The distribution of the current 10,000 Starlink satellites around the Earth. At this scale, the satellites would not be visible. | Image Heavens-Above.com
☢️‘Without the ozone layer, the radiation that reaches us is comparable to the radiation from an atomic bomb.’
Reynier Peletier, astronomer @rug.nl, is worried about #SpaceX & Musk's plans to launch another million satellites in space.🛰️
Curious? Read more 👇
🔗 www.rug.nl/fse/news/mat...
🧪 #SciComm
27.02.2026 15:35
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⚛️How does the biggest particle accelerator help to understand the smallest building blocks of matter?
Find out all about the Large Hadron Collider in our new article👇
🔗https://www.rug.nl/fse/news/science-in-focus/the-long-search-for-new-physics
🧪 #SciComm #ScienceinFocus
18.02.2026 12:19
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Why are only a few #planets suitable for life? And why is Earth one of them? 🌏
Rob Spaargaren (@sciencenewsroom-ug.bsky.social) and others answer these questions in a new paper. It may have consequences for the search for life elsewhere 👇
www.rug.nl/fse/news/mat...
@ethz.ch #Science #Astronomy 🧪
10.02.2026 15:11
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Examples of 3D printed metamaterial blocks with different unit cells, as studied in the paper. | Image Shantanu Nath, University of Groningen.
Reference: H.C.V.M. Shyam Veluvali et al.: When Scale Matters: Size-Dependent Mechanics of Architected Lattices for Implants and Beyond. Small Structures, 13 January 2026
🧊 What are #metamaterials, and why does their size matter?
Shyam Veluvali & research team @rug.nl & @umcgroningen.bsky.social discovered new insights that lead to better implants, robot hands, and bumpers.
Curious? Read more👇
🔗 www.rug.nl/fse/news/hig...
🧪 #SciComm #sciencealert
03.02.2026 11:40
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🌌 Why are most nearby galaxies moving away from the #MilkyWay?
Astronomer Ewoud Wempe & Prof. Amina Helmi (@rug.nl) discovered a ‘large-scale sheet’ which explains these motions.↗️
They published their findings in @natastron.nature.com.
Curious? Read more 👇
🔗 www.rug.nl/fse/news/mat...
🧪 #SciComm
28.01.2026 10:23
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🚢 Do you want to follow the #Polarstern expedition?
Join oceanographer Jacqueline Stefels and marine biologist Maria van Leeuwe (rug.nl) on their journey in the Antarctic.🗺️
Go check the live-stream 👇
🔗 follow-polarstern.awi.de/expedition/a...
🧪 #SciComm
23.01.2026 10:00
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Checking the water beneath the ice with a camera| Image Jacqueline Stefels
The icebreaker Polarstern | Image Jacqueline Stefels
Microalgae under the microscope | Image Jacqueline Stefels
🐧‘To make the #WeddellSea a protected marine area, we need to demonstrate that what the area has to offer is of great value to humans.’
Jacqueline Stefels (@rug.nl) boarded the #Polarstern of @awi.de for an expedition to Antarctica.❄️
Curious? Read more 👇
🔗 www.rug.nl/fse/news/cli...
🧪 #SciComm
23.01.2026 09:48
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🌍 Astronomers from all over the world are coming to Groningen for the #RockyWorlds4 conference.
'We would like to broaden the ideas about what a rocky planet could be made up of,' says Inga Kamp, astrophysicist @rug.nl.
Curious? Read more 👇
🔗 www.rug.nl/fse/news/mat...
🧪 #SciComm
22.01.2026 09:09
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Visual abstract of the study | Image University of Groningen / AFAS
Reference: Herman Lassche, Michiel Overeem, Ayushi Rastogi: Is our chatbot telling lies? Assessing correctness of an LLM-based Dutch support chatbot. Journal of Systems and Software, online 2 December 2025.
🤖 Is our chatbot telling lies?
Computer scientist Ayushi Rastogi & team @rug.nl developed a framework that verifies AI-generated chatbot answers, helping speed up human evaluation.💬
In collaboration with @afassoftware.bsky.social
Curious? Read more 👇
🔗 www.rug.nl/fse/news/hig...
🧪 #SciComm
19.01.2026 09:36
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Atomistic model showing the coexistence of two solid phases of NiTi: austenite (blue), stable at higher temperatures, and martensite (brown), stable at lower temperatures. The martensite region consists of two differently oriented variants of the same crystal structure (light and dark brown), forming a twinned microstructure. | Image University of Groningen
🔩 How do metals "remember" their shape?
Mechanical engineer Francesco Maresca & team @rug.nl published an atomistic model which explains how memory alloys, e.g. used in dental braces, can return to their pre-deformed shape when heated.🔥
Curious? Read more 👇
🔗 www.rug.nl/fse/news/hig...
