Cities worldwide are growing fast, compromising their surrounding landscapes, and consuming too much of scarce resources. At the same time, due to the changing climate, temperatures in cities are rising and weather extremes have become the new normal. Most (western) cities are facing a worrying loss …

In the Netherlands municipalities are searching for guidelines for a heat resilient design of the urban space. One of the guidelines which has recently been picked up is that each house should be within a 300 meter of an attractive cool spot outside. The reason is that houses might get too hot during …

Plasmid-mediated dissemination of antibiotic resistance among fecal Enterobacteriaceae in natural ecosystems may contribute to the persistence of antibiotic resistance genes in anthropogenically impacted environments. Plasmid transfer frequencies measured under laboratory conditions might lead to overestimation …

Limestone is a sedimentary rock that is composed mostly of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). Limestone is, among many applications, used as a raw material for the manufacture of quicklime. When limestone is heated, the stone calcinates and quicklime is formed. The primary use of quicklime is in the steel and …

The Northern Netherlands is like many delta’s prone to a wide range of climate change effects. Given the region its long history with floods and adaptation, there are numerous initiatives to be found that tried to battle these effects. As part of the Climate Adaptation Week Groningen, an inventory was …

Climate change and global warming have a big impact on many animals that live on earth. Ice caps are melting, making polar habitats disappear, but the temperature rise has impact on other continents and oceans as well. Reptiles, which are ectothermic, are strongly affected by warmer environments since …

Light enables us to see and perceive our environment but it also initiates effects beyond vision, such as alertness. Literature describes that at least six factors are relevant for initiating effects beyond vision. The exact relationship between these factors and alertness is not yet fully understood. …

Introduction: Ecstasy (MDMA) is a popular recreational drug, but its illegal production and trade in the Netherlands have developed into a serious public order and ecological problem which endanger and question the harm reduction approach of the Dutch ecstasy policy. Methods: The market characteristics, …

In face of climate change and urbanization, the need for thermally comfortable outdoor urban spaces is increasing. In the design of the thermally comfortable urban spaces and decision making about interventions that enhance thermal comfort, scientists and professionals that work for cities use meteorological …

The objective of the project was to investigate the long-term hot/wet performance of Glass fibre Reinforced Epoxy composites used for industrial pipe systems. A large part of the work consisted of the development of test methods for both macroscopic and microscopic level. This resulted in new test methods …