Newsroom

Podcasts on various topics in science and the history of science—in English and German more

How do you model a brain? Not all of it — just one piece. A synapse that strengthens with use. A neuron in the visual cortex that responds to edges. A cerebellum learning to fine-tune movement. A dopamine signal that encodes not reward itself, but the surprise of it. Code of the Mind is a podcast about the moments when neuroscientists and mathematicians found a shared language. Each episode takes one discovery or one thinker and follows the idea all the way through — where it came from, what it explained, and what it opened up. more

Each episode, a seasoned MPI researcher and a PhD student sit down and talk science: the questions behind a project, the method that took years to build, the experiment that failed and pointed somewhere new. Guests walk through their labs and data and the decisions that shaped their research. With co-hosts rotating between episodes, the show becomes a running conversation between generations of scientists about studying the brain. more

Valentin von Braitenberg, a physician, cyberneticist, musician, writer, and philosopher, would have turned 100 on June 18, 2026. This documentary produced by Stefan Nicolini of RAI South Tyrol traces the scientific career of the co-founder of the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics. more

Here is what you will experience during your visit to our science roadshow. more

Light plays a crucial role in our visual perception, but how does it actually influence our daily lives? more