Recharge overview
How to plan for a bilingual child?
Are you or your partner pregnant, and do you speak a different language from each other? Then chances are there’s not just a baby on the way, but a bilingual baby! At least that’s what a lot of parents hope when they find themselves raising a child together with someone who has a different mother tongue. It’s not always clear though what exactly the best approach is in such a situation. Should you both continue to speak your own language, or are there other choices you could make that might lead to better outcomes? What do you do if you don’t understand each other’s languages and speak a third language amongst yourselves? What will your conversations with your future offspring look like? And if you do speak the same language as each other but this is a different language from the one spoken in the community around you — Dutch in the case of families here in the Netherlands — you may wonder how your child will learn that language properly. In short, then, how do you plan for a bilingual child? Don’t worry if you’ve have already started your parenting journey and are already raising bilingual children, there’s plenty for you in this episode, too.
Glycine in space produced by dark chemistry
An international team of laboratory astrophysicists and astrochemical modelers have shown that glycine, the simplest amino acid and an important building block of life, can form under the harsh conditions that govern chemistry in space. The results have been published this week in Nature Astronomy and show that glycine and very likely other amino acids are formed in dense interstellar clouds, well before these transform into new stars and planets.
How English boarding school teachers brought football to the Netherlands
Sport pioneer and VIP Pim Mulier was involved in the introduction of many sports in the Netherlands, including football. At least, that's the classic story. However, according to PhD candidate Jan Luitzen, that image needs some adjustment. “Mulier was an important promoter of English field sports at the end of the nineteenth century, but he is by no means one of the pioneers.” The posh boarding school Noorthey is central to Luitzen’s thesis, where English teachers introduced cricket and hockey from 1845, and football from 1854. Luitzen will defend his PhD thesis on 23 November at Radboud University.
Two abilities in the brain for understanding other people
The brain hosts two general abilities for maneuvering through the social world. This was highlighted by research covering results from brain activation of a total 4207 healthy adults, published 5 November 2020 in Psychological Bulletin.
‘Give scientists room to mess around’
The history of science has many stories of inventors who apparently make ground-breaking discoveries entirely by accident. But do scientists still have room in 2020 for these kinds of accidental discoveries? ‘Research projects are tightly planned from start to finish.’
Flower-covered dykes may help save insects
It is no news that the number and species of insects are dwindling, but what can we do about it? Ecologist Constant Swinkels has been searching for the answer to this question in the plant and insect interactions that occur on one of the Netherlands’ most extensive topographical features: dykes. He will tell be talking about this topic in more detail at the InScience Film Festival.
Let’s not go too fast with brain stimulation
Clinical depression, pathological fear of contamination and eating disorders: all these conditions appear to be treatable with deep brain stimulation. The technique is indeed very promising, as shown in the documentary Hunting for Hedonia, which can be seen this year at the InScience film festival. But according to philosopher and neurologist Pim Haselager, more attention should be paid to the risks that this technology entails. ‘People may have to start justifying their imperfections.’
Learning disorders and Parkinson’s disease: tremor predicts effects of medication
The effect of dopaminergic medication on the learning abilities of patients with Parkinson’s disease turns out to be linked to the presence of tremor symptoms. In patients who do not experience tremor, dopaminergic medication improves the ability to learn from rewards (reinforcement learning). Remarkably, the medication brings no benefit in reward learning to patients who do exhibit tremor.
Explaining gravity, without strings attached?
For decades, most physicists have agreed that string theory is the missing link between Einstein’s theory of general relativity, describing the laws of nature at the largest scale, and quantum mechanics, describing them at the smallest scale. However, an international collaboration headed by Radboud physicists has now provided compelling evidence that string theory is not the only theory that could form the link.
Waal paintings: a modern window to Nijmegen's secret history
Over the next three years, fifteen ‘Waal paintings’ will be exhibited in Nijmegen. This street art will reveal the history of the city. The works of art will range from a Byzantine princess to the squatters’ riots, and from the Revolt of the Batavi to Louis Bonaparte. “The moment you look at a painting, you'll already have learned something about history; the process is that quick.”
Can you do that boom-boom-clap?
Do you have a good sense of rhythm and music? Well, it is not the case for everyone: about 5% of the population has a form of deafness specific to music called amusia.
In Space
Extract from the book "Light in the Darkness. Black holes, the universe and us” by Heino Falcke, Professor of Astroparticle Physics and Radio Astronomy at Radboud University. Falcke stood at the initiative of the first image of a black hole, which was published in April 2019.
“Oppression also involves negligence and callousness”
Over 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate exploded in Beirut's harbour this summer. Nearly two hundred people died in the explosion, while over six thousand were wounded. The material damage is estimated to be at least 15 billion dollars. A new prime minister was to be inaugurated just a few weeks later. "His appointment is anything but a clear break from the incumbent political elite in Lebanon, who have not changed course despite decades of mismanagement”, asserts Nora Stel, assistant professor in conflict studies. She has researched the issues surrounding refugees in Lebanon and has recently published a book on that topic.
Brain stimulation may increase control of emotional actions
To function well in society, people must be able to control their emotional reactions from time to time. This usually goes well, but this control can fail, for example by aggressive behavior in traffic or by people with social anxiety that have a strong tendency to avoid social situations. Brain stimulation may help to improve control over this automatic behaviour.
Students are drinking less alcohol during the corona crisis
A lot of attention has been given to the negative consequences of the coronavirus crisis for students, such as a deterioration in the quality of education, the study delay that students can incur and the uncertainty and stress caused by the crisis. But the corona crisis has also resulted in a positive change: students have started drinking less alcohol.
Digital information on a bicycle tyre?
Will we store digital information on a bicycle tyre or a long plastic thread in 20 years’ time? Chemists are an important step closer to developing a new technology to store information on a polymer chain.
Historic decision: Radboud University is no longer Catholic
After almost a hundred years, Radboud University is no longer permitted to call itself a Catholic institute. The Dutch bishops have withdrawn the designation of 'Catholic' following a long-drawn-out conflict with the regulatory body of the university and hospital, 'Stichting Katholieke Universiteit'.
Getting into the flow
Do you easily manage to get fully immersed in one activity so that you disconnect from your surroundings? How come, and how easy is it to do that?
Near-unbreakable algorithm protects almost all of your data
Each day we continuously encounter the work of Joan Daemen. For example, when we open a secure website, when we send a message via WhatsApp, or when we store encrypted files. This researcher has had a major impact on the development of the building blocks of internet security.
‘Antibiotic use has increased unnecessarily due to coronavirus’
Lebanese infectiologist and professor Souha Kanj was among the first to make an overview of antibiotic resistance in Arab countries. She is internationally renowned in her field and received an honorary doctorate from Radboud University. After having had a career in the US, she now works in Lebanon again. ‘I am much more needed here.’