Recharge overview
Entrepreneurial chemists develop scent-retaining T-shirts
T-shirts that retain the smell of deodorant, perfume, or aftershave while you work out. This new discovery by two chemists of a Radboud University spin-off is already for sale in their web shop. ‘We do research by day and ship packages by night.’
The dikes of the future will be more than just green turf
Rising sea levels, more frequent extreme precipitation and drier summers will put increasing demands on our dikes in the future. Over the next thirty years, 1,500 kilometres of dikes will need to be strengthened in the Netherlands alone. Ecologists from Radboud University and Wageningen University claim that an increase in the number of flowers and herbs that are grown on dikes will already go a long way towards solving the problem.
'Use ChatGPT to stimulate innovation within organisations'
Towards the end of 2022, ChatGPT took the internet by storm. The chatbot, powered by OpenAI's GPT-3 large language model, impressed millions with its ability to quickly generate articulate responses to many types of questions. These so-called transformer-based language models can already be used to help organisations in creating new innovation solutions, researchers at Radboud University argue in a paper published today in the Journal of Product Innovation Management.
'You have to take society’s unfounded fears seriously'
Artificial Intelligence can create art, detect early stage breast cancer and do accounting. So the idea that new technology might lead to fear of losing your job is not that crazy a thought. But how realistic is the fear? And how does that fear affect society? Professor of International Economics André van Hoorn looks into it.
Improve your memory with your own memory palace
Some people are experts on remembering, and they say that anyone can train to be as good. The key is to use a technique called the ‘memory palace’, and now there is scientific evidence that this can be really effective even long term.
‘We need a transdisciplinary approach for sustainability challenges’
They both deal with biodiversity and governance. Last October, Cristina Yumie Aoki Inoue and Susan de Koning went to Toronto for the 2022 Conference on Earth System Governance. Next year’s edition will be held at Radboud University. “A great opportunity to have an impact.”
Language norms are more complex than you think
Many people assume that ‘groter als’ is not correct Dutch, but some language advisers say that it’s fine. Language advisers often contradict one another, as linguist Marten van der Meulen notes in his PhD dissertation on language advice in the twentieth century, which he will defend at Radboud University on 16 January 2023.
What we can learn from menstrual blood
Does diet help with endometriosis? Can exercise help prevent repeated miscarriages? Renate van der Molen, Tess Meuleman, and Annemiek Nap (Radboud University medical centre) seek answers to these questions by studying something that billions of women throw away every month: menstrual blood. “Menstrual blood contains all kinds of messages from the immune system.”
Why Dickens' Christmas Carol is the most adapted literary work ever
Even if you've never read Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol, you're probably familiar with the story. From Scrooge to Tiny Tim, and from ‘bah, humbug’ to the Ghost of Christmas Past, its various elements have appeared in dozens, if not hundreds, of adaptations over the past two centuries. Chris Louttit, assistant professor of English Literature at Radboud University and President of the Dickens Society, provides some context as to why the book might be the most adapted literary work ever.
Your second brain from the seventeenth century
Suffering from information overload? In her popular vlogs, neuroscientist Charlotte Fraza explains how she processes the world in her ‘second brain’. The computer programmes she uses to do this may be new, but information overload and 'infobesity' are age-old phenomena, argues book historian Rindert Jagersma.
Protection or threat? The pros and cons of the ’Dragnet’ Act
Which is more at risk: our national security or our privacy? That is the consideration the Dutch parliament must make when assessing a temporary law on our intelligence and security services. The intelligence and security services want more powers, without prior assessment. “We are being restricted in our fundamental rights without being aware of it.”
Whooping cough exposure improves response to booster vaccine
Older children have more antibodies against the whooping cough bacteria than younger children, because they have been exposed to the pathogen more often. They also show a stronger immune response after a booster vaccination against whooping cough. Thus, exposure is an important factor in the timing and efficacy of vaccines.
The misperceptions about perceiving emotion
It is tempting to compare humans and machines on a particular task, but not all tasks are created equal. At some tasks, neither humans nor machines excel.
Hand and mouth: a special alliance
Your hands and mouth are intrinsically connected to each other. This relationship presumably developed through eating behavior and, nowadays, it also plays an important role in language.
'If you want to end corruption, start with your own feeling of superiority'
If the world is a house, corruption is seeping in through all the cracks. Because despite the West's tendency to point the finger at the East when it comes to corruption, corruption, happens everywhere. For example, in the context of the World Cup, a lot of criticism has recently been aimed at Qatar. But if we want to end corruption, we must first overcome our feeling of superiority. This was the discovery of Business Administration expert Stefan Schembera in a study that was published in Organization Science and mentioned in the US business magazine Forbes.
You found refuge in the Netherlands, now what?
Suppose you've had to leave home and hearth and you finally reach the Netherlands after a long journey full of uncertainties. From an emergency shelter or asylum seekers' centre, you then have to wait for months without any certainty about your future. In the meantime, you cannot study or work. That is the fate of most refugees when they first arrive in the Netherlands. With initiatives like Radboud Welcomes Newcomers, the University wants to help these people give new form to their lives. “Many people yearn to be intellectually challenged again.”
“I will always remain a kind of nomad”
Parweez Koehestanie fled Afghanistan on his own in 1996, at the age of 15. His perilous journey to the Netherlands took more than a year. He now works as a gastrointestinal and liver specialist at the Bravis hospital in Roosendaal. Last September, the father of two was voted alumnus of the year.
Marvel at the world, it makes you more sustainable
We consume too much. We throw away too much, buy too much, recycle too little and that has negative consequences for our planet. Even though we know that our consumption is also part of the problem, it is difficult to change it. Why is that? Barbara Müller, communication scientist, took that question in her own hands. 'Actually, it's very simple: we forget that our behaviour makes a difference.'
Blackbird Walk and bird book club: how to get people more involved with nature
The Netherlands (and the rest of Europe) is home to countless bird lovers who contribute to scientific research, for example by counting birds. These citizen scientists are usually already very involved with nature. But is it also possible to reach new target groups with more or less scientific projects? Researchers from the Centre Connecting Humans and Nature at Radboud University are trying to achieve this with projects like a Blackbird Walk and a bird book club.
How can you become happy or happier?
People are searching for happiness. For years, films, series, news sites and scientists have been studying how you can become happy or even happier. It’s not easy to answer this question, but one theory about happiness stands out: If you want to be happy, do something for someone else.