INSIGHTS. Magazine

INSIGHTS reports on research at LMU — the latest findings and current debates — online, and in a printed edition that appears twice a year. The latest issue focuses on the topic "Patterns of progress - what brings us ahead".

What really makes life better?

Read the new issue of EINSICHTEN/INSIGHTS!

epaper (in German)

A massive use of force

“There were great similarities between the empires”: The historian Tom Menger about colonial warfare and takes a close look at German colonial history in Africa.

A massive use of force

The first dropout

Literary scholar Klaus Benesch on the brilliant author and philosopher Henry David Thoreau and his influence on today’s world-weary generation.

The first dropout
Dr. Mezzenzana surrounded by plants

Childhood in the jungle

Do children who grow up surrounded by untamed wilds develop a different concept of nature to Western urban kids? Anthropologist Francesca Mezzenzana is exploring what the consequences are. A portrait

Childhood in the jungle

Unpacking luck in the genetic lottery

Certain genes can be more active in some people and less in others, which influences our immune system. Human geneticist Sarah Kim-Hellmuth wants to understand these connections better and develop personalized therapies.

Unpacking luck in the genetic lottery

A new world order

Historian Kiran Klaus Patel and international law expert Christian Walter talk about what Russia’s invasion of Ukraine means for the coexistence of nations and international norms.

A new world order
Rescue vessels work at the site of the stuck container ship Ever Given on the Suez Canal, Egypt

Strategies to counter the domino effect

If replenishment falters at a single point only, complex global supply chains are in danger of collapsing. Economist Lisandra Flach explores how these production chains can be made more resilient.

Strategies to counter the domino effect

More than a question of origin

In the grand interview from EINSICHTEN magazine, Antoinette Maget Dominicé, Uta Werlich, and Philipp Schorch talk about how anthropological museums can tell stories about the world in the future, against the backdrop of the restitution debate.

More than a question of origin

THE INTERPRETER

Some scientific terms manage to make their way into everyday speech. Here, we ask LMU researchers to tell us what they mean – to define them, and to outline how they became popular.

Olivia Merkel on "nanocarriers"

Read more
Jörg Häßler on "microtargeting"

Read more
Thomas Seidl on "machine learning"

Read more

The power of chance

Life is constantly evolving, and yet “progress” is not the right word for this process of organismal change, says evolutionary geneticist Jochen Wolf. From the INSIGTHS focus on "Patterns of progress - what brings us ahead"

The power of chance

A trial by fire for democracy

LMU political scientist Karsten Fischer examines how well liberal societies still stand for progress when populism rules everywhere - from the new issue of the research magazine INSIGHTS.

A Best-practice model
Food waste

We have to get the incentives right

About the fight against food waste: What policies do people in their everyday lives support and are they ready to accept costs? - Interview with political scientist Lukas Rudolph

“We have to get the incentives right”

The knowledge of others

Intercultural universities are cultivating an unusual crossover of knowledge traditions. Anna Meiser examines what can be learned from this.

The knowledge of others

Hikikomori: Disappearing quietly

Alone in the room: There are hundreds of thousands of them, people who withdraw from the world at a young age. Japanologist Evelyn Schulz on a phenomenon of social withdrawal

Disappearing quietly

"Releasing Pressure"

Back to life: An interview about a youth in lockdown and what children and young people need now

Back to Life

Molecular gastronomy

Origin of life: What was the recipe for the "Ursuppe" from which life emerged? LMU chemists Thomas Carell and Oliver Trapp, and physicist Dieter Braun, discuss the early steps in the evolution of life some four billion years ago.

Molecular gastronomy
Prof. Dr. Daniel Gruen

Algorithms to peek into the universe

Astrophysicist Daniel Grün uses artificial intelligence to explore the influence of dark matter and dark energy on the Universe.

Algorithms to peek into the universe

Tandem actions in the particle world

Hopes are high that quantum theory could yield revolutionary applications. Physicist Jasmin Meinecke is working on the physical foundations of particle systems and studying the central phenomenon of entanglement, which is still a mystery to science.

Tandem actions in the particle world
Tim van Leent

On the path to secure communication

An international team led by LMU physicists has successfully implemented an advanced form of quantum cryptography for the first time. Encryption is more secure against hacking attempts.

Quantum cryptography: on the path to secure communication

Living in the face of doom

“The society was constantly in motion": Ancient historian Martin Zimmermann on the spirit of optimism and sense of crisis in the Greek polis

Living in the face of doom

Keeping the memory alive

How to talk about the horror? An interview about the culture of remembrance and the role of first-hand witnesses of the Holocaust.

Keeping the memory alive

Modeling the Universe with data

Space and time encoded in 320 million Megabytes: LMU astrophysicist Klaus Dolag uses simulations to study how the cosmos evolved.

Modeling the Universe with data

Molecular tuning: Evolution in fast forward

Biologists led by Dario Leister want to give photosynthesis a helping hand. With the goal of increasing crop yields, they are using algae to accelerate the genetic adaptation of crop plants to changing environmental conditions.

Prof. Dario Leister - a portrait

Tracing tangled threads through time

Paleogenomics: When and where did wolves become dogs? LMU geneticist Laurent Frantz uses modern genome sequencing methods to trace the process of animal domestication.

Paleogenomics: Tracing tangled threads through time
Portrait von Bärbel Stecher.

The community within us

The most densely populated ecosystem does not belong to the human environment, but to its inner world, says Bärbel Stecher. She studies the microbiome and its complex metabolic network. What makes this community of microorganisms so important for health?

A portrait of Prof. Bärbel Stecher

Conversations with:

Erik Schilling
Erik Schilling

We might wish that people were always open and honest, in a word “authentic”. But aren’t we just kidding ourselves?

Read more
Peter Schwardmann
Peter Schwardmann

Overconfidence is a trait that interests behavioral economists. Who does it help, and what damage can it do?

Read more
Inga Koerte
Inga Koerte

Can heading the ball in soccer matches have a deleterious effect on the brain?

Read more

Deepfakes: “It’s a nightmare of disinformation.”

Modern technology is revolutionizing the ways in which pictures and videos can be faked. The consequences can be serious, warns communication scholar Viorela Dan.

“It’s a nightmare of disinformation”

By the numbers

0.000277778 degrees = 1 arc-second. This number equals the precision with which the uniquely sensitive ring laser ROMY can measure changes in the orientation of the Earth’s axis.

ROMY (Rotational Motions in Seismology)

INSIGHTS. LMU’s Research Magazine: The print edition

INSIGHTS. Two times per year.

Insights shows what makes LMU so renowned: With exciting stories, research features, and interviews, experienced science journalists provide insights into cutting-edge research.

Missed an issue? If so, you can order back issues here.

Read more

Subscribe to the print edition of INSIGHTS (German only).

Read more

What are you looking for?

More information about Google data transfer in LMU's Privacy Policy.