The way to reduce the release of microplastics in the washing machine
The number of microplastics in our living environment is increasing daily. Not only should more research be done into the shared effects of this, but we should also look at how we can reduce our emissions, reports TNO. Bernou Boven tells in Early Birds whether we can adjust small things in our washing behavior, so that fewer microplastics are released in the washing machine.
Amazon deforestation may be irreversible
The rate of deforestation in the Amazon is greater than previously thought. There is therefore a risk that a threshold value will be reached, after which the ecosystem will change irreversibly. And that could have catastrophic consequences for the global climate system, writes a UN panel of leading scientists on 27 January in Science. Carina Hoorn is one of them. 'Man's influence in the Amazon is now so great that the natural processes in an area of millions of square kilometers have no time to recover.
Amazon at the limit: one third damaged, two thirds endangered
The rainforest on the Amazon is home to around one tenth of all known plant and vertebrate species on earth. Human activity could seal its demise. On December 13, 2022, Maja Bradarić was promoted to the other bird trek on the Noordzee and the mogelijkheid die trek te Voorspellen. Rijkswaterstaat had the University of Opdracht given for the separate area. Het voorspellingsmodel dat dit onderzoek heeft vororttzt is a relevant part of a curtailment procedure for wind energy at sea: het (nagenoeg) stopzetten van wind turbines zodra er massale vogeltrek over sea op rotorhoogte wordt monitored.
How many microplastics are released during a wash?
Antonia Praetorius, Lies Jacobs and Bernou Boven are leading a public survey that checks how many microplastics are released during the washing of clothes in an average Dutch household. Daily newspaper "Trouw" visited their lab at the Amsterdam Science Park.
Bonobos are more interested in strangers' emotions than familiar ones
A new research shows that both bonobos and humans are more interested in photos of conspecifics showing emotion than in neutral photos. But while in humans our attention is drawn to photos of people we know, in bonobos attention is more quickly drawn to the emotion of individuals unknown to them.
New bird prediction model can contribute to fewer bird casualties from offshore wind farms
On 13 December 2022, Maja Bradarić obtained her PhD on the subject of bird migration in the North Sea and the possibility of predicting that migration. Rijkswaterstaat had commissioned the university to carry out this study. The prediction model that this research has produced is an important part of a curtailment procedure for offshore wind energy: the (virtually) shutting down of wind turbines as soon as massive bird migration over the sea at rotor height is expected.