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Some bacteria form colonies that display striking, reflective colours. New genetic insights into the formation of such colours allowed an interdisciplinary, international team of researchers to identify the environments and bacterial groups in which these colours are found. Doing so, the team has made a start in understanding the function of these colours in bacteria.

Led by Yoeri van de Burgt and Marco Fattori, TU/e researchers have solved a major problem related to neuromorphic chips. The new research is published in Science Advances. Large-scale neural network models form the basis of many AI-based technologies such as neuromorphic chips, which are inspired by the human brain.

Heat stress and air pollution ravages cities more and more. In a new Horizon Europe project, researchers will develop a digital twin that supports decision makers to design resilient urban areas that can cope with the changing climate. Researchers from TU Delft and 18 other partners receive the Horizon Europe grant for their project called UrbanAIR.

Research by James Cook University in Australia involving Radboud scientists shows that rising sea levels will drastically reduce the number of shorebirds in Europe. The number of oystercatchers on three Waddeneilanden will decline an additional 56 to 79 percent over the next 100 years due to sea level rise.

Doctoral students Bart van der Holst and Gijs Verhoeven investigated financial measures for grid operators to make better use of the existing grid capacity. Our electricity grid cannot keep up with the energy transition. New schools, businesses and neighborhoods have to wait for a connection and solar panels are already switched off at peak times.

In their recent paper , researchers from the University of Twente in the Netherlands have gained important insights into the elementary particles that make up light. These particles, photons , -behavein an amazingly greater variety than electrons surrounding atoms, while also being much easier to control.

The past year has seen a steep rise in generative AI systems that claim to be open. But how open are they really? New research shows there's widespread practice of 'open-washing' by companies like Meta and Google: claiming brownie points for openness while evading actual scrutiny. The question of what counts as open source in generative AI takes on particular importance in light of the EU AI Act that regulates "open source" models differently, creating an urgent need for practical openness assessment.

On July 5, 2024, five researchers from Radboud University will travel to the far north to research climate change on Svalbard. For a week, the scientists, led by earth scientist Wytze Lenstra, will take samples of the sea floor and water column in one of the fjords. The archipelago is seen as a "natural laboratory" for studying the impact of climate change in the future: these Arctic regions are warming up to about four times faster than the global average.

What if we could find a way to make electric currents flow, without energy loss? A promising approach for this involves using materials known as topological insulators. They are known to exist in one (wire), two (sheet) and three (cube) dimensions; all with different possible applications in electronic devices.

More advanced and faster research is possible with the commissioning of the cold neutron source and the improved instruments of TU Delft Reactor Institute (RID) as of 27 June 2024. The first results of research are expected in October 2024, around the official reopening of the reactor. In recent years, the TU Delft team together with more than 10 national and international partners and suppliers have realised a technical masterpiece.

Online marketplaces like Etsy and UpWork are turning millions of individuals into business owners overnight. So, what should sellers say about themselves and their products to turn their online shop into a success? Tilburg researchers Anna Paley and Robert Smith discovered that one of the best things sellers can mention is that they enjoy their work.

Ruben Nicasy defended his PhD thesis at the Department of Applied Physics and Science Education on June 27th. Faster, greener and cheaper. These are currently the keywords within the printing industry, which is undergoing rapid innovations. TU/e researcher Ruben Nicasy developed an innovative method to determine how ink is absorbed by paper or cardboard in order to further improve print quality.

It is becoming increasingly obvious that pharmaceutical residues in wastewater are damaging to the environment, making it imperative that wastewater is tested for such residues. However, wastewater measurements are expensive and time-consuming. A new model developed by Radboud University-affiliated environmental scientist Caterina Zillien can be used to determine the amount of pharmaceutical residues in wastewater - and their exact origin - every bit as precisely as actual measurements.

The innovative thermostat BRYS, developed by industrial designer Lenneke Kuijer with her Veni grant, is designed to help residents keep their homes up to nine degrees cooler in the summer heat. BRYS also helps train our bodies to stay comfortable at temperatures between 17 and 28 degrees Celsius. Summers are getting longer and hotter, even in the Netherlands.

Informal care has a huge impact on your working life. Informal carers earn less per hour and are less satisfied with their job. This is the conclusion reached by sociologist Klara Raiber, who will defend her PhD dissertation at Radboud University on 2 July. With more people becoming informal carers, the researcher says it is high time for structural support to be provided.

Postdoctoral researcher Florencia Abinzano was nominated for the Trial and Error award, established to create more awareness for open science: the open sharing of all research results, positive and negative, in science. Scientific research does not always go as it was conceived or hoped for. Sometimes, your hypothesis doesn't work out, mistakes may be made.

Platform work, such as driving for Uber or freelancing through Upwork, is booming, but it also raises questions about employment rights. A new EU directive should soon make it easier for platform workers to prove that they are not self-employed but employees. But what then? According to labour law researcher Jorn Kloostra, not enough attention has been paid to how platform work should be given a sustainable place in the Dutch job market.

A second study by analytical chemists and immunologists of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Amsterdam University Medical Center (VUmc) on the presence of micro and nanoplastics in human blood confirms the team's previous findings (Leslie et al. The first study received overwhelming attention, including a lot of resistance and disbelief especially from the polymer industry.

The ocean can store carbon and act as a carbon sink, and it can be a carbon source. The difference in 'age' of the organic carbon already present in the ocean and the carbon that is supplied determines whether the ocean acts as a carbon sink or source. Researchers from Nanjing universities and Utrecht University created the first sink or source world map that can be used when deciding where to invest in organic carbon storage in the ocean.

Intensive and problematic social media use during pregnancy can lead to depressive symptoms. This is evident from new doctoral research by Tilburg University. "More attention needs to be paid to these risk factors for mental health problems, which can have unfavorable outcomes for both mother and child." For the past 30 years, Tilburg University has conducted extensive research into the general well-being of women during pregnancy.