Natural science

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Mystery of the blunt-tipped beetle penis

It took seven years, countless beetle penis field investigations, and hours upon hours on hands and knees in coastal wetlands. This is the story of all the research that has to happen before a new species can finally get its official name.

How tiny water droplets form can have a big impact on climate models

Droplets and bubbles are formed nearly everywhere, from boiling our morning coffee, to complex industrial processes and even volcanic eruptions. New research from SINTEF and NTNU in Norway, improves our understanding of how these bubbles and droplets form. This could improve our ability to model climate change.

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Thinking outside the box of fossils

During the time of Darwin, anthropogeny was the study of human origins. Its sub-discipline paleoanthropology has since taken over, which focuses on fossils found in dry parts of Africa. These fossils don’t tell us much about why or where humans actually evolved.

Abandoned cropland helps make Europe cooler

As nations prepare to mitigate climate change, decision makers need to understand how land use fits into the climate equation. A new study looked at land use changes over two decades and found a major shift from cropland to forests.  That change made western Europe cooler.

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Following sea trout minute by minute

Sea trout populations have declined sharply. Researchers have studied the life of sea trout by means of acoustic telemetry tags and listening stations. Now they know more about what we need to do to protect the sea trout population.

Your plane travel destroys polar bear habitat

A group of polar bear researchers wants you to do more than worry about the fate of these beautiful animals. They’ve calculated how much summer sea ice is melted per metric tonne of CO2 emissions. Then you can decide if the flight you’re planning to take is worth destroying polar bear habitat.

Gaming their way to sustainable development

Researchers wanted to involve local people living around Kenya and Tanzania’s Serengeti-Mara parks in developing a sustainable future for them and the parks. They developed a board game to get people talking to the researchers — and to each other. That game has now won an international award.

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Testing CO2 transport on the laboratory roof

When scientists carry out experiments to investigate safe and efficient CO2 transport on the roof of the thermal power engineering laboratories at Trondheim, Norway, the noise they make will sound like a jet engine.

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Svalbard reindeer populations rebounding from centuries of hunting

As reindeer go, the animals living on Svalbard might not be Santa’s first choice. They’re a smaller subspecies of their common mainland relatives, and to save energy they basically never run. But because they were nearly exterminated from Svalbard around 1900 — and were then protected in 1925 — the animals provide unique insights into how conservation can help species thrive.

Moose: like having wild livestock in the woods

Moose prefer to browse on deciduous trees. Then conifers take over and affect the species diversity in the forest. One researcher contends that Norwegian wildlife management is not good enough to address what happens in the wake of these large herbivores.

Computer video simulation can limit flooding

Floods are expensive and at times dangerous. But what if a computer disaster simulation game could show politicians and local people what potential floods in their town would look like?

Six years into the ice — and beyond

The Arctic’s once impenetrable ice cap is melting away, with profound consequences for everything from ocean circulation patterns to fish numbers and diversity. The Nansen Legacy Project, including NTNU biologists, chemists and engineers, is working to better understand what these changes mean for the Barents Sea and the Arctic Basin

How cancer breaks down your muscles

A solid tumour can cause muscle cells in the body to self-destruct. Many cancer patients die from the consequences. Now researchers are discovering more about how cancer cells in a tumour can take control of muscle cell wasting and trigger a chronic, serious condition.