01 20 The Eppendorf – LifeScienceStyle Magazine HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EPPENDORF! How the company continues to improve peoples’ living conditions – 75 years on THE SEARCH FOR CLUES What are the causes of autism? Lauren Orefice knows: the sense of touch plays a role Dossier No Easy Decision presented by ISSN 2625-1116 CONTENTS EDITORIAL i Dear Reader, SUBSCRIPTION AND FEEDBACK You want to make sure that you will continue 33 When the founders of today’s to receive future issues? Please visit the world market leader Eppendorf, website www.eppendorf.com/abo_OTB Dr. Hans Hinz and Dr. Heinrich and subscribe to “Off the Bench“ for free. Netheler, started repairing defec- tive laboratory instruments and We look forward to your feedback, which will developing new devices in 1945, tell us whether we have indeed achieved our they had a vision: to improve peo- goal with this issue. We invite you to submit your suggestions for improvement: ple’s living conditions. Today – 75 years later – this founding idea is still Eppendorf’s guiding princi- [email protected] ple for entrepreneurial decisions that are always aimed at shaping 12 the future. In pioneering work, Eppendorf developed products early on that made laboratory work much easier. Examples include the photometer from 1949 onwards, which is still in the portfolio today, and the Multipette® 4780, which was 26 launched in 1978. This year, “Move It®” is a special high- light: with the multichannel pipettes, the tip distances 44 can be varied and thus up to twelve samples can be transferred simultaneously. Behind innovations like these there is always the fol- lowing question, which we are dealing with particularly intensively in the anniversary year 2020: what will the science of tomorrow look like? Our thoughts on this and a selection of milestones from our history can be found 36 in the “Inside Eppendorf” section on pages 26 to 27 and for further information at www.eppendorf.com/75-years, where our 75th anniversary is given special attention. A certain development, whether entrepreneurial or personal, is always the sum of all our decisions. Whether INSPIRING SCIENCE 20 A Question of Ethics 36 Underrepresented they are right or wrong is often only known afterwards. What should artificial intelligence decide for itself? Physicist Jess Wade writes Wikipedia entries But how do decision-making processes work? And what 4 News about women in science – in her spare time kind of power does artificial intelligence have when we Science news 24 Good Advice feed it with information and let it make decisions for us Book suggestions on the topic of decision-making 38 Hear Hear! based on algorithms? This is a complex topic that we 6 Lonely at the Top Communicating science via podcasts – this is how it works! examine from all sides in our dossier. It is fascinating how tall, old and heavy certain INSIDE EPPENDORF species of trees will grow We hope you enjoy reading the magazine, 26 75 Years Eppendorf EXPLORING LIFE 10 Conveying Knowledge Of milestones and major future issue How students learn from researchers – and vice versa 40 Genius Invention 28 Fundamental Questions of Research 50 years of Internet – a success story 12 Ecological Value “Science Counts – but what Counts in Science?“ Eppendorf and researchers are investigating this 42 Medicine for Men Earthworms are much more exciting than we give Diagnostics and therapy of illnesses are often them credit for, a global study reveals 30 Lab Lifestyle geared towards men. This needs to change! Downtime: inspirations and a contest Eva van Pelt 14 The Field of Fragrance Research 44 Hamburg Co-CEO Why not only the nose, but all tissue cells can smell: 32 In Brief The rich heritage of the Speicherstadt Hanns Hatt provides the answers in an interview News and new products from Eppendorf 48 Becoming Visible PS: You would like to experience “Off the Bench” in ® digital format? Simply visit our website! DOSSIER Guest contribution from “Science ” magazine BRIGHT MINDS www.eppendorf.com/otb 50 Nature in Pictures 16 This is What I am Going to Do! 33 Highly Relevant “Photographers of the Year 2019“ In a bind? According to expert advice, the best How Lauren Orefice discovered the connection decisions are made with heart and mind between the sense of touch and autism. A portrait 28 Masthead ISSN 2625-1116 2 3 INSPIRING SCIENCE INSPIRING SCIENCE Science News ! From zero to a hundred The cheetah is the master of the sprint – no other land animal in the world is as fast as it is Record in Materials Science In the race to produce the darkest material, two US scientists were able to outperform the previous record-holder, “Vantablack”. They have developed a surface capable of absorbing 99.99 percent of light. Like its predecessor, this particularly dark material 