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Trees are excellent teachers when it comes to making materials for load-bearing structures with as little resources and energy as possible. One of their secrets? When a tree grows, the direction of the wood grain adapts itself to fit the load that part of the tree is going to bear.

In Nature Partner Journals, ten researchers advocate the use of imagination in tackling the climate crisis. They focus specifically on urbanising river deltas, which are of great social and economic importance and highly vulnerable to climate change. "We scientists should not merely outline doomsday scenarios," says Professor Chris Zevenbergen. "Create a vision for people to believe in and work towards.”

A safe and liveable delta, who doesn't go for that? Storm surge barriers play a crucial role in this. Yet there are many choices to be made in the short term to keep the storm surge barriers in a good condition, to eventually cope with rising sea levels in the longer term. A new project receives funding from NWO for five years to explore the best routes to a liveable delta.

In this longread we talk with Peter Palensky, head of the department Electrical Sustainable Energy, and with Laura Ramirez Elizondo, Associate Professor Micro-grids, about the important role for energy hubs in the energy transition

Mohammad Fotouhi ontvangt een NWO Vidi-beurs. Geïnspireerd door de winterslaap van de natuur, wil hij de levensduur van composietmaterialen verlengen. Door delen van het materiaal rust te geven wanneer hun functie niet nodig is, wordt vermoeiing voorlopig bespaard.