Videos

With the current corona pandemic, viruses are seen as more dangerous than ever. But did you know that some viruses can help us fight cancer? Jolien De Munck is studying the potential of these so-called 'oncolytic viruses'.

You see the term "populism" popping up all over the press. But what exactly do Flemish journalists mean when they use that term? That's what communication scientist Jana Goyvaerts is figuring out in her doctorate. She lifts the veil in this video.

Our education system suffers from a shortage of teachers. During her PhD Law researcher Evelien Timbermont (VUB) discovered one of the causes of this problem: the outdated & complicated rules for the employment of teachers. Fortunately, she also knows the solution to this problem.

The current corona crisis is having a huge impact on our lives. Artificial intelligence can help keep such a pandemic better under control, with less drastic measures and thus a more limited impact on our social lives. Pieter Libin explains how this works in this video.

A dog's nose is one of the most powerful sensors we have. Trained dogs are even able to detect early signs of certain diseases by sniffing our breath. As this would not be very practical, Alex Cruz is looking to integrate a doglike 'nose' in our smartphones to do the trick.

Melanoma is a very common and lethal type of skin cancer. Melanoma cells have a strange, yet effective defence mechanism called autophagy: they can manage to survive by eating parts of themselves. Monica Vara Perez tries to figure out this self-cannibalism mechanism in order to help defeat melanoma.

Last year, we all witnessed the horrible fire in the Notre Dame de Paris. While the magnificent stained-glass windows survived the inferno, they suffered damage and need to be repaired. But how can you repair such historic artefacts, of over 900 years old? That's where the 'science of light' comes in, as Mathilde Patin explains in this video.    

Mice that follow a low-calorie diet appear to be protected against the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Charysse Vandendriessche is investigating why this is the case to gather more insight in the underlying disease mechanism. This information could into the future contribute to the development of a treatment against this devastating disease.

Did you know that your smartphone contains, among many other precious metals, about 20 milligrams of gold? That may not seem like much, but it's 200 times as much gold as in a small piece of gold ore. Nick Gys (UAntwerpen - VITO) is working on a technique to easily recycle these precious metals from smartphones.

Fertilization is crucial in agriculture, but over-fertilization causes environmental pollution and all-rich algae growth in our watercourses. Wouldn't it be great if plants and crops could grow well with less fertilizer? That's what Astrid Gadeyne wants to achieve in her PhD.

Rahel Park has a dilemma for you: what to do if a bunch of flies land on the cake you were just about to eat? Should you eat it anyway or should you throw it away? Watch the video for the -scientifically substantiated- answer!

Imagine if you could influence Parkinson's disease by altering the intestinal bacteria of patients? That sounds strange at first glance, but Arnout Bruggeman explains why it might work.