Green light for the world’s first intelligent oil pipelines
Electronics installed in Norwegian oil pipelines have been tested both at sea and in transport vessel reeling simulations. All that now remains is to install them offshore.
Technology
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Facebook use reflected in student grades
A recently published study reveals that the more time students spend on Facebook, the worse their grades. But Facebook is not the problem.
Predicting a safe lifetime for risers
More than 90 percent of Brazil’s petroleum reserves are found in deep water or ultra-deep water areas offshore. Researchers at SINTEF’s Brazil office are using advanced modelling and testing, including neural networks, to improve the lifespan and safety of a key component used to exploit these deep water reserves.
Cheaper heating using environmentally-friendly wood-burning stoves
Firewood is a key energy resource. Norway has about two million wood-burning stoves, with a little over half in regular use. For this reason, it’s important that they are efficient and environmentally-friendly.
A Third Industrial Revolution for Norway
Norway’s wealth and prosperity over the last four decades has been built on oil, but Jeremy Rifkin, a futurist and social and economic thinker, says it’s time for the country to change. The Third Industrial Revolution is coming, and Norway needs to abandon fossil fuels and move towards a greener future that relies on renewable energy, shared transport and ultra-efficient housing.
Artificial heart with Norwegian sensor
France is going to test an artificial heart on patients. The heart will contain a Norwegian pressure sensor.
The Nobel Dance
2014 NOBEL PRIZE: Nobel laureate and NTNU Professor May-Britt Moser was full of joy when she learned she had won the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with her husband, Edvard Moser, and their former mentor, John O’Keefe.
Ductile materials for Arctic conditions
The production of oil and gas at temperatures between 40 and 60 degrees below zero means that researchers must advance the development of materials that can withstand these harsh conditions.
Robot water pipe inspectors
Norwegian researchers and a small company in Tromsø are taking part in a project aimed at preventing between 30 and 50 per cent of Europe’s drinking water being lost due to pipe leakages.
Machine vision for catch quality assurance
Robots equipped with machine vision enable us to classify catches on board vessels with high levels of accuracy – saving fishing crews time and money.
Reducing the salt in our food
Researchers have been looking into how we can reduce the salt content in foods without compromising on taste.
NTNU and CERN sign commercialization agreement
NTNU has signed an agreement with CERN to create a Business Incubation Centre (BIC) at NTNU to commercialize CERN technology.
Turning humble seaweed to biofuel
A Norwegian research group has been able to achieve bio-oil yields of 79% from a common kelp. Other researchers working with the same species have yields closer to 20%. The secret is to heat the kelp very quickly and bring it to the right temperature within seconds.
Atomic-level protection for drivers
A new window on the world of atoms will make future vehicles safer in collisions.
Stealth medicine
Using nanocapsules containing cancer drugs, researchers have succeeded in attacking tumours with surgical precision. One of the ways to manufacture such capsules is with minute droplets of super glue.
The Towing Tank turns 75
NTH, Norway’s first technical university and one of the main predecessors to NTNU, SINTEF and MARINTEK, opened in Trondheim in 1910. Just three years later its scientists began to think very big – 170 metres big.
Capturing false hormones
They damage our ability to reproduce, and they pollute the natural environment. Yet chemicals known as hormone mimics can be found in consumer goods. Eventually they end up in our water. But we now have a way of capturing them.
Preventing air accidents
A Norwegian, satellite-based system aims to ensure that helicopters and light aircraft are prevented from colliding with power lines and other obstacles.
A symphony of stars
Øyvind Brandtsegg has composed a piece that plays for seven consecutive years based on how gigantic antennas on the Earth rotate to find the most powerful stars in space.
Monitoring neighbourhood electricity consumption
With more and more Norwegian households owning one or even two electric cars requiring charging overnight, how will we manage without sacrificing our hot morning shower and fresh bread for breakfast?
Urgent changes needed in the pre-fabricated housing
Norwegian houses can no longer have the same design in western as in eastern Norway. Building designs must adapt to local climate variations, say researchers.
‘Likes’ provide humanitarian support
According to a Norwegian study, ‘likes’ on Facebook are providing a new type of humanitarian support and social responsibility.
What do we do when a well blows out?
Oil and gas companies are worried about gas discharges at the sea bed. Recent field experiments can now quantify the volumes of gas reaching the sea surface and how they spread in the atmosphere.
Celebrity ice
Not since the Titanic has a block of ice been quite so famous. In early June, Discovery Channel Canada came to NTNU’s Structural Impact Laboratory (SIMLab) to watch ice researchers from NTNU’s Sustainable Arctic Marine and Coastal Technology programme use a giant machine to simulate what happens when a ship slams into an iceberg.