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A pterosaur from Brazil that preserved melanosomes in its feathers provides insight into the function of primitive feathers. An international team of palaeontologists and geologists, including UNamur (Dr Aude Cincotta and Prof. Johan Yans), has demonstrated that pterosaurs, the flying cousins of dinosaurs, had feathers and were able to control their colour.

From 11 to 13 May 2022, a hundred or so scientists and actors from the economic and cultural world gathered at UNamur to discuss the issue of water pollution. The aim? To share and enrich knowledge, but also to alert and inform about its long-term effects on fauna, flora and human beings. Scientific sessions, workshops and a conference for the public were on the programme for these three days.

Increasingly sophisticated technologies are invading our spheres of activity without our prior consultation as citizens. Shouldn't the new digital tools, artificial intelligence or technologies resulting from progress in neuroscience, which are transforming our identity and social relationships, be the subject of broad and sufficiently informed democratic debates? This question is at the heart of the international "research-action" project "A new humanism in the age of neuroscience and artificial intelligence" in which UNamur is participating.

In a new study published in February 2023 in the Journal of Luminescence, an international group of scientists led by Sébastien Mouchet from UNamur, reported the previously unknown fluorescence properties of transparent insect wings. This research highlights the valuable information that can be obtained from advanced optical characterisation techniques.

Recognized for his expertise in ecotoxicology, Professor Patrick Kestemont is one of the scientific experts mandated by the Walloon Region, to advise the Government and examine all the consequences on human health of PFAS, these chemical substances present in our environment.

Dr. Sébastien Mouchet, a researcher at UNamur and member of the NISM and ILEE Institutes, has just published the results of research focusing on the effects of pollution on coral reef fish in MDPI-Optics. The findings of the international, multidisciplinary team lead to crucial conclusions with implications for the health of marine ecosystems.

Characterization of trehalase from Acyrthosiphon pisum for the design of new insecticides SummaryAphids are major pests in agriculture, causing direct damage to plants and acting as vectors for phytopathogenic viruses. Conventional insecticides are widely used to control them, but their toxicity and efficacy pose problems in terms of the environment, human health and the emergence of resistance to these compounds. New alternatives are therefore needed, such as biological control using predators or parasitoids. However, these methods are not always economically viable on a large scale. As part of this thesis, another approach is being explored which involves developing new insecticides targeting the biochemical functions of aphids.The project aims to discover new inhibitors of trehalase, an enzyme essential for insect energy metabolism. Inhibition of this enzyme could disrupt vital insect functions without affecting mammals. This research involved several stages: the purification and complete characterization of trehalase from Acyrthosiphon pisum (the model for this study), the in vivo, in vitro and in silico analysis of commercial inhibitors on this enzyme, before moving on to the search for new inhibitors. Two points of integrated insect management were explored, biological and chemical control.The biological side saw the study of a strain of Streptomyces naturally producing trehalase-inhibiting metabolites, notably validamycin A, a molecule recognized in the literature as one of the best inhibitors, but not applicable as an insecticide. Other molecules appear to have interesting features, but we have not been able to isolate and characterize them.The chemical side has enabled us to create a pharmacophore hypothesis based on experimental results on molecules obtained by virtual screening. Although these molecules are not usable as insecticides as they stand, this hypothesis provides a better understanding of trehalase inhibitors in general and can be used to refine future analyses. JuryProf. Jean-Yves MATROULE (UNamur), presidentDr Catherine MICHAUX (UNamur), promoter and secretaryProf. Frédéric FRANCIS (ULiège), co-promoterProf. André MATAGNE (ULiège)Dr Rudy CAPARROS (ULiège)Dr Morgan HANS (Biocidal)

EMBO Courses and Workshops are selected for their excellent scientific quality and timelines, provision of good networking activities for all participants and speaker gender diversity (at least 40% of speakers must be from the underrepresented gender). Organisers are encouraged to implement measures to make the meeting environmentally more sustainable.Upon registration - More info and registration on the EMBO website.

In a new publication, the European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA) announces the success of its pilot project. This pioneering initiative has brought together a vast collaborative network of researchers and institutions in 33 countries to produce high-quality reference genomes of 98 European species. This continental effort paves the way for a new, inclusive and equitable model of biodiversity genomics.

