Chemistry

How to make soap in wartime?

During the Second World War, we were short of everything, and therefore of soap. The Belgian population, rationed, made some with its own means. […]

Experiment decode messages with a red filter
Experiments

Decode messages with a red filter

Do you want to send secret messages to your friends, without anyone else being able to read it? Or even send a secret invitation to a lover? Play with light and color transmission to hide your messages. It’s your turn to play! […]

Food

5,000 years ago, we drank chocolate

You probably eat chocolate every day.
For some people, biting into a piece of chocolate has become a simple, comforting, greedy, daily gesture.
Biting into a piece of chocolate is a tradition that dates back to the 1800s… But did you know that the history of the chocolate drink, or rather the cocoa drink, is much longer?
[…]

Artistic

Understanding optical illusions with René Magritte

Sometimes your brain shows you images that in reality don’t exist or are physically impossible. Images that present a different reality. These are called optical illusions. A principle that René Magritte, the famous Belgian painter, was able to exploit to create remarkable and world-famous paintings. […]

Belgian inventors

The phenakistiscope, the ancestor of cartoons

A very fast succession of images gives the impression of continuous movement, like in cartoons. It works thanks to a phenomenon called the retinal persistence. It was the Brussels native Joseph Plateau who discovered it and created the first phenakistiscope. […]

Heard on the radio

The protective mask through History

If there is one object that symbolizes the coronavirus pandemic that affects the entire planet these days, it is the mask. A small square of plastic or fabric that has become essential to protect ourselves from the spread of Covid-19. This accessory, which acts as a barrier to microbes and other harmful substances, is not new. Thanks to the observation of the first “scientists” and doctors of the past, the mask was created, it must be said, to protect us. Here is the little story of the mask. […]

Animals

How does the chameleon blend into its environment?

When we change clothes, it’s for the pleasure of wearing what we like, playing sports or dressing up. The chameleon makes fun of fashion or carnival, if it changes skin color, it is for more primary reasons. Green, brown, yellow, but also blue or pink, the chameleon is the undisputed master for changing skin. But how does it work? […]

het maken van het masker van Gilles de Binche
Artistic

How are Gilles de Binche’s masks made?

The Gille is the most important character in the carnival of Binche, a village located in the Province of Hainaut in Belgium. We can easily recognize him by his orange suit, his big white feathers that he wears on Mardi Gras on his head, and by his mask, his mustaches and red favorites, green glasses! But how are these masks made? […]

le chocolat blanc est-il du chocolat ?
Chemistry

White chocolate, real or fake chocolate?

Belgium’s flagship product, recognized beyond its borders, chocolate is a delicacy you may enjoy almost daily. In a spread, in cocoa, or a stick, decorated by hazelnut fragments or filled with praline, the possibilities are numerous as long as you can lick your fingers afterward. But chocolate is brown, right? So what is white chocolate? […]

Artificial intelligence

War Heritage Institute: the drone from yesterday to today

Drones, these devices recognizable among a thousand by the roar of the propellers, are not only used to take photos. This technology, developed for military purposes during the First World War, fulfilled many missions for the army, such as detecting humans or animals using an infrared camera, filming and transmitting what was happening in the field in real-time. […]

la chimie des crêpes
Chemistry

Making pancakes is like doing chemistry in your kitchen.

Every year, at La Chandeleur, families make pancakes. A tradition that we like to carry on, because pancakes are delicious and cheerful to make. To succeed in pancakes preparation, you have to know the recipe of course, but also understand how it works. Indeed, making pancakes is mixing different chemicals, and to do chemical reactions in a pan. […]

rencontre avec l'homme de Neandertal imprimé en 3D
Heard on the radio

How about 3D printing a Neanderthal man?

Here is an original idea to meet our distant cousin! This is what the researchers did to give us an appearance of the Spy man, whose fossilized bones were discovered in 1886 in the Spy Cave. […]

Fun facts

The jerrycan: a story of can

An essential tool today for long journeys by car, the jerrycan was above all developed during the Second World War to meet the practical needs of soldiers. You had to think about refueling from time to time, and in wartime, impossible to detour by the nearest service station. […]

le tetra lyre en disparition
Animals

The black grouse, this endangered capercaillie.

The Hautes-Fagnes plateau is the last Belgian bastion where rare black grouse still live. These little Bruyère roosters are unfortunately endangered. Different organizations are working to preserve their habitat to save this species of bird from extinction. […]

Animals

You wolf! Are you giving me a hand?

Wolves cooperate with each other in hunting and rearing the young. Much like humans, where family members organize to feed, educate and protect children. For heavy tasks, wolves team up and coordinate to make their work easier. So much so that they are expecting. The craziest thing is that he’s also waiting for his healer to pull a heavy object with him. […]

benefits of saffran as antidepressant
Botany

Saffron, an effective spice to fight against depression

We have all heard of serotonin, the happiness hormone that contributes to our well-being. You should know that this hormone produced in our brain and in our intestines is essential for the survival of mammals. Because it is what prompts us to reduce risk taking! […]

Why music is good for our health ?
Artistic

Music is great for our health. Do you know why ?

It makes us smile, it energizes us, we even use it to decorate the atmosphere of our evenings or to find the right rhythm for our jogging, in short the music makes us feel good.

But more than that, music is good for our health. […]

What is the difference between crystal and glass
Artistic

What is the difference between crystal and glass?

Its brilliance does not deceive us, but yet we are entitled to question the difference between crystal and glass. Especially since crystal and glass are both composed of silicon oxide, in other words sand subjected to very high temperatures to make it melt. […]