Tensions flared outside a political event in Wallonia on Wednesday as the leader of the Belgian French-speaking center-right Reformist Movement (MR) party was insulted and pelted with beer by protesters MR President Georges-Louis Bouchez had just arrived in Gembloux to attend a party conference when members of the trade union FGTB started shouting insults and throwing middle fingers at him primarily affiliated with the socialist-leaning union reportedly shouted insults and ultimately threw a glass of beer at him one of their members threw a glass of beer at me He argued that although he could have have asked for police protection he decided to stay and confront the protesters to show he was not intimidated According to members of the FGTB trade union Bouchez provoked the demonstrators who had come outside the party congress to talk with him “The facts are clear: he was the one who charged at the demonstrators. As for the glass of beer, everyone regrets it, even their own security service noticed that it came from inside the room,” FGTB Regional Secretary Jonathan Hubert said on social media “We strongly denounce this staging and deplore the attitude of a party president who chooses provocation over dialogue This is not our conception of democratic debate,” he added Belgium’s government has long had a tumultuous relationship with the country’s labor unions often clashing over issues such as economic reforms The tension has worsened following the election of Belgium’s new center-right government, of which MR is a part, with unions criticizing reforms they see as harmful to workers. “Excellent result,” cheers former Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki. U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to end the conflict have proved fruitless so far. An uptick in gang violence has seen more than a dozen shootings so far this year. Russia has yet to prove it wants to end the war, prime minister says. 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All rights reserved A Belgian research scientist is working with the federal police to create a scent that mimics the smell of dried human bones to help sniffer dogs find long lost remains Clement Martin has already isolated the smell of decomposing human flesh and that is now used to train Belgium’s cadaver dogs the scent molecules of the remaining bones become significantly fewer “Bones smell different over the years too A 3-year-old bone will smell different to a 10-year-old one and even 20 years,” he said Skeletal remains are porous too and absorb smells from the surrounding environment Our dogs were not able to find dried bones,” Kris Cardoen At a police training centre outside Brussels inspector Kristof Van Langenhove and his springer spaniel Bones demonstrated part of the training with Martin’s corpse scent Cardoen hid some tissues between cinder blocks and only contaminated a few The dog then barked when he found the smell “The scent of death is one of the three tools we use during the basic training of our human remains dog,” Cardoen said Cadaver dogs require 1,000 hours of training and the country only ever has four at any one time Martin is using different samples of dried bones to develop the smell including those of an unidentified man found in a suitcase which are kept in a glass cylinder to allow the molecules to permeate an enclosed space ready for extraction “It’s a bit like a perfumer developing his perfume he’s going to mix different aromas,” Martin said Editor’s Note: Reporting by Julia Payne; Editing by Alison Williams a fully integrated radiotherapeutics company held the ground-breaking ceremony for its new Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) radiopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Gembloux The new facility will expand the company’s current radiopharmaceutical manufacturing capacity and ensure a timely supply of radiotherapeutics to patients globally The company signed a land purchase agreement for 17,000m²  (182,986ft²) of land to build the facility in May 2023 Gembloux is a leading hub for pharmaceutical production and lies within Europe’s biotech innovation corridor It was selected for the new facility due to its geographic location professional talent pool and efficient transportation network The Walloon regional government plays a key role in creating a conducive environment for the radiopharmaceutical industry The Full-Life Technologies’ GMP manufacturing facility will span 4,000m²  The facility will serve as the company’s production hub for the manufacturing of end-to-end solutions and a broad spectrum of radiopharmaceuticals that meet key market GMP standards the facility will be equipped with automation technologies and digital quality assurance systems Full-Life Technologies is focused on the manufacturing of radionuclide drug conjugates (RDC) and radio therapeutics for various cancer indications under different programmes is a novel prostate-specific membrane antigen being developed for the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer The drug candidate is designed to deliver the highly potent Actinium-225 alpha-emitter isotope It is currently progressing towards Phase I clinical trials which are expected to commence in early 2024 in Europe and the US Full-Life Technologies is also evaluating Actinium-225 as a dual-targeting somatostatin receptor 2 (SSTR2) and cholecystokinin B receptor (CCKBR/CCK2R) for the treatment of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) neuroendocrine tumours and medullary thyroid cancer The neurotensin receptor type 1 is being developed to target squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck and gastrointestinal cancers while guanylyl