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Life Sciences - Health - 25.07.2024
Building bridges between cells for brain health
The brain contains many cell types, from the prominent neurons to the lesser-known microglia. The latter are integral to the brain's immune system and play a crucial role as the brain's cleanup crew. A recent study conducted by researchers from the University Hospital Bonn and the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) at the University of Luxembourg, in collaboration with colleagues from France, Hungary, and Germany, highlights that microglia establish connections with neurons through tunnelling nanotubes.
Life Sciences - Chemistry - 12.07.2024
Slimed, sealed and secreted: Frog glue, and what makes it stick
A multidisciplinary team of researchers from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, University of Mons, VIB-VUB Center for Structural Biology and KU Leuven has deciphered one of the most fascinating but least understood chemical defence adaptations in the Animal Kingdom: glue. In a newly published article in Nature Communications , they report on how changes in the structure and expression of two proteins underlay the parallel evolution of defence glues in distantly related frog lineages.
Earth Sciences - Environment - 09.07.2024
In the heart of the volcano: when a scientific expedition goes off the rails
In early 2024, geophysicist Corentin Caudron plans to travel to Costa Rica to study the activities of the Poás volcano, by measuring sound emissions in the lake that fills its crater. He was to join a 20-strong team and bring back crucial data for volcano monitoring. But nature decided otherwise. An article published in The Conversation.
Health - Pharmacology - 05.07.2024
New approach to chronic pain
Chronic pain is one of the most challenging problems facing society. It has a significant impact on the daily lives of 23% of the population, and the care given to patients experiencing persistent pain is often not appropriate. The Pain in Motion research group at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) focuses on improving healthcare providers' understanding and treatment of persistent pain.
Health - Life Sciences - 05.07.2024
COVID-19 at the university: A story that keeps unfolding
Early in the pandemic, scientists at the University of Luxembourg started to use their expertise to better understand the virus, its acute symptoms and longer-term consequences, and find effective responses against its propagation. Even if the crisis has passed, researchers are still investigating different aspects of the disease.
Social Sciences - 02.07.2024
The complex issues of criminal migrants in need of protection
What to do with migrants that committed a crime, but are threatened in their country of origin? This question is difficult to answer, Julia Zomignani Barboza, a researcher at the Fundamental Rights Research Center at Vrije Universiteit Brussel found. Her extensive research delves into the complexities of regulating the situation of migrants who are at risk of human rights violations in their home countries but who have also committed crimes or are suspected of being dangerous to their host communities.
History / Archeology - Agronomy / Food Science - 28.06.2024
Oldest skull and skull fragment in Flanders
During the Contact Day Archaeology of the Province of East Flanders on Friday 28 June, it was announced that the oldest skull and skull fragment of Flanders have been discovered in Ename. A new exhibition on heritage care and the heritage of Ename will open at the provincial Heritage Site Ename on 6 July.
History / Archeology - Life Sciences - 25.06.2024
Merovingian burial ground in Koksijde reveals who inhabited Flanders in the seventh century
KU Leuven geneticists discover two separate population groups that coexisted in early medieval Flanders The early medieval period in Flanders is a period that is not very well-known, because of the limited historical and archaeological sources. A unique discovery from the seventh century in Koksijde allowed KU Leuven geneticists to use DNA research to reveal the ancestry of the people who inhabited Flanders during this time.
Transport - Computer Science - 25.06.2024
Enjoy the ride: self-driving tech made in Luxembourg
In the busy streets of Luxembourg, something exciting is happening. Scientists are working on perfecting autonomous driving, so that you and I can be chauffeured to work or school by a self-driving car. This future is what drives Professor Raphaël Frank and his team: they want to change the way we travel and make our daily trips safer and easier.
