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Xingzhao Sun of the research group Wildness, biodiversity and ecosystems under change of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) explored the complex ecological interactions between herbivore dung and plant communities, providing new insights into the role of nutrients and microbial communities in ecosystems.

New KU Leuven research shows that the risk of contracting schistosomiasis, an infectious disease caused by a parasitic flatworm, will increase considerably over the next century.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

VUB researcher reveals secrets of cave from the Early Upper Palaeolithic, when Neanderthals and the first Homo sapiens co-existed Mughr el-Hamamah, meaning "pigeon cave" in Arabic, is a site in northwestern Jordan, renowned for its prehistoric findings dating between 39,000 and 45,000 years old. Numerous stone tools, hearths, and animal and hominin bones have been excavated there.

High Arctic (left) and Continental Antarctic (right) lake bottoms, covered by dense microbial mats. Credits: David Velazquez An international research team of scientists led by biologists from Ghent University investigated the biodiversity and evolutionary history of microorganisms in Arctic, sub-Antarctic and Antarctic lakes in the first large scale study using DNA.

Affordable, effective and sustainable "fog nets" to capture droplets and combat water scarcity in deserts. An article by Denis Terwagne, Professor and Chairman of the Centre de Recherche en Physique, Faculty of Science, in The Conversation. In 2022, 2.2 billion people still have no access to drinking water services.

A team of European astronomers, co-led by researchers from the Institute of Astronomy, KU Leuven, used recent observations made with the James Webb Space Telescope to study the atmosphere of the nearby exoplanet WASP-107b. Peering deep into the fluffy atmosphere of WASP-107b they discovered not only water vapour and sulfur dioxide, but even silicate sand clouds.

Fine dust from pulverised rock released by the impact of the Chicxulub meteorite 66 million years ago played a major role in climate cooling, disruption of photosynthesis and the mass extinction of dinosaurs, VUB researchers have found. Until now, the exact circumstances surrounding the mass extinction of the dinosaurs - such as the effect on the global climate of the material ejected by the meteorite's impact - have been unclear.

Fine dust from pulverized rock released by the Chicxulub meteorite impact 66 million years ago played a dominant role in the cooling of the climate, the disruption of photosynthesis and the mass extinction in which most dinosaurs went extinct. Until now, the precise circumstances of the mass extinction, such as the effect of the different types of impact material ejected from the crater on global climate were unclear .

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.

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.

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.

Archaea, representing a group of primordial microbes which were recently found to be very related to humans, often grow best in extreme environments. While many bacteria (which are standing very far from us from a evolutionary point of view) can withstand only small fluctuations in temperature and acidity, Archaea are true survival champions.