Change the direction of light without a mirror? Separating a light source into different colors? Or discover why the sky is blue, the sun yellow and the clouds white? At the time of the Ghent Light Festival, Professor Philippe Smet explains how you can play with light yourself!
Professor Philippe Smet of Ghent University (Faculty of Sciences, Department of Solid-State Sciences) has been researching light for 20 years. So, he is the man to explain exactly what light is.
Professor Veerle Cnudde’s smartphone is full of photos of old, weathered stones. Mostly of natural stones, used in the construction of old buildings like the Gravensteen, as the aim of her research is to better protect the stones – and therefore the buildings too. Because “if you simply leave them in their current condition, over time there won’t be much left.”
It is always important to protect your skin from the sun’s harmful rays, but even more so in the summer. But what kind of sun cream is it best to use?
Will eel in green sauce soon be off the menu? It could well be, as the slippery fish is threatened with extinction. Reason enough for Ghent University researcher Pieterjan Verhelst to intervene. He’s looking for ways to save the eel: “The eel is part of our Flemish culture. We must not let that be lost.”
What is the role of communication in scientific research? An essential one, according to Professor Iain Stewart. He is a geologist, but above all a science communicator with, among other things, countless series made for the BBC. “It’s more than informing. I also want to connect with people.”
Imagine a virus that increases its chances of spreading by staying undetectable for a few days after it infects us, while we humans try to defend ourselves with a tool that we developed over thousands of years of evolution: our power to think. “Evolution is about more than just fossils or Darwin’s finches. It’s happening every day, before our very eyes.”
Modern biotechnology in agriculture is a much-discussed topic. Geert De Jaeger is both a professor at UGent and a plant biologist. Ghent University alumni Dirk Holemans is a coordinator of the social-economic thinktank Oikos and a former politician for Groen – the Flemish green party. They are on opposite sides of the spectrum when it comes to the use of modern biotechnology in agriculture. This leads to a lively debate with the most important conclusion being that: they agree to disagree.
