Worldwide, millions of mice, rabbits, rats, dogs, monkeys and pigs are still being used in medical research. They are used to study diseases such as cancer, dementia, diabetes and heart disease. But scientists don’t just use animals as test objects in fundamental research. Animals are still...
Trees are regarded as the lungs of the earth. That’s because they absorb and store carbon dioxide greenhouse gases as they grow. And that’s also why climate conservationists around the globe are calling for reforestation and replanting to replace lost areas of cleared forests. A new...
Since time immemorial, people have dreamt of life on the moon. As early as the 1970s, the British science fiction series “Moon Base Alpha 1” depicted what life could be like there. However, this dream seemed almost impossible due to the inhospitable conditions on the moon. There is no...
Without phosphorus there would be no life as we know it. The mineral is present in our DNA and cell membranes and is an important building block for our bones and teeth. Besides calcium, phosphorus is the most common mineral in our body and it provides the cells with important energy. Scientists...
While hydrogen production is expensive, it can contribute to emission-free mobility. A prerequisite, however, is that the electricity needed for its production and for the transport of this fuel to filling stations should also be powered by renewable energy sources. A vehicle with hydrogen in its...
On April 15, 2019, the famous Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris went up in flames and was partially destroyed. Since then, various protective measures have been taken. As part of the reconstruction, the Otto-Friedrich-University of Bamberg, the French research institute “Centre National de la...
A human being needs eight hours of sleep. That this long-held statement doesn’t apply to everyone across the board has been known for quite some time. That’s because individual sleep needs vary from person to person. That’s also dependent on age. Children in particular need...
While politicians, the car industry and motorists in The Netherlands and Germany are arguing about driving bans in the major cities, the British university city of Oxford is setting a good example. Oxford City Council and the County of Oxfordshire have published the definitive plans for the first...
Attacks, assaults, rapes, and murders. Crimes that could potentially be prevented if only there were people that can come to the rescue. Unfortunately, victims are often unable to ask for help or just simply – no one hears them. The emergency call system from the German start-up profsec is...
Sensors are now part of the basic equipment of every modern car. Cameras, ultrasound, radar, infrared and the like already exist. But to really equip cars for autonomous driving, more is needed, besides of course the right map technology. The German tech company Bosch has now developed a new lidar...
Between 2001 and 2017, the number of road fatalities in Europe fell by 57.5%. The European average is 49 victims per one million inhabitants. This means that The Netherlands will have set a road safety record of 31 road fatalities per million inhabitants in 2017. In addition to The Netherlands,...
Typically after diagnosis, the most common treatment for prostate cancer begins with removal of the prostate. Followed by radiation, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, or a combination of all of these. Yet there are usually very few treatment options if the cancer is already at an advanced stage. One...
The number of people with dementia will increase dramatically in the coming years. Currently, 280,000 people suffer from Alzheimer’s disease (70 % of dementia patients), vascular dementia (16 %) or a similar condition just in The Netherlands. This number will rise to 620,000 by 2050. By that...
The term ‘e-coli bacteria’ is often associated with poor food hygiene and nasty diseases. The pathogenic bacterial strain is undoubtedly responsible for the latter. On the bright side, these bacteria are also useful residents in our intestinal flora. They are responsible for ensuring...
Saving for old age, for a new car, for a holiday trip, college education for the kids, etc. – everyone has good intentions, but with the implementation there is often a problem. The inventors of the Austrian start-up Monkee want to help people achieve their savings goals. Their app helps...
We fall, we are pursued and are unable to move, we want to scream. But no sound comes out, a loved one dies or suddenly disappears. These are scenarios that probably everyone has experienced in their dreams at some point. If nightmares recur more often than once a week, they are considered...
At the Madrid Climate Conference, which is taking place right now, it is mainly about coming up with measures to combat climate change. One of the measures involves the transition to sustainable energy. The existing methods for generating energy contribute significantly to the acceleration of...
Generation of electricity without coal, wind, hydroelectricity, or nuclear power plants, wind turbines or solar cells, etc? – Without any harmful emissions? The Swedish start-up ReVibe Energy is doing just that. A self-charging battery that can be attached to any vibrating surface generates...
It’s a godsend for anyone who has a habit of putting their smartphone in the back pocket of their pants. Because plenty of glass screens break that way. It is possible, however, to manufacture glass that is bendable and even stronger than steel. You just have to use slightly different...
Microplastics is literally on everyone’s lips. Every person eats, drinks and breathes up to five grams of microplastics per week – and therefore basically eats a credit card. There’s not just a lot of microplastic in the air and in our drinking water. There is also another...
Godfather of evolutionary theory and naturalist Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882) already assumed that there had to be something even smaller than the protozoa that were visible under the microscope in the “clear blue water” of the ocean. And he was right. Today we know that...
Holograms are part of everyday life in science fiction films and series such as Star Trek. On Captain Picard’s ‘Enterprise’ or on the ‘USS Voyager’, there are complete ‘holodecks’ where you can create any environment and any hologram you want. You are even...
Nitrogen oxides (NO and NO2) are emitted primarily during combustion processes which involve coal, oil, gas, wood, waste and engines. But they are also generated during industrial processes and in agriculture. Pinpointing pollution sources and then measuring substance emissions such as nitrogen...
We all get the hiccups from time to time. Nevertheless, it is mainly babies who get the hiccups after they have drunk something. Parents try everything they can to stop the hiccups. If you enter the search term “hiccup babies” into Google, you’ll get almost 700,000 suggestions on...
Problems with plastic waste reach the media almost every day. We are continually being confronted with it even in our own environment. Governments all over the world are trying to tackle this problem with regulatory bans, such as those on plastic bags and straws. Sandra Palazzolo and Kristina...