If we want to continue enjoying our weekly portion of fish or shellfish in the future, it will be largely thanks to aquaculture. Just call it the fish farm of the future. Ghent University is one of the world’s top researchers on the sustainability and development of aquaculture.
It turns out that large forests are not the only woodland to contribute to combatting climate change. In fact, small woods are important too, and far more than we once believed. Small areas of woodland actually take in proportionately more carbon than their larger relations. This means it is really important to take care of such areas, and plant more of them.
Our tap water travels hundreds of kilometers each day, even though we get more than enough water falling on the roof. According to bioengineer Korneel Rabaey, switching to a local or even circular water supply is quite feasible.
The organization and transportation of water and food is one of the biggest obstacles to a manned trip to Mars. It is impossible to send all the necessary food and drink into space. Bio-engineer Jolien De Paepe is therefore developing a recycling system that converts astronauts’ urine into clean drinking water and valuable nutrients.
We live in the post-antibiotic era. At least that’s what the World Health Organization (WHO) says. And not without foundation — it suggests some ten million people will die annually from antibiotic-resistant bacteria by 2050 if we don’t act now. Furthermore, there are more cancers than now. And so it is a feverish search for alternatives. Ghent University researchers have already come up with a promising breakthrough.
