Ricardo Araújo, researcher at CERENA and professor at Instituto Superior Técnico, received the center’s first European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant with a value of 2 million euros for the DAEDALUS project.
The DAEDALUS project aims to determine when, in the evolution from dinosaurs to birds, endothermy appeared. Endothermy refers to the capacity of the body to keep a stable body temperature. In the project, the thermomotility index (TMI) will be used to estimate the body temperature of extinguished species from anatomical data present in fossils. TMI is a biophysical measurement that comes from the anatomical analysis of the semicircular ducts of the inner ear. These ducts, besides having important functions in balance and motion perception, have characteristics whose relationship with body temperature can be measured. The central hypothesis in the project considers that endothermy appeared during the Triassic. To validate the TMI, the team deals with critical limitations, particularly the lack of data, as there are only viscosity measurements for one bird species (the pigeon) and no reptiles.
This multidisciplinary project, with a team of otorhinolaryngologists, veterinaries, biologists and engineers, proposes to change the paradigm in the field with the development of a nanoviscometer (which aims to measure the viscosity of endolymph, a fluid present in the semicircular ducts of the inner ear and whose composition influences TMI) using AI algorithms. This device will allow to see details impossible to see to the naked eye.
The other ERC attributed to Portugal wen to Juan Gallego, researcher at Champalimaud Foundation, who will receive 2.1 million euros over the next 5 years for his SELECT project, which aims to unravel neuronal mechanisms related to learning and motion execution. The full news can be read at Técnico website.