cyclase C receptor is being developed to target colorectal The company’s UniRDC™ is a proprietary discovery platform that helps streamline and accelerate the discovery of RDC drug candidates to 18 months or less It covers a range of modalities including small molecule The platform is based on a proprietary set of synthetic chemistry and protein engineering tool kits comprising Clear-X™ linker technology and Res-X™ modification methods which enable the development of RDC candidates with the optimal biodistribution profile Full-Life Technologies closed $63.3m in financing including $47.3m in Series B equity financing and $16m in loan facilities in January 2024 The company will use the $16m loan facilities towards the construction of the new facility as well as the development of its product pipeline Full-Life Technologies aims to establish its value chain comprising radiopharmaceutical research and development and commercialisation to deliver life-saving radiotherapeutics to cancer patients and those with unmet medical needs Established in August 2021, the company has operations in Belgium, Germany and China.  In November 2022, it acquired radiopharmaceuticals developer Focus-X Therapeutics to expand its peptide-focused radiopharmaceutical pipeline Full-Life Technologies also focuses on establishing strategic collaborations and partnerships that leverage the company’s technologies and explore in-licensing opportunities that complement its drug development pipeline It works with major supply-chain partners to ensure the timely delivery of products to customers worldwide Give your business an edge with our leading industry insights View all newsletters from across the GlobalData Media network Belgian data center firm LCL has acquired ENGIE Solutions’ data center in Gembloux LCL is taking over the facility and its employees through the acquisition of Cofely Data Solutions SA LCL offers colocation from facilities in Aalst Engie’s facility will be the company’s fifth we are focusing strongly on the Belgian market’s digital opening,” said Laurens van Reijen we are increasing our presence on the market Gembloux is located in the heart of the Walloon economy.” Cofely Data Solutions is a subsidiary of French multinational electric utility company Engie SA while ENGIE Cofely offers hosting services from the Wallonia facility The companies have formed a partnership where ENGIE Solutions will build new data centers for LCL with plans for the energy company to provide expertise on energy efficiency The site’s solar park, built to provide power for the data center, is also included in the acquisition. The solar farm contains around 2,000 photovoltaic panels, generating around 1MW of electricity. L’Echo reports the solar farm provides around 80 percent of the facility’s power needs and that ENGIE invested around €30 million ($36.3m) in the data center prior to selling it The facility has a Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) rating of 1.25 LCL has joined the Climate Neutral Data Center Pact and is committed to making all its data centers carbon-neutral by 2030 The deal is LCL’s second acquisition in the last few years, following the purchase of an Atos data center in Huizingen in April 2020 for €5.5 million ($6m) LCL began in 2002 when van Reijen acquired a data center in Diegem and operated it under the name LCL Telehousing Ebone was bought by the Dutch-American telecoms firm KPNQwest which subsequently went bankrupt in 2002 - at which point van Reijen bought the Ebone PoP and data center Data Centre Dynamics Ltd (DCD), 32-38 Saffron Hill, London, EC1N 8FH Email. [email protected]DCD is a subsidiary of InfraXmedia Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article the struggle between emperors and popes for control over the investiture of bishops Yusen Logistics Benelux will open a new state-of-the-art pharma and healthcare warehouse in Gembloux (Wallonia) to further position Benelux as a strategic healthcare logistics hub for the European region Yusen Logistics Benelux added over 40,000m2 to its smart pharma operation in recent years by opening new warehouses in Roosendaal Now Yusen Logistics continues to invest in this new location in Gembloux Yusen Logistics Benelux will open a brand new state-of-the-art automated healthcare dedicated and GDP certified warehouse in the South of Belgium Gembloux is centrally located and unique for the area This project gives a major boost to employment and the regional economy in Wallonia This 18-meter-high warehouse will consist of two separate buildings One building of 1,500m² will be ambient and fitted to store dangerous goods The other building will have around 39,000m² of storage space with variable temperatures The building will be equipped with a range of automated solutions like AMRs (Autonomous Mobile Robots) and AGVs (Automated Guided Vehicles) as material handling equipment for order preparation This new warehouse will meet the highest sustainability standards Photovoltaic solar panels will be installed and charging points for electric cars and bicycles The building will be BREEAM certified and FM Global compliant MG Real Estate is responsible for the site’s development and will lease it to Yusen Logistics GSK aims to consolidate and centralize their Belgian incoming material and vaccine warehouse activities on this new site (GSK Logistics Hub) The remaining space at the Gembloux location will be accessible to other healthcare customers Managing Director of Yusen Logistics Benelux: “This new warehouse underlines our strategy to further develop the pharma and healthcare activities within Benelux and Europe This warehouse will be quite unique within Europe as it will host