Videos

A strawberry picking robot: a fine example of innovation in agriculture. Yet innovations seem difficult to spread in the agricultural sector. That's why Evelien Cronin is researching how we can improve the innovation process: "Alone you go faster, but together you get further."

In order to convince the construction sector to build more circularly, hard figures are needed to show that circular constructions are more advantageous both ecologically and financially. This is what Lisa Van Gulck (University of Ghent) wants to ensure.

As if developing a cancer drug is not difficult enough, you still have to successfully get that medicine to the tumor. Tim Bomberna (Ghent University) explains how computer simulations show us the way.

In these covid times, we have to follow concerts via live streams, musicians jam virtually instead of in their rehearsal room, and music lessons take place via online video. But how does technology influence musical interactions? Musicologist Bavo Van Kerrebroeck (Ghent University) studies this through fascinating experiments using VR and spatial sounds.

Heavy smartphone use results in poorer study performance, according to research by Simon Amez (Ghent University). To investigate this, Simon followed students for three years. Students with above-average smartphone use even score up to 1 point out of 20 less on their exams than their fellow students. 👨🏼‍🎓 📱

The disappearance of forests is nothing less than "a genocide of trees, with bleeding stumps and amputated branches. With this powerful imagery, the French writer Pierre Gascar already sounded the alarm about the environment 50 years ago. Sara Buekens studies how he and his colleagues wanted to put environmental issues on the agenda in their novels half a century ago. Are you ready for an ecological novel?

Did you know that the Greek philosopher Aristotle considered the idea that the woman is inferior to the man as a scientific fact? But how did Islamic philosophers of the Middle Ages, who were quite fond of Aristotle, think about the role of women? Completely different, according to the research of philosopher Tineke Melkebeek.  

On social media clips of skirmishes between citizens and the police regularly pop up and, in a flash, go viral. They elicit a lot of reactions, not least the classic "things used to be better in the old days". But was there less violence on the streets in the past? Historian Martin Schoups delves into documents from 19th-century Antwerp.

To protect your data in the cloud, you can encrypt it to make it impossible for others to see. But, if you want to edit your data, for example, put a filter on a picture, you first have to remove the encryption. Cryptographers such as Charlotte Bontee are developing new techniques to keep your data safe at all times.

To have a conversation and interact in a meaningful way, you have to be constantly aware of what has already been said. You have to remember the recent past. But how does that work? How does our brain create a memory? That's what Lies Deceuninck (Imec - KU Leuven) is researching.

Have you ever tried to look at something, but it was too small to see? Well, scientists improving your smartphone are facing this issue on a daily basis. Jonathan Op de Beeck (imec - KU Leuven) explains how they are able to 'see' the invisible.

What if we could offer heart surgeons true 3D-representations of their patient's heart instead of having them rely on 2D imaging such as CT scans for complex surgery? Anabel De Proft (imec - KU Leuven) is working on technology to project such 'holograms'.