Science news
January 2019Forest giants have long been considered the oldest trees in tropical forests. Research now shows that small trees can grow older than the big ones, and therefore hold on to longer-term carbon. This finding has important consequences for forest policy in the tropics.
January 2019The board game ‘Hazagora’ was designed to give players knowledge and strategies to cope with geological hazards. RMCA geographer Caroline Michellier puts it to the test by organizing courses for secondary school teachers in the city of Goma, Nord Kivu.
December 2018Plate tectonics played an important role in the evolution of our planet. A study conducted by an international team of researchers, including geologist Daniel Baudet of the RMCA, has now found the earliest evidence known for the modern-style plate tectonics at 2.2-2.1 billion years ago (2.2-2.1 Ga).
November 2018Archaeological research traces 1000 years of copper production in Congo-Brazzaville.
October 2018RMCA historians and archaeologists joined forces for the first summer course for Flemish history professors, with a focus on Belgian colonization in Congo.
October 2018An online video platform with training videos for farmers, mobile healthcare campaigns through gaming and an app for mobile money. These are the three winners of the Prize 'Digital for Development (D4D)' 2018.
September 2018Summer is mosquito (bite) season, and it is important to know which mosquitoes are doing the biting. Globalization and climate change have made it necessary to monitor the arrival of exotic mosquito species. With the help of DNA research, RMCA biologists can identify mosquitoes quickly and reliably.
August 2018In April and May of 2018, a team of researchers from Belgium and Mozambique studied algae and echinoderms from different sites in Mozambique. This mission was the first phase of a project whose objective is to study the taxonomy of these two groups in a region neglected by research. This project also aims to train young scientists in the collection, preservation, and study of algae and echinoderm specimens.
July 2018At WWF Belgium’s request, the RMCA Wood Biology service analysed charcoal sold in different stores around the country. Half of the examined bags contained tropical wood – and sustainable forest management certificates or mentions of origin were often missing.
July 2018PRIMA, an international network of Belgian and African museums from the Republic of the Congo, Burkina Faso, and Kenya, are working together to digitise their African musical instrument collections. Several of these are already online.