Recharge overview
3 tips for a resilient relationship during and after the coronavirus crisis
Although people may feel isolated and claustrophobic during the lockdown, the coronavirus crisis doesn’t necessarily have a negative impact on relationships. This is the conclusion of a study by Esther Kluwer, professor by special appointment in Sustainable Relationships and Wellbeing at Radboud University.
Can a naughty monkey prevent children's dental plaque?
How do you ensure that young children brush their teeth more often and better? In any case, the dry brochure texts that are in the brochure rack in many dental practices do not seem to appeal to children. Communication scientists from VU University Amsterdam and Radboud University Nijmegen investigated whether a story about a mischievous orange monkey with poor oral hygiene does.
Portable spectrometer holds promise for sustainable world
Determine the precise composition of your food, medicines or other substances at the press of a button. This may well be possible in the future with a portable spectrometer, if researchers at Radboud University have anything to do with it.
The first steps toward a quantum brain
An intelligent material that learns by physically changing itself, similar to how the human brain works, could be the foundation of a completely new generation of computers. Radboud physicists working toward this so-called “quantum brain” have made an important step. They have demonstrated that they can pattern and interconnect a network of single atoms, and mimic the autonomous behaviour of neurons and synapses in a brain. They reported their discovery in Nature Nanotechnology.
Does Islam fuel gay intolerance? Not necessarily
Research among 9,000 Muslims in nine Arab countries paints a multifaceted picture of how Muslims express their faith and their opinions on homosexuality and homosexuals. The research study by sociologists Saskia Glas and Niels Spierings from Radboud University was published in the journal Social Science Research on 24 January.
New approach helps AI to find safer options
A new method to reason about uncertainty might help artificial intelligence to find safer options faster, for example in self-driving cars, according to a new study to be published shortly in AAAI involving researchers at Radboud University ,the University of Austin, the University of California, Berkeley and the Eindhoven University of Technology.
‘Social media contribute to the spread of conspiracy theories’
These are interesting times for Enny Das. The Professor of Communication and Persuasion investigates media and fear in times of epidemics. She says that the role of media in the corona crisis should not be underestimated. ‘In talkshows, people without any relevant expertise are offered quite a big stage.’
The mind’s eye is like a real eye
Research from the Donders institute reveals that imagining something can be very much like seeing it with your eyes, and vice versa.
Contact discovery and notification: some new privacy concerns
Now that many more people are joining Signal, some interesting new privacy concerns about its contact discovery and notification protocol are popping up. In particular, people are surprised other people that are (no longer) in their contact list can still discover them when the join Signal. Moreover, some people that join Signal are annoyed that other people are automatically notified of this fact.
Nijmegen students heavily affected by corona crisis
Students are experiencing less and less support from lecturers and fellow students. That is revealed in a study into the impact of the corona crisis on students and staff at Radboud University. ‘Students are treading water,’ says Professor Hans Schilderman.
Good intentions biggest hurdle for football-playing Muslim girls
Football is becoming increasingly popular among young Dutch girls. But are Muslim girls playing football? Does their religion even allow it? Absolutely, says Kathrine van den Bogert, an anthropologist at Radboud University. She obtained her PhD from Utrecht University in 2019 for her research on girls football in The Hague’s Schilderswijk neighbourhood, about which she recently published several follow-up articles. “Assumptions about what these girls can and cannot do are a bigger obstacle than their Muslim background.”
Infodemic? Americans were well-informed at the start of the pandemic
Research by communication scientist Aart van Stekelenburg reveals that the average American had a pretty accurate picture of the facts about COVID-19 in the first months of the corona pandemic. His research is published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.
Radboud University really took off under the direction of Wilma de Koning
As vice president, Wilma de Koning dug into quite a few difficult files in Nijmegen. Those who worked with her paint a picture of an inspired administrator who did not easily change her mind. She initiated major changes without losing sight of ‘the people’. Here’s a profile of the departing Vice President of the Executive Board.
‘Measures like a curfew are just scares’
In the corona debate, too little is said about the proportionality of all the measures, says René ten Bos, and no, that doesn't make the philosophy professor a virus denier, he says. ‘Many corona measures are implemented purely because politicians want to give the impression of decisiveness.’
BCG vaccine does not protect older patients against Covid-19
The BCG vaccine does not protect frail older persons from contracting Covid-19. Medical researchers among whom Mihai Neta of Radboudumc, have come to this (preliminary) conclusion in a study among more than 6000 patients of age 60 and over.
Play a game to get over your fear of needles
Some people have negative feelings towards vaccines, while others fear not the vaccine but the injection itself. What is fear of needles and how can it be overcome?
Full blood count of COVID-19 patients predicts disease severity
International research led by the Radboud university medical center shows that a full blood count of COVID-19 patients predicts fairly accurately whether the infection will have a complicated course or not. This makes it easier for healthcare providers to estimate the expected clinical picture. This study, conducted in eleven hospitals, has been published in the scientific journal eLife.
‘Stories are the ultimate connectors’
Every disaster is echoed in stories, paintings and songs, be it the St. Elisabeth flood of 1421 or the corona crisis of 2020. In her research project ‘Dealing with disasters’, Lotte Jensen, professor of Dutch literary and cultural history, investigates the common threads in this cultural representation of disasters. In these representations she sees finger-pointing, but also consolation, heroism and especially the power that unites.
In 25 years the number of hoverfly species has fallen sharply
Besides a sharp decrease in the total biomass of flying insects in German nature reserves, the diversity of species has also declined. Researchers from Radboud University have shown that this applies to hoverflies. Insect populations have declined across the board, especially among more common species. The researchers will published their results in a special edition of PNAS that is devoted entirely to insect declines.
The defenceless citizen in the world of Google
Google knows everything about us. The company has sensitive information about almost everyone in the world. At the same time, due to successive data scandals we do not trust the Internet giant at all. PhD candidate Ivan Veul is researching how Google and citizens can agree on privacy. ‘This is an opportunity for democracy.’