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Exploring the minds of our primate cousins in the wild, using under-exploited observations of their travel paths A large set of observations of the travel paths of wild primates provides new opportunities for in-depth insights in the evolution of the mental abilities that primates, including ourselves, use to know where and when to travel in the most efficient way.

Water can freeze from liquid to solid ice or boil into a gas. In the kitchen these so-called phase transitions aren't smooth, but at high pressure their discontinuous nature is smoothed out. An international team of physicists, including UvA-IoP physicists Philippe Corboz and Schelto Crone, has now discovered the same behaviour in certain quantum magnets.

Novel technique for spatially controlled deposition of semiconductors within one single layer 13 April 2021 Amsterdam researchers have developed a novel technique for spatially controlled patterning of semiconductors with tuneable optoelectronic properties. As a proof of principle, Lukas Helmbrecht and Wim Noorduin 'painted' a portrait of Marie Curie in a perovskite semiconductor layer.

Multimedia Analytics Lab Amsterdam (MultiX). A new research group at the Informatics Institute. April 2021 Marcel Worring, chair of the group: 'Our group brings multimedia research together in a unique way in the Netherlands and beyond.' Multimedia Analytics Lab Amsterdam (MultiX) is a research group within the Informatics Institute at the University of Amsterdam.

Researchers of the University of Amsterdam have installed a BirdScan radar at the elephant enclosure in ARTIS Amsterdam Royal Zoo to record bird migration. This BirdScan radar is part of the first site of the national research project ARISE that has the ultimate aim to monitor biodiversity in the Netherlands.

Theoretical physicists have taken a new step in understanding the so-called neutrinoless double-beta decay. This decay in atomic nuclei has never been seen before, but an observation would be an important signal that the standard particle theory is not satisfactory. Theoretician Jordy de Vries of the University of Amsterdam and Nikhef is publishing with colleagues a follow-up to a paper that caused a stir in 2018.

Social psychological factors that explain science scepticism with regard to climate change and vaccinations also provide insights into mistrust surrounding COVID-19, according to social psychologists Bastiaan Rutjens (UvA), Sander van der Linden (University of Cambridge) and Romy van der Lee (VU University).

The rise of populism has been accompanied by explanations as to why people feel drawn to it. An international study across 15 European countries, carried out by researchers at the University of Amsterdam and funded by the European Union's H2020, now sheds light on the role of negative emotions. The conclusion is that 'anger, contempt and anxiety are much better predictors of populist attitudes than socio-economic and socio-cultural factors.' Populism has been on the rise in Europe for some time.

A fabric's physical properties, such as its wettability and porosity, affect the dynamics of an impacting droplet. Understanding these effects can help forensic scientists draw a better picture of a crime scene. In a paper that appeared in Physics of Fluids, UvA-physicist Thijs de Goede and collaborators from UvA, ETH Zürich, Empa (Switzerland) and the University of Sherbrooke (Canada) develop a physics-based approach to blood droplet analysis.

Microbiologists have discovered a thus far unknown mechanism of action of the antibiotic tetracycline, that has remained hidden in over 50 years of research on this compound. The team consitst of microbiologists from the University of Amsterdam's Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, in collaboration with scientists from the AUMC, VU and the Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg.

The effect is well known from coffee commercials: when a droplet of coffee hits the liquid surface in the cup, a characteristic tower of coffee forms for a very short time, sometimes even with a new droplet on top. In a paper that appeared in Physical Review Fluids today, a team of researchers from Amsterdam, Delft and Paris shed new light on this intricate effect.

Do classical gender stereotypes affect the way we view politicians and does this affect election results? 'Not much', concludes researcher Daphne van der Pas. 'Once men and women become politically active, then other stereotypes - namely stereotypes about politicians - play a decisive role.' Assistant professor Daphne van der Pas works for the Political Science department at the University of Amsterdam (UvA).

Marine biologists have been able to visualize for the first time how tropical sponges and their symbiotic bacteria work together to consume and recycle organic food. The research led by Meggie Hudspith and Jasper de Goeij from the University of Amsterdam, was a collaborative project with colleagues from the Australian Universities of Sydney, Queensland and Western Australia, and the research institute Carmabi on Curaçao, and is now published in the scientific journal Microbiome.

A paper just published in the scientific journal Inorganic Chemistry features two chemistry bachelor students as co-authors. Under the supervision of PhD researcher Felix de Zwart of the Van 't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences (HIMS), Bente Reus and Anna Laporte performed online studies to determine chemical details of molecules with relevance to De Zwart's research.

The mass of the well-known stellar black hole Cygnus X-1 turns out to be not 15, but 21 solar masses. This new finding was found through new observations by a team including astronomers at the University of Amsterdam. The researchers will publish their findings on Friday, February 19. These observations are good news for astronomers, because they reduce the gap between low-mass, stellar black holes and intermediate-mass black holes.

A specific type of nasal oxygen therapy for Covid patients does not cause a higher risk of virus infection for health care workers. In an article in Respiratory Care, researchers from the group of Daniel Bonn (UvA-IoP) and from the Amsterdam UMC conclude that this therapy does not increase the risk of aerosol formation.

With the temperatures outside below zero and the speed skating world championships around the corner, ice is on everyone's mind. One thing we all know: ice is slippery - but why? This seemingly simple physics question turns out to have a remarkably intricate answer. In a new publication that appeared in Physical Review X this week, a group of UvA physicists shed new light on how temperature, pressure and the speed of the skater combine to make it possible to skate on ice.

The coronavirus crisis has put a strain on many relationships and marriages. Almost one out of every three couples already reported serious relationship issues before the crisis. Attachment insecurity is a threat to relationships. However, the negative impact of this may be lessened if partners show similar traits in this respect and demonstrate similar levels of clinging or avoidance behaviour.

When it comes to political representation of women, political scientists Liza Mügge and Zahra Runderkamp give the Netherlands a failing grade. They say the current political process hinders both the entry and retention rates of women in politics. However, the upcoming elections offer a ray of hope. PhD candidate Zahra Runderkamp is currently researching the representation of women in politics and the high drop-out rate.

The feeding behaviour of several invertebrate animals in aquatic food webs is drastically changed by increasing inputs of nitrogen and phosphorus into surface waters. This is demonstrated in a new study by researchers from the University of Amsterdam and Wageningen Environmental Research, that is now published in the scientific journal Ecology.