Videos

"I'm going deeper underground" 🎵 The lyrics of Jamiroquai's famous hit may well apply to Renata Barros. As a geologist, she knows how precious the underground is in providing essential minerals for modern-day technology, drinking water, etc. Through the Geoconnect3d project, Renata & her colleagues bring all the information from underground studies all over Europe together in an accessible knowledge system.

Meet Elodie-Laure Jimenez (RBINS - University of Aberdeen). As a zooarchaeologist, her job is to study prehistoric predators and their life during the last Ice Age. The only way to understand what happened to these extinct species is to study the fossils that have survived the test of time. In Belgium, this led Elodie-Laure to identify a den where hundreds of cave hyena cubs died shortly after birth. Find out more about her fascinating research in the video.  

Have you ever noticed how seeds are omnipresent? You find them in our daily bread, they are used in medicines, cosmetics, and even jewelry. This has always been the case, throughout the history of mankind. Archaeobotanist Sidonie Preiss dives into archaeological wells, granaries, and even latrines to recover seeds and reconstruct the shared history of plants and mankind.

It’s always thought that evolution happens by slow and gradual changes. But can evolution also happen fast? Oh, yes - as Zoë de Corte's research on beetles shows.

In 2006 Marine biologist Anton Van de Putte went on a 3-month- expedition to Antarctica. Unfortunately, he only managed to collect 400 samples, which were often no bigger than this little fish. Thanks to a simple but brilliant idea, he now has more than 2 million samples at his disposal...

When you swallow seawater, you actually ingest thousands of particles (mud, clay, phytoplankton, ...) that are barely visible for the naked eye. Michael Fettweis enlightens you about this universe of particles in a sip of seawater.

Once upon a time there were two types of cephalopods: the nautiluses and the ammonites. Although the ammonites were much better adapted, they became extinct. And the nautiluses? They're still swimming around today. Stijn Goolaerts studies fossils of these fascinating creatures and draws a wise lesson for mankind from the sad fate of the ammonites.

Katrien Van de Vijver is a physical anthropologist: by studying skeletons and bones from the Middle Ages, she tries to reconstruct the story of the past. See what she can learn from this

Alexandre Chevalier studies plants from the past. He is convinced that this knowledge can help us to grow food in a more sustainable way.

Nowadays, 98 million tons of chicken are consumed every year, making it the second most consumed meat in the world, after pork. BUt what about the past? Well, Quentin Goffette tries to find out which place birds occupied in the daily life (or menu) of our ancestors. 

"The study of a simple fishbone, provides us with a lot of insights on economic, ecologic and social level." Needless to say Wim Wouters is a fan of fish bones. He investigates fish remains from numerous archeological sites in order to reconstruct the history of fishing. 

Gontran Sonet explains why it is important for the Museum of Natural Sciences to have large collections of specimens. They are paramount to gain better understanding of our fascinating planet.