all the different temperature storage requirements in large quantities combined with different types of automation all of which are of the highest quality and HSES standards We are a strong and professional healthcare Logistics specialist that offers customers unique added value in their supply chain through an increased focus on quality and HSES We are grateful to our customers for their confidence in our services and for entrusting us with their products I highly appreciate the contribution from our business partners and MG Real Estate as well as the support from our subcontractors A special thanks goes to BEP Namen and Renaud Degueldre for their important contribution to making this development possible I look forward to working with all parties involved to make this new project a huge success!” the recently appointed Managing Director of the vaccines division for GSK in Belgium “We would like to thank all Yusen Logistics employees for taking up this particularly important challenge for our organization the construction of this large-scale new logistics centre at the cutting edge of technology and respecting the latest environmental standards will not only allow an impressive storage space with variable temperatures depending on our vaccines but will also be the hub for exporting millions of our vaccines around the world we will be able to distribute our vaccines more quickly to people in more than 160 countries while reducing our CO2 emissions once again demonstrates GSK’s intention to strengthen the biopharmaceutical ecosystem in Belgium and at the same time consolidates Wallonia’s place at the top of logistics.” The Benelux is a strategic hotspot for Yusen Logistics at the European level – for import and export flows worldwide air and sea freight combined with extensive road network connections for transit to destinations throughout Europe The Yusen Logistics Benelux warehouses are also hubs on the Yusen Logistics pharmaceutical superhighway a Control Tower-driven European network in which more than two million pallets of pharmaceutical products are transported every year The expansion with this new location will further strengthen the healthcare network within Yusen Logistics Europe and the other regions worldwide อัพเดตข่าวสารและบทความที่น่าสนใจในอุตสาหกรรมโลจิสติกส์ก่อนใคร ผ่าน Line Official Account @Logistics Mananger เพียงเพิ่มเราเป็นเพื่อน @Logistics Manager หรือคลิกที่นี่ the Christmas parades promise magical moments for young and old alike Belgium is transformed into a veritable fairytale in the run-up to Christmas with magical parades taking place all over the country which light up the streets and enchant young and old alike are the perfect opportunity to get into the holiday spirit Discover this season’s must-see Christmas parades The Grande Parade de Noël in Brussels is a must-see for the end-of-year festivities the heart of the Belgian capital comes alive with a magical parade Taking in iconic landmarks such as the Grand-Place the parade lights up the city with sparkling floats costumed performers and a magical atmosphere that enchants everyone 📍 It takes place all over the city center 📆 Every Saturday evening in December from 6pm to 8pm The RTL Christmas Parade returns this year to light up the town of Bertrix on Friday with a procession made up of the Pôle Express It’s a magical evening not to be missed The Péruwelz Christmas Parade is a highlight of the festive season It takes place on the last Sunday of the Christmas market This enchanting parade winds through the streets of the town offering a dazzling spectacle of decorated floats An unmissable family event that celebrates the magic of Christmas in a warm and friendly atmosphere is a festive celebration packed with entertainment for the whole family In addition to traditional chalets and an open skating rink contests are held throughout the month of December amazes visitors with its illuminated floats and dancers It’s a real touch of magic to close this festive edition Les Hivernales de Gembloux is a fairytale celebration combining crafts festive entertainment and family activities the Christmas parade on December 15 will light up the streets skating rink and strolling shows will enliven the Esplanade Place Saint-Jean and Place de l’Hôtel de Ville A not-to-be-missed event to immerse you in the magic of the festive season PHOTOGALLERY Belgium recently hosted a two-week intensive training on soil and groundwater pollution a key step in an ambitious international effort to restore Ukraine’s military-affected farmland the project "Restoring Livelihoods and Revitalizing Rural Communities Affected by Mines and Explosive Remnants of War in Ukraine" is part of a four-year initiative led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) With Ukraine’s agricultural land affected by the presence of mines and explosive remnants the project focuses on mapping contaminated farmland and supporting rural communities in reducing pollution risks Experts are working to determine priority areas for mine clearance and provide technical guidance on rehabilitating damaged soils This initiative also aims to help Ukrainian farmers reclaim their land safely and restore food production in one of the world’s most vital agricultural regions Implemented by FAO through its Global Soil Partnership (GSP) 25 Ukrainian experts selected by FAO country office in Ukraine and the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine are being trained The selection considered educational level and the trainee's current or engagement with soils impacted by military activities the first group of 11 Ukrainian experts underwent training designed to equip them with the skills and methods for