Press / Newsroom

When it comes to food, we are used to safety and constant availability. But crises and empty shelves have shown we can’t take that as a given. Fraunhofer researchers are working to achieve greater resilience.

Interview with Friedrich Merz. As CDU chair and opposition leader, he argues for greater openness to technology. As an amateur pilot, he remains skeptical of the idea of flying a hydrogen-fueled plane.

So long to the 2D internet? Already, we are seeing the enormous advantages that the metaverse holds for development and production.

Mobility of the future equals electromobility: a simple equation, and to see the proof, you need only cast your eye out to the street. In fact, global sales figures for electric vehi­cles − i.e., battery-powered and hybrid vehicles, plug-in hybrids and vehicles with fuel cells − increased more than tenfold between 2010 and 2021, from just about 838,000 to more than 9,345,000 vehicles. Germany was well at the head of this trend: although less than 6,000 electric vehi­cles were sold nationwide in 2010, the figure had jumped to 750,000 by 2021. The pioneering field of e-mobility faces a big challenge in the form of batteries; every stage brings up issues to resolve, from manufacturing to disposal. Researchers at institutes and developers at automotive manufacturers are working hard to increase the energy density of the batteries − which would, in turn, increase the vehicles’ range − through novel material combina­tions and new cell designs, improving the batteries’ safety and lifespan and reducing production costs.

In the context of the mobility of the future, the words “autonomous vehicles” come up over and over. However, if an AI system takes the wheel instead of a human being, then that system must have adequate safety levels − in fact, it should ideally be even saf­er than a human driver.

Drivers have bewailed the record highs in gas and diesel prices over the past year. However, the EU proj­ect To-Syn-Fuel could pave the way forward here, as researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Environ­mental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT are developing a new method of producing fuel, which they have already implemented at a pilot scale.

Artificial intelligence can detect diseases at an earlier stage, improve treatments and reduce the strain on medical personnel. In spite of this, it is barely used in hospitals. Only 9 percent of all German hospitals currently use artificial intelligence, although it has the potential to revolutionize medicine and significantly reduce the burden on medical staff.

Judith Gerlach is Bavaria’s youngest minister – and Germany’s first dedicated minister for digital affairs. At the start of the year, the 37-year old took over as chair of the D16 board, which brings together those German state government inisters, senators and state secretaries with responsibility for digitalization. Her goal: “Germany must achieve a leadership position in the digital world.”

Seaweed may not seem like much, but it has a lot to offer. It could play a vital role in providing food for the growing global popula-tion. Algae have been producing oxygen for 3.5 billion years. Every second oxygen molecule that we inhale originates from them. These photosynthesizing miracle workers could help supply us with food in the future.

In this interview, Bundestag President Bärbel Bas is brimming with confidence – not least because, with Fraunhofer, she sees Germany as well-positioned in terms of applied research.