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In recent years, a lot of attention has been paid to loneliness in old age. Recent international studies show that 25% to 62% of elderly people experience occasional feelings of loneliness. However, the issue does not suddenly appear when one is old. Lise Switsers' doctoral research at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel showed the importance of looking at loneliness from a life-course perspective: "It's one of the many stereotypes that only older adults are lonely.

VUB research uncovers factors that prevent mangroves from spreading in South America Mangrove ecosystems are distributed around the world, along tropical and subtropical coastlines. However, they do not extend beyond certain latitudes, even though the sites seem suitable for them. VUB researcher Ari Ximenes, with researchers from ULB and UCLouvain, has now cracked this question among mangrove bio-geographers, by studying sites off the eastern coast of South America.

A new study led by VUB biologist Thomas Merckx shows that because of the warmer urban environment in which they live, butterflies and moths display a longer flight season than those in the surrounding countryside. The experiments he and colleagues conducted demonstrate for the first time that urban populations are evolutionarily adapted to start their overwintering state later in the year.

Brussels and other cities as a living lab of ecological change and evolutionary adaptation The Vrije Universiteit Brussel has a new research specialisation in biology.

VUB leads global team to launch personal climate projection website #MyClimateFuture Young generations are severely threatened by climate change. This intergenerational inequality was highlighted by an international research team led by VUB climate scientist Professor Wim Thiery in Science. The same group of researchers has now created a simple tool - via the VUB website My Climate Future - where everyone on the planet can find out how many more extreme climate events they will face across their lifetime compared to a world without climate change.

A team of scientists from KU Leuven, UAntwerp and Ghent University have mapped the temperatures of all European forest tracts. The results show that the summer temperatures in certain forests can cool down by as much as 10°C compared to the surrounding area. This cooling function is important in the battle against climate change.

VUB led Science publication shows how climate change is disproportionally affecting children International research led by Prof. Wim Thiery of the VUB research group BCLIMATE shows that children are to face disproportionate increases in lifetime extreme event exposure - especially in low-income countries.

Mangrove forests were once dominant in the tropics, but they have disappeared at alarming rates around the world. Little is known, however, about the impact of this deforestation on the functional diversity and resilience of resident fauna. A team including Farid Dahdouh-Guebas of VUB's Ecology & Biodiversity Research Unit Researchers addressed this question and found that mangroves have among the lowest faunal diversity of any of the planet's ecosystems, making them especially vulnerable to environmental change.

Olive oil and other unsaturated fats are liquid, but researchers have now developed an unsaturated fat that still remains solid at room temperature. Their product can help food companies to develop healthy alternatives to existing high-fat products. Olive oil and other unsaturated fats are liquid, but KU Leuven researchers have now developed an unsaturated fat that still remains solid at room temperature.

New climate reconstruction method provides precise picture of climate 78 million years ago Palaeoclimatologists study climate of the geological past. Using an innovative technique, new research by an international research team led by Niels de Winter (VUB-AMGC & Utrecht University) shows for the first time that dinosaurs had to deal with greater seasonal differences than previously thought.

Research results show that news diversity in Flanders is decreasing. The cause, according to his research, is the concentration of media organisations in the Flemish news landscape.

The chance of us finding brook lamprey or brown trout in our brooks and rivers again in a few years is particularly small.

Thursday, May 6, 2021 — For decades, we have been extracting materials from natural sources such as fossil fuels without considering the environmental impact.

Wednesday, May 5, 2021 — New research from a large international group of scientists, including the Physical Geography research group at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel led by Prof Philippe Huybrechts, suggests that sea level rise due to the melting of land ice could be halved this century if we meet the Paris targets to limit global warming to 1.5°C.

During the pollen season, many people with allergies tend to avoid nature. That isn't entirely justified, a new KU Leuven study into biodiversity and health suggests. During the pollen season, many people with allergies tend to avoid nature. That isn't entirely justified, a new KU Leuven study into biodiversity and health suggests.

Solar and wind power could mitigate geopolitical conflict in Northeast Africa Friday, April 9, 2021 — A new study shows that several disagreements between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt around Africa's largest hydropower plant, the new Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), could be alleviated by massively expanding solar and wind power across the region.

A new study shows that several disagreements between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt around Africa's largest hydropower plant, the new Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), could be alleviated by massively expanding solar and wind power across the region. Adapting GERD operation to support grid integration of solar and wind power would provide tangible energy and water benefits to all involved countries, creating regional win-win situations.

VUB FloodCitiSense project brings breakthrough in systematic mapping of flood problems March winds and April showers herald summers of intense downpours, leading to localised pluvial flooding. Accurately estimating this type of flooding is difficult. The FloodCitiSense project, an international participatory research project led by VUB professor of hydrology Boud Verbeiren, aims to remedy this by developing a flood warning service.

Biologists give first insight into distribution of ecologically important mangroves in the West Indian Ocean Mangrove forests are of great ecological and socio-economic importance. They have a permanent place on the international climate agenda because of their extensive carbon storage. Researchers from the Department of Biology at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel have now studied the genetic structure and diversity of mangrove forests in the Western Indian Ocean, a region where these aspects have been less studied until now.

River discharge changed significantly around the world in recent decades. An international research team including climate scientist Wim Thiery of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel has now been able to demonstrate that it is not water and land management but climate change that is playing a decisive role in this at a global level.