The science in sciencefiction Uploading your brain or mind. From the classic movie the Matrix to the futuristic series Black Mirror, it’s a popular science fiction topic. In every film and series it works slightly differently. Sometimes it is possible to continue living in an online world and sometimes the “mind” is uploaded into another…

Genetically modified cells, brains on chips or nanotechnology: these are just a few examples of ways that are used in movies and books to immortalize characters. But what about in real life? Advances in science are booming and recent breakthroughs in medicine and technology have narrowed the gap between science and science fiction than ever…

There are no winners and losers at being mentally healthy. Every once in a while, we all have our own struggles. Mental health is as personal as your personality. Quite literally. But there are some things that we all have in common that can affect us. We feel happy when we see friends, or terrified…

Written by: Mario Orrico In recent years, urban beekeeping has become a widespread practice in major cities around the world. Between 1999 and 2012, London saw a 220% increase in beekeepers and dutch cities are experiencing an increase in bee-oriented activities. But do bees even thrive in these urban environments? And why do cities want…

This text has been automatically translated from Dutch with Google Translate. Last year, Utrecht University bought a new device the size of two stacked cars. Why? To be able to look even better at particles of 100 nanometers (10,000 times as thin as a hair) in size. The new device is currently the best electron…

Written by Aileen Roncoroni You know the feeling when you haven’t eaten for a while and start craving food? What if I told you that social isolation causes similar craving in your brain? That’s what neuroscientists in Cambridge recently found. Think of loneliness as hunger: in both cases, you get a brain signal that a…

Having acne can be very annoying but figuring out what helps against it may be as well. Some sites say you can fix it with creams or by cleaning the skin every day, others claim that stopping eating chocolate or drinking cola helps. Researcher Frederica Dall’Oglio and her team, in 2021, lined up years of…

According to NOS, health care and the coronavirus have outpaced climate change in the ranking of important campaign issues in this year’s Dutch general election. “Understandably so”, you might think, considering how the small virus has drastically changed our lives during the past year. But what if I told you that even for topics such…

There are only 1440 minutes in a day. To give you an idea of how little time 1440 minutes is, that is not even enough to watch all of the star wars movies during a marathon. Our time is precious. We are all aware of that. But what if you didn’t need to worry about…

Ecosystems become unbalanced when local animal species disappear or invasive (exotic) species take over. For example, the increase in the number of invasive grey squirrels in the UK is a threat to the local red squirrel population. They also prey on chicks and eggs and damage trees. A recent study from Scientific Reports shows that…