Research

Intelligent Materials from Blue Crab Shells: a Ca' Foscari Patent

A research team from Ca' Foscari, composed of Claudia Crestini, Matteo Gigli and Daniele Massari has patented, in collaboration with the University of Pavia, the ability to transform chitin into intelligent nanomaterials with functional properties. The process has potential applications in various fields ranging from biomedicine to sustainable packaging, as well as in the restoration and conservation of writing materials.

Rising risk: Analyzing climate change's impact on Venetian coastlines

Venice and its coastal area are notoriously vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Using an innovative approach, a team of researchers including scientists from CMCC and Ca’ Foscari University of Venice analysed shoreline erosion and water quality degradation, offering vital insights into future climate scenarios, essential for effective coastal risk management.

Sorbitol from pizza boxes: from Ca’ Foscari a new 'green' patent

An economically viable and sustainable alternative to traditional methods of converting cellulose into sorbitol has emerged from the laboratories of Ca' Foscari University of Venice. The process was developed by professors Alvise Perosa and Maurizio Selva with doctoral students Daniele Polidoro and Giancarmelo Stamilla from the Department of Molecular Sciences and Nanosystems.

Archaeology and social relations meet in the IDENTIS research project

Thanks to a Marie-Skłodowska Curie Career Restart grant, researcher Mauro Puddu investigated material traces of the past in order to reconstruct the identities and social relations of rural populations in central-western Sardinia in the Roman era. The research project has also led to the exhibition "Shards of the Past, Meanings of the Present", which will be will be inaugurated on 31 August 2023 at Ca' Foscari Zattere.

Ca' Foscari: algorithm replaces rare-earth elements with green materials

Rara Foundation-Sustainable Materials and Technologies Ets is a recently founded non-profit organisation set up to promote and carry out research on sustainable technologies and materials, offering 'clean' and viable solutions in geopolitical strategies related to rare materials.

Titan disaster: tourism of the deep towards frontier research

"A catastrophic implosion" destroyed OceanGate's submarine Titan, some four thousand metres to the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean. We discussed the issue with Alessio Rovere, Associate Professor of Physical Geography and Geomorphology at the Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics at Ca' Foscari.

Centralization damages Local Ecological Knowledge: results of DiGe (ERCSG)

The research project led by by Renata Sõukand, Associate Professor of Botany at Ca' Foscari, has created an advanced understanding of the dynamics involved in the transformation of ethnobotanical knowledge within traditional societies and minority ethnic groups, when faced with attempts by dominant forces to unify and erode this practical knowledge.

Arctic: research shows connection between climate variability and mercury

A new study published in Nature Geoscience and carried out by Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, in collaboration with the Institute of Polar Sciences of the National Research Council and other international partners, shows that the sea ice melting following temperature increase during the last glacial-interglacial transition caused a higher release of mercury into the atmosphere.

Is Chat GPT really smart? A few questions for Marcello Pelillo

ChatGPT has become a real media case. It is one of the most famous artificial intelligence models developed by OpenAI, and it is polarising opinions in the scientific and non-scientific community. We discussed it with an expert, Marcello Pelillo, professor of computer science at Ca' Foscari, who has been working in the field of AI for thirty years.