identifying and mitigating soil pollution resulting from military activities The remaining 14 trainees are set to attend the training in March 2025 The training built on theoretical course completed in November 2024 The in-person training in Belgium provided Ukrainian stakeholders The training programme was developed in collaboration with the International Network on Soil Pollution (INSOP) and the Belgian Soil Laboratory Network (BESOLAN) led by the Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO) with participation from the Belgian Royal Military Academy the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK CEN) The training took place at various locations including VITO and SCK CEN facilities in Mol the Belgian Royal Military Academy in Brussels and the University of Liège campus in Gembloux The curriculum covered essential topics such as: A step toward soil restoration in conflict affected areas Given the extensive damage caused by explosive remnants of war equipping national experts with technical expertise to monitor and mitigate soil pollution is crucial for ensuring long term agricultural resilience and food security The training provided an invaluable platform for knowledge exchange and technical collaboration The participation of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine and various national soil institutions and laboratories from Kyiv as well as national environmental protection agencies (EPA) enhanced networking opportunities in Ukraine and expanded partnership within the GSP the remaining 14 Ukrainian participants will complete the same training in March 2025 Feedback collected from the first group of trainees will be used to refine and expand the curriculum including potential modules on gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC MS) and the use of portable analytical devices such as X ray fluorescence (XRF) Efforts will also continue to engage Belgian research institutions and European academic networks in strengthening international collaboration on soil health FAO remains committed to restoring agricultural areas affected by military activities ensuring that affected communities have the tools and knowledge to rebuild their livelihoods in a safe and sustainable manner By training national experts and fostering international cooperation FAO is laying the foundation for long term resilience in Ukraine and other conflict affected nations facing similar military-related soil pollution challenges the GSP has made recorded training sessions available on its YouTube channel broadening access to soil and groundwater pollution assessment methodologies You can watch these training sessions through the following link: https://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/insop/trainingonsoilpollution The video is the first of 18 modules in the training covering the basic principles of soil and groundwater pollution designed to provide participants with essential knowledge for effective management and remediation Italy-based demogo studio di architettura was one of the winners of the Europan 10 Architecture Competition. Their project, Town Hall of Gembloux is located in Belgium (Between Bruxelles and Namur) More images and architect’s description after the break The site is situated in the medieval centre near the tenth century city wall It used to house a 13th century dungeon which is currently the location of the Maison du Bailly With its rocky promontory housing the belfry the abbey and the decanal church separated from each other by the Grand’Rue (main thoroughfare) these are the control points of the Orneau valley The medieval centre is covered by a buffer zone demarcated around the belfry. The belfry itself is one of a series of belfries in France and Belgium which were placed on the UNESCO world heritage list in 2006 The idea of project is born from the wish to emphasize the symbols of the city of Gembloux to establish a strong dialogue between the new administrative town pole and the context the “Eglise Decanale” and the “Maison du Bailly” as prolongations of the same project The new building grafts him in the urban nucleus on the ”Place de d’Hôtel de ville” creating a re-stitching with the existing fabric offering the possibility to devote the whole south side to the “Parc d’Epinal” a garden thought as an urban park open to the city The generating sights on the symbols of Gembloux fragment the new town pole in smaller parts in conformity with the urban staircase and they create a separated functional program in more fields The new fragments settle and emerge from the irregular surface of the park exploiting the variations of quota they constitute two new public spaces complementary one to the other Established in different quotas the two squares are parts of the ascensional route: city – town hall – park The city is enriched by the expression of a new form of centrality: an idea that goes beyond itself completes and reveals the character of its surroundings You'll now receive updates based on what you follow Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors If you have done all of this and still can't find the email which can take from 10 minutes to three hours The bottles for the Bertinchamps Brewery took just under three hours and used up 24.6 metres of chocolate.The company gets orders from hotels Prices range greatly depending on what kind of size shape and chocolate is required.While dark chocolate is most popular milk and white chocolate are also available.Editing by Hugh Lawson including Art Nouveau column detailing and wrought-iron elements contrasting with modern satin-metal finishes like shelving and insets Designed by the Italo-Lebanese studio Lit