The German research aircraft HALO is currently being prepared for deployment in New Zealand at its home base at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Oberpfaffenhofen: During the "HALO-South" mission, which will begin in September, researchers led by the Leibniz Institute of Tropospheric Research (TROPOS) will investigate the interaction of clouds, aerosols, and radiation over the Southern Ocean. To this end, HALO will spend five weeks conducting measurement flights over the oceans of the clean southern hemisphere from Christchurch, New Zealand. Since it went into service in 2012, HALO has only been used this far south once before. The mission in New Zealand is therefore a first: never before has a German research aircraft investigated the South Pacific and the adjacent Southern Ocean in this region. The aircraft measurements during ‘HALO-South’ are mainly funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) with contributions from the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (MPIC) and the German Aerospace Centre (DLR). They mark the start of intensive research cooperation between Germany and New Zealand.

The researchers hope that the measurements will not only provide important data for optimizing weather forecasts and climate models in the little-explored southern hemisphere, but also provide a better fundamental understanding of how the atmosphere and clouds will respond to a decline in anthropogenic emissions in the coming decades. For the team, looking into the cleaner atmosphere around Antarctica is therefore also a glimpse into the future. 

A research team from Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory introduced a new, eco-friendly method to transform carbon dioxide (CO₂, a major greenhouse gas) into useful high-performance plastics using a simple copper-based catalyst. Conducted under mild conditions at room temperature and ambient pressure, this process efficiently incorporates CO₂ into polymer materials that can be used in packaging, sensors, biomedical devices and more. The developed polymers are highly soluble, customizable, and can be quickly modified to create multifunctional materials. This innovative approach not only offers a sustainable way to recycle CO₂ but also opens new possibilities for producing advanced materials that support environmentally friendly manufacturing and help combat climate change. 

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