How do you keep PFAS out? "Take a critical look at what you eat and put on your body"
The Nederlands Dagblad has an article about the health effects of PFAS and how you can avoid coming into contact with these chemical compounds. They are present in many everyday products, from shower gel and make-up to frying pans and certain foods. One of the experts speaking is Annemarie van Wezel.
Toilet paper is an unexpected source of PFAS in sewage
American researchers have found an unexpected source of PFAS in sewage: toilet paper. These harmful substances in our sewage water eventually end up in the surface water again, with adverse effects for ecosystems and humans.
Such research is also being carried out by, among others, Skylar Xie and Ioanna Gkika in the research group of ecotoxicologist Michiel Kraak . All three agree that the results of the American study mainly confirm what we already knew: PFAS are everywhere, including in household products.
Franciska de Vries in NRC about the reliability of Agrifacts
daily newspaper NRC has a critical article about the organization Agrifacts, supplier of information about the agricultural sector to political party BBB, among others. Although the organization claims to be independent, it is funded by interest groups. Franciska de Vries, among others, will speak, who criticizes the statements made by Agrifacts regarding nitrogen
Water quality crisis much greater than that of nitrogen
The stagnation of water quality in the Netherlands could lead to a crisis that is ten times greater than the current nitrogen crisis. That is what Professor Piet Verdonschot says in the run-up to the water board elections.
Memory of chimpanzees
In the serie "Eureka", Karline Janmaat talks about her eureka moment
Should we abolish the elections for the Regional Public Water Authorities?
The elections for the Regional Public Water Authorities are in two weeks. But shouldn't we abolish them? Piet Verdonschot, special professor of ecological water management at IBED, talks about this in the radio program “Dit is de Dag”
The Amazon can no longer keep up with deforestation
Humans are destroying the rainforest at such a rapid rate that natural recovery processes can no longer keep up. “Our main concern is that deforestation will reach a tipping point where the forest can no longer recover,” says earth scientist Carina Hoorn, who was involved in the analysis.
Millions of kilos of extra nitrogen, because farmers illegally take land
Much more biodiversity restoration is possible along field margins, says Kenneth Rijsdijk. Then hedges should return.
Jorin Veen on Radio 1 about the evolution of human brains
Student Jorin Veen recently graduated cum laude with Karline Janmaat (UvA-IBED) for research into the evolution of human brains. According to him, the unusual size of our brains has to do with the way we used to collect food. He talks about this in the Radio 1 news.
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.