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Before autonomous vehicles participate in road traffic, they must demonstrate conclusively that they do not pose a danger to others. New software developed at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) prevents accidents by predicting different variants of a traffic situation every millisecond.

The forest canopy, the closed vegetation cover consisting of treetops, is rapidly declining according to a research team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna. The team used satellite images, to create the first high-resolution map of canopy openings in Europes forests and reached the conclusion that the canopy of more than 36 million hectares of forest areas has been lost over the past 30 years.

Aerospace is an engine of technological change that is itself undergoing a far-reaching transformation through digital technologies. The new online course "Digitalisation in Aeronautics and Space" offers insights into this process and how it is impacting the working world of engineers. With lecturers from several research institutions and leading companies, this free Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) is intended for professionals, students and anyone with an interest in technology.

The “IceCube” neutrino observatory deep in the ice of the South Pole has already brought spectacular new insights into cosmic incidents of extremely high energies. In order to investigate the cosmic origins of elementary particles with even higher energies, Prof. Elisa Resconi from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has now started an international initiative to build a neutrino telescope several cubic kilometers in size in the northeastern Pacific.

In the coming years, tens of thousands of small satellites will be fired into outer space worldwide. Isar Aerospace, a start-up formed at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), has developed a small, low-cost launch vehicle specifically designed to carry small satellites into orbit. Manufacturing is now set to begin in Ottobrunn, just outside Munich and a short distance away from TUM's Department of Aerospace and Geodesy. The production halls were officially opened today with the Bavarian Minister President Dr. Markus Söder and TUM President Prof. Dr. Thomas F. Hofmann in attendance.

The latest edition of the THE World University Rankings places the Technical University of Munich (TUM) among the three best universities in the EU.

Many people use cortisone of a regular basis. It is used for treating rheumatism, asthma, multiple sclerosis, or even COVID-19. Steroidal medication such as cortisone is highly effective but also possesses severe side effects. Henriette Uhlenhaut, professor at Technical University of Munich (TUM), and her team are examining the beneficial effects of cortisone in order to lay the groundwork for the development of similar drugs with fewer side effects.

The first episode of the newly released series "Biohackers" was stored in the form of synthetic DNA. This was made possible by the research of Prof. Reinhard Heckel of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and his colleague Prof. Robert Grass of ETH Zürich. They have developed a method that permits the stable storage of large quantities of data on DNA for over 1000 years.

The increasing use of AI (artificial intelligence) in the development of new medical technologies demands greater attention to ethical aspects. An interdisciplinary team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) advocates the integration of ethics from the very beginning of the development process of new technologies. Alena Buyx, Professor of Ethics in Medicine and Health Technologies, explains the embedded ethics approach.

A research team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) led by chemist Johannes Lercher has developed a synthesis process which drastically increases the activity of catalysts for the desulfurization of crude oil. The new process could perhaps also be used for catalysts in fuel cells.