🧪 #SciComm
16.01.2026 11:44
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Giovanni Maglia (left) receives the Impact Award from Mark Kas, team leader of Research, Strategy and Partnerships at FSE. | Photo FSE
🐎 'Proteins are the workhorses of our cells.'
🔎 Using nanopore technology, prof. @rug.nl Giovanni Maglia developed a method to identify exactly which proteins are important to our health.
🏆 For his research, he won the FSE Impact award.
Curious? Read more 👇
🔗 www.rug.nl/fse/news/hea...
🧪 #SciComm
15.01.2026 14:22
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A team led by Prof. Edwin Otten @sciencenewsroom-ug.bsky.social has received a €5 million NWO grant to developed new batteries that can store renewable energy reliably and affordably for several days 🔋⚡
It comes at a time when there is an urgent need for it 👇
www.rug.nl/fse/news/awa...
15.01.2026 11:42
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Thijs van der Laan (right) receives the Impact Award from Mark Kas, team leader of Research, Strategy and Partnerships at FSE. | Photo FSE
🗨️"I hope that my research has laid the foundation for a future tool for smartwatches."
🏆Master’s student & FSE Impact Award winner Thijs van der Laan (@rug.nl) developed an #AI language model to help people with aphasia find words.
Curious? Read more 👇
🔗 www.rug.nl/fse/news/hea...
🧪 #SciComm
14.01.2026 09:48
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Nobel laureates Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt. They were awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for their research on economic growth and innovation | Image Nobel Prize Outreach / Nanaka Adachi
💡"We need to ask deeper questions about the nature and purpose of #innovation."
Prof. @rug.nl Klaus Hubacek responds to the #NobelPrize for economic growth and innovation. Why innovate, and for whom?
Curious? Read more 👇
🔗 www.rug.nl/fse/news/ene...
🧪 #SciComm
23.12.2025 10:02
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🎄Do you know the "Christmas tree cluster"?
This cluster of young stars, #NGC2264, lies about 2,500 light-years away. Its X-ray–emitting stars shine within glowing green gas left behind from their birth cloud. 🌌
We wish you happy holidays! ✨
🧪 #SciComm
📷 #NASA #Christmastreecluster
19.12.2025 09:39
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🪐What can we learn from exoplanets?
🔭 Astronomers @rug.nl using the #JamesWebb Space Telescope detected a thick atmosphere around a broiling lava world.
Curious? Read more 👇
🔗 www.rug.nl/fse/news/mat...
🧪 #SciComm
16.12.2025 10:15
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New research suggests that the rocky “lava planet” TOI-561 b, that orbits very close to its star, likely carries an atmosphere | Artist impression Chris Butler/Science Source
🪐‘My main motivation is that I want to find out how life could have arisen at Earth.’
Planetary scientist @rug.nl Tim Lichtenberg found an unexpected atmosphere, while his colleague Quentin Changeat studies that of a rocky 'lava planet'.🔥
Curious? Read more👇
🔗 www.rug.nl/fse/news/mat...
🧪 #SciComm
15.12.2025 11:18
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The entrance of COP30 | Image Alberto César Araúj / Amazônia Real Flickr CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
🌎'There is always drama, but every COP does produce results.'
Prof. @rug.nl André Faaij returned from the climate conference in Brazil with optimism.
'Eighty countries have committed to phasing out fossil fuels.' ⛽
Curious? Read more 👇
🔗 www.rug.nl/fse/news/cli...
🧪 #SciComm #COP30
12.12.2025 13:35
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KLM Boeing 777-300ER | Quintin Soloviev, Wikimedia, CC-BY-SA-4.0S
⚡‘This would be of interest to the aviation industry, as static charges can create sparks that may damage the plane.’
Prof. @rug.nl Olaf Scholten & his team published a new study in @natcomms.nature.com on observed radio wave-emissions.✈️
Curious? Read more 👇
🔗 www.rug.nl/fse/news/hig...
🧪 #SciComm
02.12.2025 12:32
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Maria Loi is using quantum dots for various technological applications. By tweaking the size of the dots, Loi can determine their properties - including their colour. | Photo Leoni von Ristok
🔎What are #perovskites and #quantumdots?
Prof. @rug.nl Maria Antonietta Loi uses these minerals and 'super atoms' to create new materials for solar cells and LED lights - materials that turn light into electricity, or vice versa.💡
Curious? Read more 👇
🔗 www.rug.nl/fse/news/ene...
🧪 #SciComm
28.11.2025 10:18
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Nature is brimming with colour in almost every season. While the majority of colours are matte, some are shiny. Evolutionary biologist Casper van der Kooi (FSE/@sciencenewsroom-ug.bsky.social) researched why shiny colours are so rare ✨
The results are fascinating 👇
www.rug.nl/fse/news/hig...
