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How to stop a pandemic?

As often said, when it comes to a pandemic, the numbers of cases, hospitalisations and deaths act like communicating vessels with the regulations that are enforced by the population. Initially, humanity had all the energy to work together to limit the spread of the virus, but now that a year has passed, psychological factors start …
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Can nature deal with our double-edged plastic sword?

In the modern age, plastics are ubiquitous and invaluable. Never before has the world had access to a resource that was this versatile, while also being dirt cheap. On the flip side, plastics are difficult to degrade and can accumulate in the environment, causing problems that may become impossible to work around. Prof. dr. Willie …
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A Word of Thanks to Diederik Gommers

During the first wave, we had no idea what hit us. From one day to the next, the world was changed radically, and nobody was really sure what was going on. As is common during pandemics (such as the Spanish Flu in 1918) the number of discussions skyrocketed, but the information that should have formed …
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The plastic soup: futuristic lunch, or silent toxin?

Let’s face it: after years of exposure, our brains have been trained to mindlessly scroll along when running into the topic. That’s understandable, but no excuse. Like other typical examples such as greenhouse gas emissions and the mass extinction of animal species, most of us have known about the problem of plastic pollution for a …
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Back to normal, or all for nothing?

By now, everyone and their grandmothers have acquired vast experience in one way or another with the unique situation known as ‘smart lockdown’. We have all experienced the initial “huh, this is weird, right?”, the subsequent Groundhog Days, and the feeling that the invisible danger that forced us into this position has long faded. Understandable, …
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