news 2023

Octopuses are fascinating animals - and serve as important model organisms in neuroscience, cognition research and developmental biology. To gain a deeper understanding of their biology and evolutionary history, validated data on the composition of their genome is needed, which has been lacking until now.

While Europe has been hard hit by global warming (floods, forest fires), with temperatures still abnormally high for October, the phenomenon is also being observed in Alaska, where 3 researchers from UCLouvain are currently pursuing their research on permafrost (or permafrost) during the summer-winter transition.

A team of biologists, bioengineers, architects and product developers at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel has developed the first fully bio-based and biodegradable handbag based on mycelium. Mycelium is the root structure of fungus and forms a tight network of white filaments in the soil, on wood or other organic material.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems are increasingly being used in various aspects of our society. However, we do not always know how the algorithms work and whether the choices they make are fair.

For several years, artificial intelligence (AI) systems have been widely used in various aspects of society. The biggest challenge this development presents is that we often don't know how the algorithms behind the systems work and whether the choices they make are fair. To address that problem, Vrije Universiteit Brussel AI specialist Dr Carmen Mazijn investigated how we can better understand AI systems so they don't have a negative impact on our social institutions through bad decision-making and discrimination.

Participation in regional action plan motivates university in ambition to replace, reduce and refine animal testing As a humanist university, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) believes that science and empathy go hand in hand. In research that involves animals, respect and welfare are paramount. VUB recently committed to be part of the regional action plan of Flemish Animal Welfare minister Ben Weyts to reduce animal testing.

A research team headed by Prof. Jacob Hanna at the Weizmann Institute of Science has created complete models of human embryos from stem cells cultured in the lab - and managed to grow them outside the womb up to day 14. As reported in Nature , these stem-cell embryo models had all the structures and compartments characteristic of this stage, including the placenta, yolk sac, chorionic sac and other external tissues that ensure the models' dynamic and adequate growth.

The chemical compound BPA (bisphenol A), commonly used in plastic products, has been controversial for years due to its adverse health effects. KU Leuven researchers have developed a BPA alternative with similar functionality that has no harmful effects on health or the environment. From lunch boxes, reusable water bottles and cutting boards to snuffle mats for dogs and children's bibs, anyone searching online for "BPA-free" products will be spoilt for choice.

Preeclampsia is a severe complication of pregnancy, affecting 1 in 40 pregnant women. Identifying high-risk patients is often difficult and complex because the exact cause of preeclampsia is still unknown. Researchers from KU Leuven found that a DNA analysis can tell which women are at higher risk of preeclampsia in the later stages of pregnancy.

Hydropower, traditionally one of Africa's most important sources of electricity, is expected to rapidly lose out in importance in favour of solar power in the coming years. The attractiveness of new hydropower stations is declining, due to increasing economic competition from solar panels and ongoing uncertainty over the effects of climate change on river flows.

The Middle Ages were tumultuous in climatic terms. It saw a cold phase, the Little Ice Age, and a warming period, the Medieval Climatic Optimum. The latter, according to data reconstructed from tree rings, saw temperatures sometimes higher than today's in northern Europe. This is an enigma: physics cannot explain this period of exceptional warmth, and climate models calculate more moderate temperatures for the period between the 10th and 14th centuries.

Frogs, toads and salamanders are fairly common sight in our gardens, forests and ponds. However, the chance that you ever encountered a caecilian is much smaller. These mysterious animals only live in tropical regions such as Southeast Asia, Africa and the Amazon rainforest. Like other amphibians, amphibians are vertebrates.

For years, scientists trying to gain a better understanding of Alzheimer's disease or other neurodegenerative disorders - tauopathies, since they involve the tau protein - have come up against one difficulty: how to diagnose the disease - beforehand - in a completely reliable way, since only autopsy today enables us to describe the tau protein aggregates in the brain, and thus to know with certainty what type of neurodegenerative disease the person was suffering from.

Anyone who sets off on holiday in their electric car needs to carefully plan their journey to avoid getting stranded without power along the way. Researchers at EPOWERS, a research group that works at the VUB MOBI research centre, have developed a technology that significantly extends the range of electric vehicles up to 1,000 km with a limited number of recharges.

On average, we're living longer, but we're not necessarily remaining healthy for longer. Prof Ivan Bautmans, head of the Frailty in Ageing research group at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, wants to change this. Based on his expertise in gerontology, the study of ageing, he is coordinating an advisory group of the World Health Organization (WHO) with a focus on healthy ageing.

Sediments taken from beneath an ancient ice core reveal that at least 20% of Greenland was green 416,000 years ago, corresponding to a recent past on the geological scale. The study, published in the journal Science, was carried out by an international team of scientists, including the Laboratoire de Glaciologie of the Université Libre de Bruxelles.

Sports scientists from KU Leuven are attending the Tour de France on the second rest day. They will test the Soudal Quick-Step riders and analyse the physical impact of the efforts exerted over the past few weeks. Using blood and urine samples, they gain insight into how the riders' metabolism adapts during the Tour and which protein fluctuations are or aren't beneficial for sustained performance.

In Belgium, 40% of people waiting for a transplant are unable to find an organ and therefore have to wait, which is why it is so important to guarantee the success of transplants. One of the major factors in failure is inappropriate dosages of the anti-rejection drug tacrolimus . University of Louvain (UCLouvain)-s Laure Elens and Laure Bindels have uncovered the influence of intestinal microbiota in the variability of the drug's dosages.

According to a series of reports published by WHO and the partner study Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC), adolescents who are most likely to have suffered from negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are female, older, from less affluent families, faced prolonged school closures or lacked social support.

Loss of nerve cells is a process that can take place not only in the brain, but also in the (less well-known) nervous system in the gut. A new study, carried out at KU Leuven and published in Nature , shows that specialised immune cells shape this nervous system, enabling the gut to make the transition to solid food early in life.