Studio—already a regular collaborator—the boutique reflects a minimalist approach with a bold color scheme The ceiling is painted in a deep red inspired by the brand's logo fading gradually into the columns that anchor the space The store's offer focuses heavily on textiles Missoni has expanded the line through licensing partnerships launching tableware with Compagnia Italiana del Cristallo Larger furniture pieces are not on display in-store The idea is to keep proportions manageable so clients can leave with items in hand "The store is vertically structured with wall-mounted shelves that let us rearrange the layout It's a dynamic space—not static—but designed for interaction where we can host collaborations with designers or creatives," explained Caliri."Our goal is to multiply these types of activations and explore how our identity can be reinterpreted through different lenses—especially those that challenge our existing narrative I want to engage every layer of the brand and discover new language Missoni's real project is about building connections with others and we're listening," he added.The brand is going full throttle for Design Week dressing two of Milan's iconic bars in its colorful aesthetic: the Principe Bar at the Hotel Principe di Savoia and the rooftop bar of department store La Rinascente It is also unveiling two new outdoor furniture pieces—a director's chair and a lounge chair—as part of its garden collection launched last year in collaboration with Italian outdoor specialist Roda For the first time in three decades, the V&A museum is showing a retrospective of some of Cartier's most iconic creations.Founded in Paris almost 180 years ago the company has pioneered and modernised the luxury jewellery market and a virtually guaranteed 5,000 consumers over the four-day experience Their Knightsbridge Bellville Sassoon salon was a magnet for the rich and famous from the 1960s onwards.Sassoon was born in London in 1932 and had ambitions to be an actor although this wasn’t approved of by his family and he changed direction Bellville invited him to join her existing salon in the 1950s and as a reflection of his importance to the business A hunter in a Gabonese rainforest - SWM Project © D Forests and Societies CIRAD: presse@cirad.fr​​​​CIFOR:  a.lalani@cifor-icraf.orgUniversity of Liège:  rachel.akindavyi@uliege.be   Medium- to large-bodied mammals play crucial roles in tropical ecosystems these species are also prime targets for hunters leading to significant changes in wildlife communities The research highlights that overhunting causes predictable shifts more resilient species like rodents become more dominant the researchers conducted extensive fieldwork in Gabon using systematic camera trapping and hunter offtake records They collaborated with 314 hunters from 10 communities recording data from nearly 13 000 hunting trips By comparing the wildlife composition in hunted areas with that in protected reference sites the team developed reliable indicators of faunal degradation This valuable research was funded by the European Union through the Sustainable Wildlife Management (SWM) Programme The study identifies two main indicators that are simple yet powerful tools for monitoring wildlife degradation: Rodents-to-Ungulates Ratio: This ratio increases significantly in heavily hunted areas Mean Body Mass of Offtake: This metric decreases as hunting pressure intensifies These indicators are not only easy to calculate but also practical for implementation through community-led monitoring programmes They provide valuable insights for conservationists and local communities to track and manage the health of their ecosystems The findings underscore the importance of involving local communities in wildlife monitoring and management can play a critical role in gathering data and ensuring sustainable practices This community-based approach aligns with global conservation goals such as the Global Biodiversity Framework’s “30×30” target which aims to protect 30% of the world’s land and water by 2030 from CIRAD and the Gembloux Université de Liège By leveraging the expertise of local communities and using these straightforward indicators we can make significant strides in conserving wildlife and maintaining ecological balance in tropical forests to assess the alteration of wildlife assemblages By integrating camera-trap and hunting offtake data we established that the most reliable hunting indicators for assessing alteration in wildlife assemblages are also the easiest to calculate These results offer a promising way of simplifying hunting monitoring facilitating its adoption by local communities The researchers advocate for scaling up this approach across other tropical regions adapting the indicators to different ecological contexts They also call for the integration of these methods into broader conservation strategies including the establishment of community-use zones and the protection of large-scale ecological connectivity "Involving and empowering local communities helps ensure sustainable wildlife use and underpins all the activities at the SWM Programme sites The research findings in Gabon have great potential for broader application in similar tropical forest environments" Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) comments CIRAD is the French agricultural research and international cooperation organization working for the sustainable development of tropical and Mediterranean regions a distinguished faculty within the University of Liège excels in sustainable forest resource management through its renowned Forest Resources Management Unit (FORIL) FORIL is dedicated to advancing sustainable forestry practices by integrating