Baby health: University of Graz is seeking study participants to investigate early risk factors
Why does the body composition of babies vary so much? Some children gain a significant amount of fat mass within a few weeks, whilst others show hardly any change over the same period. “At the same time, initial observations suggest that fat distribution in all babies may follow a similar pattern, regardless of their total body fat,” explains Marco Höfler from the Institute of Movement Sciences, Sport and Health at the University of Graz. He is coordinating the research project ‘Small Bodies – Big Questions’, for which participants are currently still being sought: pregnant women and babies up to four weeks old.
“HeinrichBiCool”: University of Graz demonstrates the effects of green facades and roofs
The University of Graz has launched a pioneering project at the University Centre for Theology. Its name, “HeinrichBiCool”, says it all: a comprehensive system of green facades and roof will cool the building at Heinrichstraße 80 during the summer. At the same time, this will create a new habitat for plants and animals, helping to increase biodiversity. The accompanying monitoring programme will provide detailed data on the impact of the measures on indoor climate, energy consumption and biodiversity. The findings will lay a scientifically sound foundation for further projects aimed at making cities sustainable, climate-resilient and liveable. The partners in this project, funded by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG), are AEE INTEC – Institute for Sustainable Technologies, Technisches Büro Siegfried Stark, the landscape architecture and urban planning firm “studio boden”, and Ökoteam Graz.
