Aktuelles
News - Climate change leads to hidden biodiversity loss in Flemish forests
09/09/2026
North Sea aerial surveillance in 2025
01/09/2026
In 2025, the Institute of Natural Sciences documented 96 cases of marine and atmospheric pollution with the Coast Guard aircraft. The remaining activities included, among others, flights carried out for broader maritime surveillance tasks in support of Coast Guard partners, fisheries inspections, and marine mammal surveys.
Air pollution by Russian shadow fleet in the North Sea
02/07/2026
New research by the Institute of Natural Sciences identifies a significant increase in non-compliance with international ship emission regulations among shadow fleet vessels operating in the North Sea region.
No signs of genetic poverty among the last Neandertals of North-Western Europe
01/07/2026
The last Neandertals in our region, just over 40,000 years ago, turn out to have been quite genetically diverse, a finding that challenges the idea that inbreeding and genetic deterioration were a major cause of their extinction.
New fossil sheds light on the evolution of teeth in early whales
18/06/2026
Warning about the risks of sea foam
21/05/2026
On 10 May 2026, the Foam Alert Service that was developed by the Institute of Natural Sciences in 2020 indicated a high risk of dangerous foam formation along the Belgian and Dutch coasts. Alerts were subsequently issued to municipalities and surf clubs, and no incidents occurred.
Oldest baboons in Egypt reveal early trade routes to the south
15/04/2026
Europe’s Late Neanderthals descended from a single population
24/03/2026
The last Neanderthals, including the individuals found in Belgian caves, descended from a single group that had survived a bitterly cold period by retreating to southwestern France.
Understanding ocean-lagoon connectivity for sustainable shrimp management in Benin
26/02/2026
On February 19, 2026, Sylvain Gozingan brilliantly defended his doctoral thesis entitled “Developing a multi-scale modelling framework for coastal hydrodynamics and larval connectivity in the Gulf of Guinea, West Africa.” His work leads to important conclusions for the sustainable management of shrimp stocks in Benin.
“Spiny dragon” reveals hidden secrets of dinosaur skin after 125 million years
06/02/2026
Haolong dongi is a new species of iguanodontian from China, whose skin has been preserved at the cellular level, and with spikes that have never been seen before in dinosaurs.