27.11.2025 15:15
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Patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) sometimes benefit from deep brain stimulation by an electrode in the brain. This shows how important the working of the brain is to the symptoms that the patient experiences. | Image: NIH award-winning artist impression of deep brain stimulation by Andrew Janson, Butson Lab, University of Utah
🧠 What if we classified mental disorders differently?
Prof. @rug.nl Martien Kas wants to update the #DSM5 handbook to enable more targeted treatment by diagnosing the underlying biology. E.g. by using blood tests to look for #biomarkers.🩸
Curious? Read more👇
🔗 www.rug.nl/fse/news/hea...
🧪 #SciComm
21.11.2025 11:43
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Ming Cao (left) and colleagues with a robotic arm| Image Bram Belloni
🤖 Rockets, robots, and regulations
What good can #AI bring us?
In the #ELSAlab @rug.nl, Prof. Ming Cao researches the inner workings of fish, humans, and computers to figure out how to control complex systems.🐟
Read more about Cao's work as an #engineer👇
🔗 www.rug.nl/fse/news/dig...
🧪 #SciComm
19.11.2025 11:24
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Image Nynke Wemer. Reference: Mothers facing greater environmental adversity experience increased costs of reproduction, Science advances, November 7, 2025.
🍼More children, shorter #lifespan?
Researcher Euan Young @rug.nl found clear evidence in #parishrecords from the Great Finnish Famine.📖
'Our findings suggest that under harsh conditions, reproductive effort certainly affects lifespan.’
Curious? Read more 👇
🔗 www.rug.nl/fse/news/hig...
🧪 #SciComm
14.11.2025 14:38
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Lithium extraction pollutes groundwater, reduces water levels and endangers birds like flamingos. In this image flamingos are standing in a lake on the Atacama salt plane (Chili) | Image Wikimedia
🔋#4 A battery’s life: from raw material extraction to end-of-life disposal.🚮
Researchers @rug.nl Xin Sun and Xiaohua Li study this cycle, and investigate how recycling can be made more effective and greener.♻️
Read our 4th story on #batterydevelopers of #FSE👇
🔗 www.rug.nl/fse/news/sci...
🧪 #SciComm
12.11.2025 13:21
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Raffaella Carloni develops artificial limbs, including the bionic leg, for which she received the Ben Feringa Impact Award 2024. Recently, visitors to the European Researchers’ Night (ERN) had the opportunity to see the bionic leg in action.
‘I am fascinated by #robotics & dream of replicating the remarkable abilities of the human body,’ says Raffaella Carloni, Prof. of Robotics @rug.nl.
She develops artificial limbs & studies how #AI can help to make #prostheses 'smarter'.🦿
Curious? Read more👇
🔗 www.rug.nl/fse/news/dig...
🧪 #SciComm
06.11.2025 12:33
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The NWO is investing tens of millions in science consortia with UG/UMCG researchers 🎉
One of these consortia is lead by prof. Moniek Tromp (@sciencenewsroom-ug.bsky.social). She and partners want to gain an in-depth understanding of how functional materials work 👇
www.rug.nl/about-ug/lat...
04.11.2025 08:22
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PhD students Yongsheng Zhang (left) and Harshan Madeshwaran work on safer batteries in the research group of Giuseppe Portale. | Image Portale Group, University of Groningen
🔋#3 There is a small chance that rechargeable #lithium batteries will ignite, leak or explode. How to make them safer?
🪙 Giuseppe Portale's team @rug.nl is building small coin batteries using solid #polymers.
Read our 3rd story on #batterydevelopers of #FSE👇
🔗 www.rug.nl/fse/news/sci...
🧪 #SciComm
31.10.2025 10:24
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A stoat caught by a regular camera trap | Image University of Groningen
👀 When’s the last time you saw a #mustelid?
Weasels, stoats, & polecats may be silently disappearing from the Dutch landscape, or are they just hiding? 🐾
Biologists @rug.nl are finding out how to monitor them.🔎
Curious? Read more👇
🔗 www.rug.nl/fse/news/hig...
🧪 #SciComm #ScienceNewsroom #GELIFES
29.10.2025 11:44
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Qi Zhang (left) and Ben Feringa in front of Shanghai Tower | Photo Zhang / University of Groningen
🌀 Inspired by the #ShanghaiTower.
Qi Zhang & Ben Feringa @rug.nl developed the first synthetic dynamic helical polymer.
➿ At low temperatures, the molecule looks like a coiled spring, which unfolds again upon heating. 🌡️
Curious? Read more👇
🔗 www.rug.nl/fse/news/hig...
🧪 #SciComm #ScienceNewsroom
27.10.2025 11:37
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