Exhibition

► image source: Thomas Roese / AVZ

There are so many things we don’t know yet! How is the universe built up? What do we know about the Koran? Is there a way to give back eyesight to blind persons? Our exhibition offers you an answer to these questions.

Enjoy the outstanding visualization made by Prof. Detlef Saalfeld, Fachhochschule Potsdam, and his students, who also created the world-renowned design concept of the Grabeskirche in Jerusalem.

What do we know about the Koran?
The first written evidence indicates the Koran as a text which only includes consonants and no vowels. The fact that these consonants exist in different spellings makes interpretation difficult and explains the various versions of the Koran. For a better understanding you need to analyze the oldest copies and consider the different readings.

How does technology enable an autonomous life?

Smartphone applications, big IT systems or innovative technologies – all of them support our daily life almost everywhere. For people with disabilities such as deafness, blindness or dementia, new technical assistance systems offer a vital improvement to their quality of life. Lost functions and abilities can be regained or – if renewal is not possible anymore – they can be supported or replaced.
► © Charité, Universitätsmedizin Berlin

Does the brain beguile us?

Do we see the world as it is; or do we see the world in a way which is reconstructed by our brains? Optical illusions mislead us, but they also reveal the capacity of the brain which adds information from prior experiences to make a scene plausible. Visual illusions benefit from this interaction. They therefore do not show errors, but the fantastic adaptability.
►© Karin Pelte

How do plants work?

Plants use the process of photosynthesis. Thus they can produce all materials they need to grow. Animals and humans cannot do this, they are dependent on plants. Next to producing energy-rich compounds like sugar, starch and fats, plants produce thousands of other substances such as vitamins and poisons to protect them from vermin. How do plants produce this diversity of substances?
►© Max-Planck-Institut für Molekulare Pflanzenphysiologie, Potsdam

Is there a way to give back eyesight to blind persons?
In Germany, 7,000 people are waiting for a donated cornea. How can they be helped? Their eyesight could be saved by an artificial cornea. One of the existing models has been developed in Potsdam. It has already been implanted successfully to patients who could not do with donated corneas. Until today there was not a single rejection which raises hope for future development.
►Cornea Fraunhofer IAP, Pic.Dr. Sandra Mehlhase

How is the universe built up?
We are familiar only with about 5% of the universe including all the stars, planets and of course us, the humans. 95% of our universe are still unknown. This unknown matter and energy is called dark matter and dark energy. Dark, because we do not know them yet. The question of what lies behind this darkness, is one of the most exciting one in astrophysics.
►NASA, ESA, J. Hester and A. Loll (Arizona State University)