Videos

A cancer patient's blood contains valuable information about the cancer tumor, which can help determine the best treatment. However, in order to extract that information properly from the blood in the laboratory, the blood samples need to be treated carefully. Laure Sorber developed a manual for this.

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.

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.

Meat is an important source of protein. But did you know that these proteins can also be obtained from microbes and bacteria? Janne Spanooghe wants to introduce a new source of protein on our plate: purple bacteria.

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

What if we could generate energy through our numerous toilet visits? Michiel Van Tendeloo wants to make this work through water purification 2.0.

Is the battery of your smartphone draining quickly? Charlotte Vets wants to ensure that our smartphone battery lasts longer. How? By focusing on new, tiny components that are up to 1,000 times smaller than a hair: carbon nanotubes.

So-called "smart devices" aren't always as smart as you might think. Bram Steenwinckel (imec - Universiteit Gent) fuses artificial intelligence with the knowledge of experts to make them smarter.

"If we would cover the entire surface of Portugal with solar panels , this would generate enough energy to power the entire world. But of course, no Portuguese would ever allow this. But what about using their windows?" Jacopo Sala talks about new generation of solar panels.