39 Bits is manufactured from carbon-based nano- tubes in order to obtain a specific surface structure. A manufacturing process enabled per second – according to a study even further improvement of the absorption capacity. While the naked eye is unable to conducted by scientists at the detect the difference to Vantablack, which absorbs 99.96 percent of light, this new ma- University of Lyon in France, it terial is considered a significant step in the direction of the deepest black. is at this speed exactly that all 17 languages in the study trans- port information from mouth to ear. While Japanese and Spanish Goodbye Hereditary Disease? are considered to be fast-paced languages, they do not transport any more information. Unsurpassed Meet the King of the Sprint: the cheetah. In as 230 decibels. For the sake of comparison, a fighter little as three seconds, it can reach a speed of more jet at take-off emits a mere 140 decibels. than 100 kilometers per hour and thus accelerate The water is home to even more champions within Despite ongoing ethical discussions, the ge- Diagnosis Breakthrough almost faster than a Porsche. On top of its extraor- the animal kingdom; for example, the Greenland nome editing system CRISPR has long been dinary running style, it is its lean physique that allows shark, with its life expectancy of 400 years. The only accepted practice in international research. Using 27 laboratory values and heart rate, scientists have succeed- the feline predator to perform at this top level. But animal to surpass it in this way is the giant sponge A team of scientists from the Broad Institute ed in diagnosing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in soldiers the cheetah cannot keep up this pace for very long; Anoxycalyx joubini; it can reach the ripe old age of in Cambridge, USA, has now developed the with an accuracy of 77 percent. Up to now, such disorders of the after about 400 meters it is exhausted. 10,000 years and it is thus the oldest living organism method even further: in the case of prime psyche can only be diagnosed via certain symptoms. Frank Doyle’s In stark contrast to the athletic cheetah, a 55 ton in the world. The secret to the longevity of these editing, the DNA is no longer cut, but its com- team from the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied sperm whale may not impress with its speed, but it animals, presume scientists, is rooted in their partic- ponents are precisely exchanged, deleted or Sciences in Cambridge,USA divided soldiers who had suffered PTSD is instead one of the loudest animals in the world. ularly slow metabolism as well as in specific genetic altered – a method touted to carry a lower during war and soldiers without PTSD into two control groups for Its clicking sounds reach a sound pressure level of features. risk. Prime editing could one day enable the the experiment, in order to compare all available laboratory results. correction of 89 percent of all heritable hu- From the abnormalities, they selected the relevant comparative values man diseases. for an accurate diagnosis. 4 5 INSPIRING SCIENCE INSPIRING SCIENCE Outstanding There are approximately 65,000 known tree species worldwide, and some of them have made quite a name for themselves. They are higher, older or heavier than their peers – and they continue to amaze researchers and nature-lovers alike. ! Biblical Age 969 years old – according to thousand years old. The secret the Old Testament, this was the behind their longevity: in con- age reached by Methuselah. It trast to the DNA of, for exam- is therefore not surprising that ple, humans, which is subject the oldest living tree in the to pre-programmed, natural world known today has been deterioration, this particular named after him: Methuselah, pine has an extraordinary ca- a specimen of the bristlecone pacity for repairing and repro- pine, has been estimated to ducing damaged cell material. have thrived and survived in Moreover, the tree has adapt- the White Mountains of Cali- ed: pests hardly ever infest fornia for approximately 4,850 its robust wood; the dry sur- years. The White Mountains, as rounding air protects it from well as Nevada and Utah, are rot, and the vast distances be- home to the ancient tree spe- tween individual trees prevent cies, many of which are several extensive fires. ! Patience Rewarded Not only one, but two records are held by the Seychelles palm tree, also known as the Seychelles nut: in addition to the largest flower and a cotyledon that measures takes another two years to germinate – four meters, this tree develops the largest maybe. The complicated reproductive and heaviest seeds in the plant world. The behavior of the tree is the reason why its giant seeds weigh up to 18 kilograms, and existence is limited to the Seychelles.