Research and society

Our homes need to become a lot more sustainable. Besides insulation, the heat pump is the latest ‘big’ thing when it comes to new construction and renovation projects. But is the heat pump worth the hype?

The advent of spring also means the return of many migratory birds after a winter in warmer countries. But in journeys that are often thousands of kilometres long, how do these birds find their way? Not with Waze or Google Maps, but thanks to the sun, a kind of built-in compass and highways.

Ensuring that every child learns how to code, that is the common goal of several UGent researchers and the educational platform CodeCosmos. They developed a digital co-teacher together for the popular programming language Scratch. A world-first because this is the first tool that can automatically evaluate Scratch exercises. “Coach CoDi goes light years beyond all other feedback tools”, says UGent professor Christophe Scholliers.

Deep in the Congolese rainforest stands a tower 57 metres high that is helping in the fight against climate change. Since October 2020, the Ghent University climate tower has been measuring both the amount of CO2 captured and stored by the tropical rainforest and the levels of water exchange between the forest and the atmosphere.

Cancer researcher Celine Everaert is currently developing an important test that should help to improve treatment for cancer patients. This is possible because of a scholarship, funded by donations and bequests.

Seventy per cent of the earth is covered with water, and yet we know only a fraction of what all that water can actually do for us. The blue economy continues to discover amazing resources and solutions that lie hidden underneath the surface of the sea.

From now on, Professor Dominique Van Der Straeten can call herself a fellow of the prestigious American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). This international recognition honours researchers who are making an invaluable contribution to science and its application. In the case of professor Van Der Straeten, it recognises her research, which aims to reduce ‘hidden’ hunger and the consequences of climate change.

Worldwide we are experiencing a real platformania: video-streaming platforms are popping up everywhere. But which platform is your best choice these days? And is it time to get rid of that traditional TV subscription?

We are bombarded with news about energy measures. Even so, there is a yawning gap between the paths defined and what people actually do.

Nearly 30 years ago, Rwanda went through a particularly brutal genocide perpetrated against Tutsis. The perpetrators were mainly regular citizens: colleagues, neighbours, family members… Today, both perpetrators and victims live side-by-side peacefully. But in a post-genocide society, can intergroup biases be ever reduced between individuals?

“Knowledge is important. But we tend to get hung up in that part of the process sometimes,” says researcher Bas Baccarne (research group imec-MICT-Ghent University, in De Krook). He prefers it when thinking also leads to doing. Preferably together with a whole bunch of other stakeholders. And, if it’s up to him, in the stimulating environment of ‘Comon’.