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Health is a very important value. The scientific discipline of the human exposome aims to map and measure our environment to study its impact on health, aiming to predict future diseases and prevent their onset. The work of historian-philosopher Michel Foucault shows that science is not solely an objective and rational practice, but highly...
Leonardo Da Vinci’s flying machines. Self-cleaning paint. A Japanese bullet train. Velcro strap. What do these things have in common? Hard to say from mere appearance. But if one looks closely enough (close enough to look at the micro-scale in some cases), they are all technologies inspired by nature. Birds’ wings, lotus leaves, the...
Should I stop watering the garden in dry summers? Can I take the car to go to the supermarket when it rains? But also, much more pressing: should we consider relocating to avoid flood risk? Should we save up for buying a rainwater harvesting tank or invest in growing more drought resilience crops? Do...
Responsible artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the recent hot-topics in AI. AI seems here to stay and (arguably) has the potential to greatly improve our lives. But these promises come together with risks: what if AI makes decisions that negatively impact us? To avoid this, we should develop responsible AI: algorithms we can...
The availability of potable water from traditional freshwater sources, such as ground and surface water, is declining radically. As a result, research has expanded its focus to new potable water sources. One of them is wastewater – meaning water that has been used already by, among others, households. This used water stems from the...
In this series we present the photographs that were shoot during a PhD workshop by Anthonie Meijers. Visual presentation is key if you want to convey a message. Our task was to shoot a photograph that represents our PhD project. Not so easy, if you work with philosophical concepts! Running around the campus of...
Sometimes, the online and the offline world cross paths. Here, you see an analogous trace of the disruption of our daily lives by the digitization of society. This is the gate to the apartment building where I live. Behind it, there is a bright blue staircase in the open air. This staircase has been...
Emiglio is a nostalgic remnant of the 80s and 90s robotic toys. He (or it?) currently resides at the NEST Cultural Centre in the Hague, greeting visitors. First produced by the Giochi Preziosi Toy Company in 1989 under the slogan ‘Emiglio é meglio!’ (Emiglio is better!), he quickly became the most desired Christmas present...
Carbon is abundant. It can be found in all forms of life. It can be found in rocks and shells. It can be found in non-organic matters such as pencil graphite and coal used in power plants. Carbon is essential for humanity; fossil fuels, which are organic tissues from ancient plants and animals, in...
Nature in a box Is nature a background or a commodity? Here we see the latter, enclosed within a human-sized architectural space that presents it as docile and ready-to-gaze. While urban green is usually a reassuring presence, the heavy architectural elements seem to constrain and stifle any natural impulse, served in a box for...
Robots are leaving factories and are entering the human inhabited environment. This has caused great uncertainty on how their presence will affect not only human robot relations but also human human relations. Will perceptions of robots shift from an object to an artificial creatures that people are disposed to socially interact with? And will...
