news 2018

VUB thesis exposes power dynamic in doctor-patient relations The internet as a source of information about health is no panacea for creating patient empowerment. That's the conclusion reached by Edgard Eeckman in the doctoral thesis he defended at VUB's Communication Science faculty. He researched the power balance in the doctor-patient relationship and the influence of online and offline information about health, in a study that reveals the power dynamics associated with being ill.

Communication scientists show that word choice in media reports on suicide has a measurable impact on public opinion. In an empirical study published in Social Science & Medicine , an international team of researchers from the University of Munich, KU Leuven and the Medical University of Vienna show that the specific German word used in media reports of suicides has a measurable impact on how readers perceive and evaluate the act of suicide.

Just a year ago, on the 22 February 2017, at a press conference at NASA headquarters, an international team of researchers revealed the existence of a unique exoplanetary system, made up of seven planets orbiting a small nearby star. Known as TRAPPIST-1, this system created a hug buzz on the Web, in the media, and within the scientific community.