Helping refugee children to read — with a computer game
Syrian refugee children often do not learn to read in their native Arabic. But two new games are set to change that.
Society
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Icelandic drinking horn changes our understanding of St. Olav
After the Reformation, Norway’s Olav Haraldsson was no longer supposed to be worshipped as a saint. An Icelandic drinking horn offers some clues on how the saint’s status changed.
A preference for casual sex increases risk of harassment
Adolescents who are open to casual sex are more often involved in sexual harassment – both as victims and as perpetrators.
Getting rid of depression by changing how you think
A thought is a thought. It does not reflect reality. New research shows that learning how to ruminate less on thoughts and feelings has a positive effect for individuals with depression.
Going deep to learn the secrets of Japan’s earthquakes
The 11 March 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake was the largest and most destructive in the history of Japan. Japanese researchers — and Norwegian partners — are hard at work trying to understand just what made it so devastating.
European researchers want to extend funding for renewables
An international team of researchers has concluded that operational funding should continue to be provided for the production of renewable energy in Europe, provided that such support is progressively reduced over time.
Team building doesn’t really work
Rafting, paintball and go-karting on company outings do not improve interactions at work. Strangely enough, these activities can make things worse.
Making Arctic travel safer
Help is not just a phone call away if you have an accident in the Arctic. That’s why the far northern Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard is establishing an educational and research centre for Arctic safety.
Researcher’s heart problems uncover security gap
Marie Moe, who is a SINTEF researcher in cybersecurity, discovered that her heart is being regulated by a pacemaker which can be hacked.
A future for skiing in a warmer world
As the world struggles to make progress to limit climate change, researchers are finding ways to adapt to warmer winter temperatures — by developing environmentally friendly ways of producing artificial snow.
Martin’s world
Visualizing oil reservoirs or tectonic plates under the seafloor requires lots of computing power and the imagination to envision what the data are showing you. That’s Martin Landrø’s work world. But he’s also fascinated by how teachers from a century ago taught their students about the Earth and the way it moves around the sun.
One-night stand regrets
Women regret saying yes to casual sex much more often than men do. Men – almost exclusively – regret saying no. Why?
Do elite sports promote doping?
The pursuit by elite sports of media — and the public’s — attention generates hardcore competition that even highly trained bodies can barely handle. Some athletes find doping to be their only recourse.
A cure for social anxiety disorders
Social phobia is the most common anxiety disorder of our time. But the current treatment regimen for patients with this diagnosis has not proven very effective. Now NTNU researchers believe they have found a cure for social anxiety disorders.
Contraception influences sexual desire in committed relationships
How often women in heterosexual couples desire sex depends on how committed the relationship is and what type of birth control the woman uses.
Sick mother was inspiration behind supersmart phone
Using a smartphone is not easy for older people who have problems with fine motor skills or mild disabilities. So a resourceful engineer enlisted the help of some researchers and took things into his own hands. Now a completely different type of phone will soon be on the market.
Speed warning system saves lives and reduces emissions
Universal adoption of the ISA speed warning system in Norway could reduce both the average speed of vehicles and their emissions, concludes a recent SINTEF report. Lower speeds also lead to fewer fatalities and serious injuries on the roads.
What makes print more readable for the visually impaired?
Type size is the most critical factor in being able to read printed text, but it doesn’t have to be as big as you might think.
Silence as a superpower
Silence is not an empty space. It has its own purpose, both in psychotherapy and in music. Olga Lehmann is working to build a theory of silence.
Chinese courage meets Norwegian daily life
Many Chinese students come to Norway with big ambitions. But everyday life can be hard and lonely. Some find solace in religion.
How attentive are children in traffic?
The answer is “not very” if we’re to believe the results of research trials carried out last year involving 59 children.
Five Nordic universities look into the crystal ball
The Nordic Five Tech, an alliance of the leading technical universities in the Nordic countries, celebrated its tenth anniversary this June with a high level summit to plot a strategy for its next decade. There was talk of horses, cars, and swimming robot snakes.
NTNU builds bridges to Japan
Starting today, Hiroshito Matsumoto will work from a base in Toyko on behalf of NTNU and the University of Bergen to build new research partnerships between Japan and Norway.
Household consumption significant driver of climate, other environmental impacts
You won’t make big cuts in your environmental impact by taking shorter showers or turning out the lights. The real environmental problem, a new analysis has shown, is embodied in the things you buy.