II detector. The experiment aims to find out why there is an excess of matter in the universe (Photo: Shoto Takahashi - KEK/Belle II)

Quantum entanglement: do elementary particles have telepathic abilities?

Café & Kosmos am 30. Juli 2025

According to quantum theory, particles do not have a definite state, e.g. in terms of their spin, polarization or flavour (color) - only relative probabilities. Only when a measurement is carried out does the particle “decide” on a state. 

This…

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European Strategy for Particle Physics: German community meets at MPP

On April 28 and 29, 2025 a meeting of the German particle physics community will take place at the Max Planck Institute for Physics. The workshop is part of the decision-making process for the long-term European strategy in particle physics. The…

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The „Oscar of Science“ goes to... Breakthrough Prize 2025 for ATLAS Collaboration

The Max Planck Institute for Physics (MPP) proudly congratulates the ATLAS Collaboration at CERN on receiving the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics. Scientists from the institute are among the thousands of researchers worldwide honored with…

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Shedding light on dark matter with MADMAX

Café & Kosmos on May 6, 2025

Dark matter is one of the greatest mysteries of modern physics. We can measure exactly how it attracts normal, visible matter, but still we have no idea what it is made of. Black holes? New types of particles? Researchers in the MADMAX collaboration…

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Left: The MAGIC telescopes on the island of La Palma. Right: Data from the eruption of the active galactic nucleus (AGN) Markarian 421, measured with MAGIC (gamma rays) and IXPE (X-rays) in December 2023 (Photo: Urs Leutenegger, Data: Axel Arbet-Engels)

New insights into cosmic jets: Multiple observatories sharpen the picture

Active galactic nuclei (AGN) are among the most luminous and powerful sources in the universe. They are located in the center of galaxies and emit vast amounts of radiation. This often exceeds the total light output of all the stars in a galaxy.…

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The germanium detectors of the LEGEND experiment (Photo: Michael Willers)

Antimatter mystery in the universe: Will the neutrino lead us on the right track?

Café & Kosmos on 8 April 2025

In the Universe, there should be as much matter as antimatter. As soon as particles and antiparticles collide, they annihilate each other and what remains is energy. However, since we obviously live in a Universe with matter - there are stars,…

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Distribution of galaxies (colored areas) and galaxy clusters (black dots) in a spherical shell surrounding us at a distance of 416 to 826 million light years. The five superstructures are marked: 1 Quipu, 2 Shapley, 3 Serpens-Corona Borealis and Hercules (overlapping in the sky), 4 Sculptor-Pegasus. The area outlined in white is shadowed by the disk of the Milky Way

New discovery in the sky: Largest superstructure in the nearby Universe unveiled

A team of scientists has found the largest superstructure ever reliably characterised in the Universe. The discovery was made while mapping the nearby Universe using galaxy clusters detected by the ROSAT X-ray satellite's survey of the sky. With a…

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Image of the universe from the “eRosita” space telescope (Photo: MPE/IKI)

eROSITA: Seven X-ray eyes explore the universe

Café & Kosmos on 11 February 2025

The eROSITA satellite observes the entire sky in the X-ray range. Developed and built at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) in Garching, it was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on July 13, 2019, and has carried out a…

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Picture: Alexander Fiorioni

Warm air bubbles and the formation of the first cells

Café & Kosmos on 28 January 2025

Cells are the smallest units that we can undoubtedly recognise as alive. The membrane, a complex mixture of lipids and proteins, plays a central role in this because it separates the inside of the cell from the outside world. To form membranes, all…

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Prof. Dr. Gavin Salam (Photo: John Cairns/All Souls College)

MPP welcomes Gavin Salam as External Scientific Member

The Senate of the Max Planck Society has appointed the renowned theoretical particle physicist Gavin Salam, professor at the University of Oxford, as an External Scientific Member at the Max Planck Institute for Physics (MPP). Scientists in MPP’s…

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