NHNAI - New Humanism at the time of Neurosciences and Artificial Intelligence

Colloques 14/11/2024 | The Emergence of ConsciousnessInterdisciplinary colloquium organized by ESPHIN (UNamur's Espace Philosophique), with the collaboration of the Centre Universitaire Notre-Dame de la Paix (cUNDP), the Louvain Institute of Biomolecular Science and Technology,and Louvai4evolution (UCLouvain).This free colloquium is aimed at:Specialists, students or PhD students from various disciplines: neuroscience, biology, anthropology, medicine, psychology, philosophy, ethics, computer science, robotics, mathematics, ...People with a passion for interdisciplinarity;Humanists and the curious.Location : Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, rue Grafé 1, Local L22Learn more Ecology of life" seminars It's obvious to anyone paying attention to the paths taken by a growing number of 21st century thinkers: these paths lead to the living! Whether it's called "ecophilosophy", "ecoanthropology", "ecosophy" or "ecopolitics", this way of thinking about the living is occupying a growing place not only in the media and publications of all kinds, but also in concrete actions in a variety of fields.Fashion? Ephemeral trend? Collateral effect of "transitionism" tinged with ambient catastrophism? A new attempt at ecological rebellion? The seminars to which we invite you are intended to be a meeting place - an ecosystem - at the heart of which we will resonate with founding texts of this current that integrates nature, environment, milieu, human and non-human, and straddles the worn-out dualisms of our modern tradition. In other words, we propose to read together some key texts by authors who have attempted to draw lessons from their authentic encounters with other living beings.Program 2024-2025 | At the Roots of the HumanOn December 13 2024 from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm (intervention, discussions and convivial moment). Quentin HIERNAUX will introduce plant philosophy and tell us about Humboldt's "Tableau physique des Andes" and his equinoctial geography of plants.On February 28, 2025 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm (intervention, discussions and convivial moment), Jean-Baptiste VUILLEROD will address the following theme: Naturphilosophie du végétal : Goethe, Schelling, Humboldt.OnApril 11, 2025from 2:00 to 4:00 pm (intervention, discussions and convivial moment), Roland CAZALIS will share his biologist's point of view on the plant world.Introducing the subjectIf we were to take stock of the history of mankind, one trend would certainly stand out: that of a utilitarian relationship with the non-human that continues to grow, and consequently that of a widening gap between the human and the rest.Humanity, however, has its roots in a living environment that cultivates many other relationships than those we currently privilege, which are dominated by instrumental rationality. Sounding out these forgotten relational universes, without which it is increasingly difficult to think about the human, is one aim of this seminar, which this year will invite you to encounter the plant.Last year we turned our attention to the communal dimension of living things, starting with the work of Aldo Leopold. In particular, the American forester challenged us with a question from which we should never stray: "just what and whom do we love?". His answer, in the middle of the last century, already confirmed the trend evoked above: "Certainly not the soils, which we allow to be scavenged towards the estuaries. Certainly not the waters, which we assume have no other function than to power turbines, carry barges and carry away garbage. Certainly not plants, whose entire communities we exterminate without batting an eyelid. Certainly not the animals, from which we have already extirpated many of the largest and most magnificent species.". In the face of this lack of consideration for what is not us, the earth ethic proposed by Leopold "modifies the role of homo sapiens, who, from conqueror of the earth-community, becomes a full member and citizen of it". It is thus an ethic that "implies respect for other members as well as for the community as such", and "man is ultimately only a member of a biotic team" ("The Ethics of the Earth", in Almanac of a Sand County).To help us rediscover this vital sense of community, this year we'll turn to plant lifestyles: those living things that maintain intimate relationships with light, air, water and everything we call "soil". How can we let ourselves be instructed by the plants without which we could not exist? "By making possible the world of which they are part and content, plants destroy the topological hierarchy that seems to reign in the cosmos. They demonstrate that life is a breaking of the asymmetry between container and content. When there is life, philosopher Emanuele Coccia continues, the container lies within the content (and is therefore contained by it) and vice versa. The paradigm of this reciprocal imbrication is what the ancients already called breath (pneuma). To blow, to breathe, means in effect to have this experience: that which contains us, the air, becomes contained within us and, conversely, that which was contained within us becomes that which contains us." (The Life of Plants).The Tableau Physique (1807) by Alexander von Humboldt:

Board members President: Nicolas Monseu-Van CleemputVice-president: Marie d'Udekem-GeversPhilosophy department representative: Laura RizzerioScience-Philosophies-Society Department representative: Geoffroy de BrabanterAssociate member representative: Bertrand HespelSecretariat: Vénonique OroseWebsite manager: Nathanaël Laurent See all members