Science Stories

The debate on green steel has become strikingly sharp in recent months. Not only in politics, but particularly among economists and other scholars. In a blog on ESB, 117 economists argued against government support for more sustainable steel production in the Netherlands. According to them, public funds could be spent more effectively elsewhere. A group of scientists responded with a counterargument, advocating investment instead. This sense of nuance is also shared at the University of Twente, says Professor of Nonlinear Solid Mechanics Ton van den Boogaard.

The power goes out. The lights go off, the Wi-Fi stops working, and your phone slowly runs out of energy. Annoying, but still manageable. Yet a power cut is about much more than an evening without Netflix or a functional fridge. Behind the scenes, far more depends on electricity than you might think.

What if walking required less effort? Or if technology could help people move more steadily and confidently? At the Biomechanical Engineering group of the University of Twente, researchers are working on exoskeletons designed to do exactly that.

Your smartwatch knows how you sleep, how much you move – and even how stressed you are. But how accurate is that, really? Around 40% of people in the Netherlands use wearables to track their health. In this podcast by Universiteit van Nederland, we dive into the world of stress wearables with University of Twente professor Matthijs Noordzij. How do these devices measure stress? What do those scores do to your mind? And can they actually help us live healthier lives?

While the world focuses on ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, Professor Maarten van Aalst poses a pressing question: how do these developments affect our fight against climate change? Is an oil crisis yet another setback — or could it also be an opportunity to make our world more liveable at a faster pace?