The Detectives: Hunting toxic chemicals in the Arctic
What researchers are learning about the fate of chemicals in the Arctic, and how what they’re learning is changing international law and providing life-saving advice.
Biology
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Two Industrial Ecology professors named to international climate-related posts
Professor Edgar Hertwich has been named to the EU’s newly constituted European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change, while Professor Francesco Cherubini has been asked to serve as a Lead Author for an upcoming assessment by The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
ERC Grant aims to figure out the cost of survival
DNA from sticklebacks that is thousands of years old could provide answers to one of the great questions of evolution. The EU is supporting the research with over 600.000 euros.
Ladybirds: The insects almost everyone likes
Ladybird beetles are probably among the most popular insects we have. Did you know that Norway has some 50 different species – plus some unwelcome guests?
The tiny structures that mimic a cell’s natural environment
Covering glass microscope slides in tiny, nano-sized pillars can mimic a cell’s natural environment – and could help biologists understand how cells act inside the human body.
What plants need to withstand drought
When temperatures rise, it affects the plants that agriculture and we depend on. Now we know more about how plants resist drought.
Plastic chemicals may contribute to weight gain
Plastic consumer products contain chemicals that may promote the development of overweight and obesity.
How do dolphins learn to live along the coast?
Ocean-dwelling dolphins have repeatedly adapted to life in coastal areas throughout history.
The Norwegian wolf is extinct
The Norwegian wolf died out in the wild a long time ago. The wolves in Norwegian forests today are Finnish. Inbreeding is making them prone to extinction as well.
What is nature worth?
Climate change is not the greatest threat to the diversity of species on Earth. The main problem is that animal and plant habitats are disappearing.
Ski wax chemicals alter animals’ brains and livers
New research confirms that fluorinated compounds in ski waxes affect organs in mice.
New technology can count endangered salamanders
The stomach patterns of salamanders are as unique as human fingerprints. This feature will be used in an app to record salamander numbers.
Moose appetite for deciduous trees counteracts warming effects
With the warming climate, forests are growing faster than before, and deciduous species are growing the fastest. Recent research illustrates just how much moose foraging limits this growth.
Your sense of smell resembles that of insects
Scientists find remarkable similarities in the olfactory pathways of such diverse creatures as humans and insects.
Is weight loss harmful to tiny top athletes?
Shorebirds burn a lot of fat during their long migrations. This can release toxic chemicals that accumulate in fat cells.
Which species will be our urban neighbours?
All over the world, people are moving out of rural areas, and cities are growing. What will be the impact on resident species that live in these cities? Which will be our new plant and animal neighbours, which will have to leave town, and what does that mean for us humans?
Human antibiotic use affects wild bears
Bacteria in wild bears become more resistant to antibiotics when human antibiotic use is high.
The Gunnerus Award in Sustainability Science goes to a holistic thinker
The Gunnerus Sustainability Prize for 2021 has been awarded to Professor Jianguo (Jack) Liu at Michigan State University.
How a small fish coped with being isolated from the sea
A 12 000-year-old stickleback shows how species adapt.
When does the green-eyed monster of jealousy awake in people?
Women and men are often jealous for completely different reasons. This gender difference occurs so early that it surprised the researchers.
New species discovered in Norway
This brand new species of cuckoo wasp was discovered because of its own language.
New technology will identify sources of plastic in the ocean
Plastic trash gets cleaned up along our beaches. But it’s also important to find out where the plastic comes from. A Norwegian app will soon be able to do this.
Building trust in robots to measure, monitor, and regulate the ocean
A new partnership between the Centre for the 4th Industrial Revolution Ocean and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) has been established to establish trust in ocean data collected from autonomous underwater vehicles.
Darwin had Galapagos finches. Norway has… house sparrows?
Uncommon lessons learned from the world’s most widespread bird.