Cooking with solar ovens in sub-Saharan Africa
A lot of research has been done to try to come up with ways of cooking food using solar energy, but what works best in practice in sub-Saharan Africa?
Technology
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Algorithms in the Arctic – removing bad weather from images to make Arctic shipping safer
Arctic shipping traffic is on the increase. One day, these ships will be autonomous. New technology that can remove rain, snow and fog from the images produced by the ship’s cameras and sensors will increase safety in extreme conditions.
Autonomous vessels need to be more afraid of dying
Could the Helge Ingstad maritime accident have been avoided if the Royal Norwegian Navy’s warships had been equipped with artificial intelligence?
Building greenhouses on the moon out of moon dust
Is it possible to build greenhouses on the moon without transporting any materials from Earth? Researchers at NTNU Social Research and SINTEF believe it is, and are assisting the European Space Agency (ESA).
Cheap, dirty leftovers can produce pure oxygen
Industry needs a lot of pure oxygen. New materials that are affordable and robust can provide us with cheaper and more sustainable oxygen production.
Autonomous ships are on the horizon: Is AI ready to take command?
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is well suited to observe and understand what is going on around a ship. However, before we can allow AI to make safety-critical decisions, we need to be aware of how certain the decisions are, as well as why AI makes them.
Artificial geysers can compensate for our mineral shortages
By imitating nature, it may be possible to recover seabed minerals by extracting hot water from the Earth’s crust. We can harvest green energy and be sensitive to the environment – all at the same time.
Your apple core may someday fuel an airplane
In the future, your apple core may end up fuelling a Boeing. New research could help make the production of aviation fuel from biomass more efficient.
Climate emissions from air travel 50 per cent higher than reported
A new study that looked at nearly 40 million flights in 2019 was able to calculate the greenhouse gas emissions from air travel for nearly every country on the planet. At 911 million tonnes, the total emissions from aviation are 50 per cent higher the 604 million tonnes reported to the United Nations for that year.
Spring snow, sparkling in the sun, can reveal more than just good skiing conditions
Can the way snow sparkles give us better avalanche warnings and safer autonomous cars?
What should we be using our electricity for?
Norwegian politicians should not be sponsoring the race to expand the use of AI. The process is wasting too much energy.
Researchers can help shipowners achieve ambitious climate targets
International shipping does not want to be a climate bad guy and is aiming to be emission-free by 2050. A new tool designed by researchers in Trondheim can help shipowners who are searching for green solutions.
NOK 29 million to make robots smarter
The EU is funding NTNU professor Ingrid Bouwer Utne’s work to make robots and autonomous systems understand situations better when there is imminent danger and give operators insight into what they are actually ‘thinking’.
Proud seafarers have strong doubts about the safety of autonomous ships
Despite their great trust in on-board autopilots, bridge officers do not believe that autonomous ships will make shipping safer. Moreover, the greater the professional commitment and pride of the bridge officers, the less confidence they have in automation increasing safety at sea.
4D imaging of fluids in pores
A method based on CT (computed tomography) – a type of imaging that is widely used in hospitals – can help improve our understanding of CO2 storage, batteries, and processes in the body such as nutrient uptake.
Organs grown on microchips may offer a quantum leap for women’s health
Women’s bodies and their health in general have for too long been assigned low priority in the field of research. But an innovative and extraordinary technology may now offer us new treatments for conditions such as endometriosis.
Strange bedfellows: Howard Hughes, the CIA and a lost Soviet sub
The American eccentric billionaire, Howard Hughes, wasn’t afraid to make expensive investments in new technologies. So when he announced in 1972 that he was going to build a giant ship to mine manganese nodules from the depths of the Pacific Ocean, few were surprised. But the ship had a very different – and top secret – mission.
Connecting computers so they can think faster
Calculations that previously took a year can now be performed in just 10 days by computers connected in a special way.
Cheaper batteries are key to shifting transport away from fossil fuels. Can the market deliver?
High metal prices can drive up the costs of electric car batteries, which will reduce their adoption. Car manufacturers are already responding to this by shifting to different technologies.
We use chemicals for more or less ‘everything’. Now we have to find smarter ways of making them
Did you know that the chemical industry supplies products to virtually all other value chains, including the food, construction, health and transport sectors? All these industries are now having to renew themselves as part of the green transition, and SINTEF is working to help them.
Can microplastics be used to make concrete?
Rubber granules from artificial grass pitches will be phased out, but what do we do with the thousands of tonnes of microplastics that are left? NTNU research shows that they can be used in the production of concrete.
A master’s student has tracked down greenhouse gas figures much needed by researchers
Climate scientists often lack the data they need for their calculations. A master’s student has helped to track down key figures from Africa’s most populous country.
Precautionary fundamentalism is threatening Norwegian food production
If the Norwegian government rejects the majority opinion of the Gene Technology Committee, it will miss a long overdue opportunity to boost food safety, improve animal welfare and promote more eco-friendly pesticides.
Bulk carriers can also be green
Research scientists from 16 countries are joining forces to make a bulk carrier climate neutral – all with the help of a new power train.