ecological Our interdisciplinary team focuses on biodiversity conservation and the socio-economic impacts of forestry Committed to global collaboration and education Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech and FORIL strive to influence policies and practices that promote environmental sustainability and benefit local communities CIFOR-ICRAF is an organization formed by the merger of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) The purpose of CIFOR-ICRAF is to address global challenges related to forests The organization aims to generate and apply knowledge to inform policies and practices that improve the management and conservation of forest landscapes and agroforestry systems The Department of Natural Sciences within the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) is at the forefront of scientific research and education our department is dedicated to advancing knowledge across a broad spectrum of natural sciences disciplines Our research initiatives encompass environmental science and a commitment to excellence in teaching MMU's Department of Natural Sciences prepares students to address global challenges and drive future scientific breakthroughs The French agricultural research and international cooperation organization working for the sustainable development of tropical and Mediterranean regions The lingerie giant has confirmed the supermodel for its 2016 line-up with Gigi taking to Instagram to announce the news The US star posted a throwback video of her Victoria's Secret 2015 debut alongside the caption: "There is no feeling in the world like walking down this runway I'm elated to say I'll be returning to the @VictoriasSecret Fashion Show this year."She went on to thank the brand's senior creative Ed Razek saying: "Thank you @ed_razek for putting on the show that has been one of my greatest motivators since I was a teenage fan of the Angels and for making this dream come true for me again The fashion show with a 166-feet-long runway featured a selection of spring/summer 2025 Vivienne Westwood looks and special archive pieces alongside a capsule collection crafted with the hand-woven fabrics from India.The special capsule collection included fabrics like chanderi silks wool and silk sourced from across India by Khadi India and Aaranya from Madhya Pradesh Earthworms form herds and make "group decisions" scientists have discovered.The earthworms use touch to communicate and influence each other's behaviour according to research published in the journal Ethology By doing so the worms collectively decide to travel in the same direction as part of a single herd "Our results modify the current view that earthworms are animals lacking in social behaviour," says Ms Lara Zirbes a PhD student at the University of Liege in Gembloux in Belgium "We can consider the earthworm behaviour as the equivalent of a herd or swarm." Ms Zirbes and colleagues were originally interested in how earthworms interact with other microorganisms in the soil These interactions are part of the important ecological role of that earthworms play the researchers began to notice that the earthworms seemed also to interact with each other I noticed that earthworms frequently clustered and formed a compact patch when they were out of the soil," Ms Zirbes told the BBC So Ms Zirbes and her colleagues set up a series of experiments to test how earthworms decided where to go and whether they preferred to travel alone or in groups which tends to live near or at the soil surface typically within the litter lining forest floors they placed 40 earthworms into a central chamber and then to see how many earthworms moved to either arm over a 24-hour period the worms preferred to group within one chamber over the other "We noted that earthworms moving out of the central chamber influenced the directional choice of other earthworms "So our hypothesis was confirmed: a social cue influences earthworm behaviour," says Ms Zirbes A second experiment tested how the worms affected each other's behaviour investigating whether the worms use either chemical signals or touch to decide which chamber to move to The researchers placed one worm at the start of a soil-filled maze with two routes to a food source at the end After the worm chose its route to the food the researchers added a second worm to see if it followed the same route as the first the second worms were no more likely to take the same route as their predecessors This indicated that the worms did not leave a chemical trail behind them that communicated their direction of travel Yet if two worms were placed together at the start of the maze they were more likely to follow one another suggesting that they used touch to communicate where they were going "I have observed contact between two earthworms Sometimes they just cross their bodies and sometimes they maximise contact earthworms can form balls," says Ms Zirbes up to 40 earthworms could follow each other in a similar way explaining how herds of the animals preferred to move together into one chamber in the initial experiments "To our knowledge this is the first example of collective orientation in animals based on contact between followers," the researchers wrote in the journal "It is also the first one of collective movements of annelids." The researchers suspect that other earthworm species may behave in a similar way They now hope to investigate why the animals come together to form herds One reason may be that clustering helps the worms protect themselves Individual Eisenia fetida earthworms secrete proteins and fluids which have antibacterial properties They also secrete a yellow fluid to deter predatory flatworms What are these?