Environment - 24.06.2024
Pollution neutralises improved heat tolerance in water fleas
Researchers at KU Leuven studied the impact of pollution on evolutionary reactions of organisms that adapt to global warming. The research, published in , shows that pollution, specifically metal pollution, can neutralise the advantage of a fast evolution of heat tolerance in water organisms. Revived water fleas provide unique new insights The research focused on the water flea (Daphnia magna), a crucial element in freshwater ecosystems.
Environment - Life Sciences - 04.06.2024
What environmental impact can a contraceptive molecule have?
What environmental impact can a contraceptive molecule have? Recent work by UNamur researchers answers this question, and has just been published in the journal Environment International. This work is the fruit of a three-year collaboration with Mithra, a Belgian biotech company committed to transforming women's health with innovative alternatives, particularly in contraception, funded by SPW Research.
Health - Life Sciences - 29.05.2024
Deep stimulation of the human brain: a new non-invasive technique EPFL-UCLouvain
Scientists at EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), led by Prof. Friedhelm C. Hummel and post-doctoral fellow Pierre Vassiliadis (EPFL and UCLouvain Institute of Neuroscience), have successfully tested a new technique enabling deep stimulation of the human brain, without surgery or implants, for potential therapeutic purposes.
Materials Science - Chemistry - 29.05.2024
Photovoltaic research shines at the Uni
They are popping up on roofs and car parks all'over the world: photovoltaic panels are becoming increasingly important in the race for renewable energy. This technology, based on the conversion of solar energy - photons - into electrical energy, sees a fast development of its performance. A postdoctoral researcher at the Uni intends to further improve them with a revolutionary structure dedicated to thin-film solar cells.
Environment - Agronomy / Food Science - 27.05.2024
North Pacific humpback whale populations threatened by climate change
A long-term study of humpback whale populations in the North Pacific Ocean shows that climate change is having a negative impact on the species. Marine biologist Joëlle De Weerdt of the VUB, founder of the non-profit organization ELI-S and co-author of the study, explains: 'Humpback whales have large, distinctive pectoral fins and a melodious song.
Life Sciences - Health - 23.05.2024
Genetic risk scores for Parkinson’s for precision medicine approach
An interdisciplinary team from the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) at the University of Luxembourg, together with international collaborators, established that a combination of small variations in genes regulating mitochondria, an important component of human cells, is associated with a higher risk for Parkinson's disease.
Health - Pharmacology - 21.05.2024
Could naked mole rats be the key to fighting cancer?
A ULB study reveals a new advance in our understanding of the immune system of the naked mole rat, opening up prospects for cellular immunotherapy of cancer . During the development of cancer, the immune system is able to exert antitumor activity thanks to natural killer (NK) cells and T lymphocytes.
Environment - 20.05.2024
Increasing drought puts the resilience of the Amazon rainforest to the test
Since 2015, the Amazon has been slower to recover from increasing drought events, but, overall, the rainforest still shows a remarkable resilience. New international research led by KU Leuven earth and environmental scientists shows that forest degradation due to drought has been most pronounced in the southern Amazon, where human impact is greatest. Since the turn of the century, four extreme droughts have occurred in the Amazon rainforest.
Computer Science - Microtechnics - 15.05.2024
Danoy on Swarm Intelligence Powered by Automated Algorithm Design
Swarm intelligence will revolutionise autonomous systems like robots or satellites. Inspired by nature, swarms of autonomous agents can display collectively intelligent behaviours, even though every single agent follows simple rules based on its individual perception. Thinking ahead, such systems can enable completely new possibilities for a multitude of use cases.
Environment - 15.05.2024
Summers warm up faster than winters, fossil shells from Antwerp show
In a warmer climate, summers warm much faster than winters. That is the conclusion of research into fossil shells by earth scientist Niels de Winter. With this knowledge we can better map the consequences of current global warming in the North Sea area. De Winter, affiliated with the Department of Earth Sciences at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and the AMGC research group at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, measured alongside colleagues from institutions such as the Institute for Natural Sciences in Brussels the chemical composition of fossil shells from Antwerp, Belgium.