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.
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.
Development projects should be assessed according to the cumulative impact they have on nature
Does it matter if a small area of rare wetland is lost if a lot more of the same area remains intact? In Norway, it is impossible to say, because no-one can show how many such wetlands are being destroyed elsewhere at the same time.
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.
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.
Ability to identify bone fractures tells us something important about AI
One of Norway’s biggest achievements to date in the practical application of artificial intelligence is in identifying bone fractures. The secret of this success may be of benefit to many of our business leaders.
Why are we scrapping inexpensive and successful innovation funding initiatives?
The Norwegian government has decided to phase out the country’s Regional Research Funds. This is incomprehensible to those of us who have watched this initiative function successfully as a springboard for green innovation and transition in many small businesses.
Football may become the game where everyone loses
Match load in international football is becoming so high that it is threatening the health of our players. So much so, that the product itself may also be under threat.
Why we need biofuels
Necessary reductions in greenhouse gases will be achieved too late if we have to wait for all our aircraft, ships and trains to transition from fossil fuels. This is why we need biofuels – in spite of the criticisms levelled at their use in a recent article published on the opinions website ‘NRK Ytring’. Biofuels are no ‘climate change mitigation ruse’, as these authors would have you believe.
Neighbours can save money by suspending car charging for 30 seconds
The electricity grid in Norway needs more balancing power. Neighbourhood communities can help by participating in a new market where intelligent consumer planning enables them to save money.
Energy saving measures in buildings can turn them into Norway’s biggest ‘power plant’
Energy efficiency measures in buildings can offer Norway a three-fold benefit – by contributing to avoiding an energy deficit and high electricity prices, and to achieving its stated climate change mitigation targets for 2030 and 2050.
Rethinking foreign aid may promote green innovation
Groundbreaking projects funded by Norway demonstrate that foreign aid can help to combat both poverty and environmental problems. One result is that uncontrolled plastic waste may become a resource for the cement industry.
It’s about time we looked into other aspects of AI
If artificial intelligence (AI) is to offer us the societal benefits that many people are dreaming of and believe in, we need to develop technologies that are a lot smarter than those we have today.
Aid efforts focused on the poorest often miss their targets
It is not enough simply to target aid efforts at the poorest. We also have to combat discrimination and inequality both within and between countries.
Fast charging stations can be built more quickly with these 3 tips
It is essential to speed up electrification of the Norwegian heavy transport sector. We believe that this is possible in spite of full capacity utilisation in the electricity grid. Here are our three recommendations.
We develop new technologies that may reduce the need for animal testing in medical research
Every organism needs to breathe – including cells that we use in in vitro microphysiological systems. We now have promising results with a material that enhances the quality of our experiments.
Sludge from salmon hatcheries will become a sought-after resource
Fish faeces and residual feed recovered from salmon hatcheries may soon become a sustainable product. The salmon farming sector will be crying out for a solution to the forecast ‘feed squeeze’.
Employees are using ChatGPT for advice, but is this a good thing?
Recent data on people’s habits in the workplace are giving us reason to look into whether the use of artificial intelligence (AI) may be hampering collaboration and knowledge sharing.
Stopping industrial hackers needs more know-how
Plant managers used to be kept awake at night by the fear of unintended incidents. But their new nightmares are much worse.
The hydrogen race is putting Norwegian competetiveness on the line
Norwegian hydrogen research laboratories have recently been celebrating breakthroughs that can help heavy industry to achieve climate neutrality. But current Norwegian government policy means that these findings will most likely only benefit our competitors.
Clever hands can’t be digitalised
A huge amount of the knowledge we acquire about our work cannot be expressed either digitally or on paper. Children ought to be made aware of this as early as in primary school, because this tacit knowledge is in danger of dying out.
Norway needs a ‘salmon feed revolution’
The issue of salmon feed has become a bottleneck, hindering the growth and sustainability of the Norwegian aquaculture sector. In the future, insect meal, bristle worms and bacteria that consume CO2 may become essential components of a farmed salmon’s diet.
The aluminium in your old car should be recycled into a new car, not something else
Unless we acquire greater knowledge about what happens at the atomic and molecular scale during materials recycling, progress towards a truly circular economy will grind to a halt.
3D printing – a revolution in manufacturing technology
In recent years, 3D printing has exploded in popularity, and may open a new era of faster and more climate-friendly manufacturing. But is it really the manufacturing method of the future?
How solar energy can be stored in ‘batteries’ made from food waste
Soon you may be able to keep your house warm in winter using heat which molecules from food waste have borrowed from yesterday’s sunshine.
Machines will be the drivers of tomorrow. But how will we get there?
The actions that vehicle drivers perform today will be handed over to machines – just as soon as the technology makes it possible and road users demand that such systems be put in place. This is no simple task, but Norway is far ahead of the curve.
Cultures of fear can be strangled at birth
In the wake of the shocking revelation from a major Oslo hospital that fear among employees is making corporate whistleblowing difficult, some in the IT sector are promoting the opposite. When something goes wrong, they learn from their mistakes together.
We need to adapt our cities to a changing climate. But in Norway it’s still business as usual
If we are to avoid our cities becoming ‘heat magnets’ one day, and overwhelmed by flooding the next, we have to incorporate wetlands and ditch systems into our urban infrastructure.
Advanced simulation of air currents can result in more habitable cities
Densely-packed housing makes urban areas vulnerable to overheating, pollution and dangerous wind gusts. The effects of climate change can aggravate these problems, but we can also work to prevent them. This can be done by simulating microclimates.
Many developers forget that even the most intelligent systems have to interact with humans
The last dent in your car, two tragic aviation accidents, and the blow out at the Deepwater Horizon platform may all have had the same underlying cause.
Which is best – digitalisation or digital transformation?
Have you ever wondered what the terms digitalisation and digital transformation really mean? Are you unsure about when to use these terms and what they mean to you? And, more to the point, what’s the difference?
Working from home inhibits innovation. But researchers know how to fix it
When you work from home, you tend to communicate more with the members of your own team. This is good for implementing ideas. On the other hand, you also communicate less with other groups, which does not encourage the creation of new ideas. But all this can be fixed.