Videos

"In the early days, a computer was the size of a storage room. But today, this computer wouldn't stand a chance against the smartphone in your pocket" How is this even possible? Well, thanks to the nanotechnology inside your smartphone. In his PhD Balakumar Baskaran zooms in on the nanoscale

New smartphones and laptops with increased memory capacity are released all the time. We've become used to have more storage available at a lower price continuously. Anastassiia Kruv (imec) explains how scientist and engineers are constantly challenged to assure this trend.

Jan-Pieter D'Anvers keeps secrets. Your secrets. Think of your bank card code or your e-mails. He develops encryption algorithms to secure electronic communication and transactions.

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.

Were Neandertals able to breakdance? We bet you never thought of that question before, but that you're dying to know the answer by now. Well, Tara Chapman virtually (re)constructs skeletons of Neandertals and fuses them to movement of modern human to find out how they could have moved about.

Cesspits, you undoubtedly prefer to leave them closed. But that's not the case with 'plant archeologist' Lien Speleers. For her, cesspools offer treasures of information that help her to reconstruct the history of Brussels.

Do Google Home, Alexa and Siri have a social impact on our behaviour? Can they encourage us to drive more safely or convince us to exercise more often? That is what Pieter Vanpaemel (Vlerick Business School - KU Leuven) researches in his doctorate.

"If we think in circles, we start producing and consuming differently. In his research, Nicholas Vijverman (Vlerick Business School - University of Ghent) studies how we can engage everyone - from government, producer to consumer - in the circular economy. ♻️

Did you know that your supermarket has a 'psychic' on the payroll? Well not exactly, but they have a forecaster, someone in charge of predicting future sales so your supermarket doesn't run out of stock. A very challenging task. Luckily the forecaster can count on software for help. Shari De Baets looks at how forecasters and computers can work together to make sure their predictions are accurate and customers are served and satisfied.