Most people take a nap now and then; on the train, on the plane, and in the future perhaps even in a self-driving car. Gerbera Vledder (IO) recently obtained her PhD on sleeping while seated. A perfect moment to examine Delft’s lecture hall seats together with this seated-sleep expert.

For many people, Venus is nothing more than a bright dot in the sky. But not for geochemist and experimental petrologist Edgar Steenstra. He wants to understand how the channels on Venus that are thousands of kilometers long were formed. And since this month, TU Delft has the equipment needed to investigate this.

News from China: an experimental molten salt reactor is said to have run on thorium for the first time. This type of technology is also being developed in Delft. Last week, an agreement was presented for the construction of Europe’s first pilot plant. Nuclear physicist Martin Rohde: “The thorium reactor is the holy grail.”

The first snow of the year has fallen. Is that early, or late? What do we actually know about snow? The KNMI (Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute) longs for new data on snowflakes. And that is exactly what researcher Nina Maherndl will deliver.

Last weekend, AE alumnus Michiel Kruijff won the audience award at the Wubbo Ockels Innovation Awards with his idea for an aluminium battery. The awards are named after Delft sustainability professor and astronaut Wubbo Ockels, who exactly forty years ago became the first Dutchman to travel into space.

Three Chinese astronauts are stuck in their space station after a possible crash with space debris. What can be done about space debris? Jeannette Heiligers (Astrodynamics & Space Missions) is working on a solution. “Space debris is one of the biggest challenges in aerospace.”

Stories about exploding devices or electric bicycles on fire are hitting the news more often. Should we stop using lithium-ion batteries? Five questions about the danger of exploding batteries to battery expert Erik Kelder (Radiation, Science &Technology, AS).

Exactly one year ago, the latest research facilities at the Reactor Institute were inaugurated in a festive ceremony. What has the €35 million addition of a cold source delivered up to now? Delta takes a tour of the reactor.

Hey Siri, what’s the weather going to be like? More and more people are talking to their phones. But speech recognition doesn’t work for everyone. Research by the Multimedia Computing Group now seems to be cautiously changing that.

She’s called the queen of biophysics because of her pioneering research in the field of bionanophysics. After being awarded the Spinoza Prize, Marileen Dogterom is now also the winner of the Professor of Excellence Award 2025. Six lessons from the Professor of Excellence. “I am constantly learning.”

Hydrogen powered aeroplanes, quieter wind turbines, satellite technology and drones. A lot of drones. At the Aerospace Innovation Hub DEMOday (at Aerospace Engineering), start-ups tumble over each other to give the best pitches. They have one thing in common: potential interest from the Ministry of Defence.

The ‘lab-on-a-chip’ concept is already being widely used in fields such as healthcare. But do these kinds of chips also work in space? Niels Ligterink (assistant professor Aerospace Engineering) is investigating this question. He is receiving a EUR 700,000 subsidy to turn his dream into reality: finding chemical traces of life beyond Earth.