Articles
Optimal lipid metabolism with disease-preventing functional foods
Dietary lipids (fats) from plant and animal sources are important components of the human diet as they provide essential nutrients for growth and development. However, overconsumption of lipid-rich foods can lead to hyperlipidaemia – a key risk factor for metabolic diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. Modulating lipid digestion and absorption through the design of food structures, matrices and […]
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Invoking human rights to stop ivory tower bullies
Higher education institutions are not immune to workplace bullying. In fact, research shows that they can be virulent breeding grounds for a particularly pernicious form of bullying – one cloaked in popular perceptions of civility. In higher education, bullying is even delegated to subordinates. However, because workplace bullying inhabits a grey legal area, prosecuting cases is challenging. Dr Leah P […]
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The importance of nuanced scientific communication in an age of rising distrust
Dr Karen Jacqueline Cloete is an interdisciplinary scientific researcher whose work spans a multitude of areas. She is affiliated to the UNESCO-University of South Africa Africa Chair in Nanosciences-Nanotechnology, and the Nanosciences African Network-iThemba LABS-National Research Foundation. As well as currently working at the rich intersection between nanotechnology, chemistry and biology, Dr Cloete asks broader questions about the relationship between […]
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Can deeply religious people be intellectually humble?
Intellectual humility – the conscious awareness of the limits and fallibility of one’s intelligence – is a virtue in the search for wisdom. But is what’s true for philosophers also true for deeply religious people whose humility is tied to unquestioning deference to the divine? It is a question that both baffles and inspires those studying the psychology of religion. […]
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Galactic archaeology: Using chemical abundances to map our galaxy’s history
The different chemical elements we observe across the Milky Way have gone through drastically different formation processes – which have taken place on drastically different timescales. Crucially for astronomers, these differences can be clearly seen in the abundances of chemical elements contained in stars today, providing important clues about our Galaxy’s distant past. In a new overview, Professor Francesca Matteucci […]
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Uncomfortable ethics for autonomous vehicles
Self-driving cars, or autonomous vehicles (AVs), are an inevitability on our roads. That’s probably a good thing – most accidents are the result of human error. Ironically, humans will still need to programme the ’thinking’ part of an AV, especially when it’s presented with ethical dilemmas. But how important is this for AV manufacturers? Dr Tripat Gill of Wilfrid Laurier […]
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Heart health, fat consumption and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol
Cardiovascular disease is a major contributor to deaths globally. One of the most prominent risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) is low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL). Special focus has been placed on looking at the effects of fat consumption on LDL particle size in healthy individuals as a way to increase awareness among people in terms of diet and lifestyle. Dr […]
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Optimising solvent extraction for metal recycling
The platinum-group metals play a central role in several technological applications including fuel cells, electronic devices, and catalysts for oil refining and automobile converters. Owing to the scarcity of these metals, methods for their recycling from end-of-life devices are in increasing demand. Hydrometallurgy, which exploits the ability of specific molecules to selectively dissolve metal ions and separate them from unwanted […]
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A blow to the head impairs the autoregulation of brain blood flow: Neural consequences
Billions of cells make up the human brain. To keep this super-computer functioning, a carefully autoregulated blood supply provides oxygen and nutrients and removes waste products from the brain cells. In addition, cerebral circulation is involved in the regulation of the pressure inside the cranium. But what happens if this autoregulatory process is disrupted? Building on years of research into […]
One cell’s death is a microbe’s DINNR: How intestinal bacteria use our dying cells as fuel
Until now, a great deal has remained unknown about the relationship between programmed cell death and bacterial infections. However, recent work by Dr CJ Anderson and Professor Kodi Ravichandran from VIB-UGent, Belgium, has shed new light on this topic and introduced a new layer to the complex host–pathogen interaction. The team has shown that dying mammalian cells produce and shed […]