Videos

'Yow', 'Peace', 'Man'. Those English loanwords fly around joyfully when Melissa Schuring asks children for her research to briefly imitate a rapper. Very different, in fact, from when she has them play a farmer or a minister. Experiments like this teach her more about the development of linguistic stereotypes in children. In her video, she tells you more about her research.

Do you own an electric car? Then you know how difficult it can be to find available charging spots. But what if we cover electric cars with solar panels so that they can charge themselves with the power of the sun? Well, that's not easy because conventional solar panels used on roofs can't be integrated into our cars. Electrical engineer Bin Luo is looking at new solar panels suitable for our cars.

"Hebt gij Pieter toevallig nie gezien vandaag?"

This trivial Dutch question illustrates how, in our daily lives, we often use a more informal language, than the one we learn at school. This makes it challenging for non-native speakers to learn our language. In his research, Valentijn Prové studied conversations of Dutch native speakers with non-native speakers. He thus offers us an insight into how we adapt our language when we think someone will not understand us.

Producing renewable, low-cost energy in a robust way remains a challenge. Jose Maria Cuevas (Imec - KU Leuven - Energyville) is looking at a new sort of solar cell that might help do the trick: the *take a breath* 3 Terminal Tandem Bifacial Solar Cell 😅 Say what ⁉️ Jose breaks it down and makes it crystal clear for you in this video. 👏

Roughly every 5 minutes someone on this planet dies of ALS, and the sad truth is that we still do not have an effective treatment to cure this disease. The problem lies in the fact that we do not fully understand what causes ALS in the first place. In his doctorate, Jimmy Beckers is trying to solve a piece of the puzzle. He is investigating whether a malfunction in our internal cellular recycling system might be linked to ALS.

Have you ever wondered how pills are made? A powder flows through a production line, falls into a hole, and gets compressed into a pill. Easy, right? And yet a lot can go wrong, as chemical engineer Margot Coppens explains. That's why she uses computer models to virtually test the powder mixtures and anticipate possible production problems.

Milk is a source of many delicacies, such as cheese and ice cream. Unfortunately, milk also has a smell to it... Cows produce ammonia and methane through their breath and manure. These harmful gases are mainly released when cows are in their stables. In his Ph.D., Kobe Coorevits is looking for a way to accurately and affordably monitor the emission of these gases in dairy barns.

Making fries is something we Belgians are already very good at. But we can do even better, says Wout Vierbergen (ILVO - KU Leuven). He uses technology (Hyperspectral cameras! AI !) to detect black spots under the skin of a potato. In this way, he wants to help producers detect blistered potatoes so that they are left with only the finest ones to make our fries.

Modern electrical devices, such as the smartphone or the electric cars, work with direct current (DC) while our power grid works with alternating current (AC). Therefore, you need e.g. a charger, which converts one type of current to the other. So shouldn't we switch to a DC electricity grid? In her PhD, Leonie Hallemans investigates how we can make such new DC grids as safe as our old AC grid.

What if we could give mining waste a second life? Mining produces a lot of waste, so-called mine tailings. These tailings still contain some leftover valuable metals, Nor Kamariah is researching new approaches to extract these remaining metals from the mining waste, while cleaning these tailings all at once. These clean tailings can then be recycled as construction materials. 

How long will a patient live after his or her cancer diagnosis? And how long will a marriage between a new couple last? To make predictions of this so-called 'survival time', the time until an event occurs, researchers use statistical methods to analyze lifetime data. But what if you have incomplete data? Can you still make accurate predictions? That's what Worku Ewnetu is working on. Watch the video to find out more.

The corona pandemic, the energy crisis, the new nitrogen policy, ... Our farmers are having a hard time lately. How do farmers best face such challenges so that they can continue to produce the food on our plates? That is what Isabeau Coopmans investigated in her PhD through surveys and interviews with farmers.