large applicances for sale in 1960s Norway

Are lifetimes of big appliances really shrinking?

The lifetime of some Norwegian appliances, like washing machines and ovens, has in fact decreased over the last decades, a new study says. But the reason is most probably due to consumer preferences and not because of “planned obsolescence.”

Why is it so hard to bring clean cookers to Africa?

Despite decades of innovation, more than a billion people in sub-Saharan Africa still don’t have access to clean cooking. Low-tech, affordable cookers exist, yet firewood remains the go-to fuel. Why?

From running rats to brain maps: A Nobel odyssey

It’s been 10 years since Norwegian neuroscientists May-Britt and Edvard Moser won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with their former mentor and colleague John O’Keefe. Listen to the Mosers themselves tell the story of how they came to discover grid cells, the neurons that help form a GPS in the brain.

Kavli Prize winner Nancy Kanwisher

Finding the place for faces

She raised cormorants in her back yard in a kid’s swimming pool and studied the psychology of nuclear war on a MacArthur grant. But Kavli Award winner and cognitive neuroscientist Nancy Kanwisher always found herself coming back to studying the workings of the human mind.

United States
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Is the American Empire collapsing?

The United States remains a global power unparalleled in history. So what would it take for this situation to change? Four possible developments or events seem to be plausible candidates.

carbon capture and storage

The summer that changed Norway’s climate policy

He’s been called the father of carbon capture and storage in Norway – but Erik Lindeberg isn’t resting on his laurels. At 76, he’s still crusading to make sure this technology is put to use as quickly and comprehensively as possible, to help the world avoid the worst consequences of global warming.

The cathedral at the end of the world

Trondheim’s Nidaros Cathedral is full of secrets, messages from the past written in stone. One researcher is now decoding these missives, half hidden in a very special spot in and around the most sacred place in the church.

Demonstration of echocardiography and AI tool

Peering into your heart – with the help of AI

Portable ultrasound devices can bring high technology imaging to your doctor’s office, to emergency vehicles, and to lesser-developed countries. A new AI tool helps make these devices easier for a wider range of health professionals to use.

Unlocking the secrets of evolution

We know that evolution works over many, many millennia, giving rise to everything from hippopotamuses to whales and more. A new study looks at the links between microevolution, or evolution over a shorter period, and macroevolution, or evolution over thousand or millions of generations.

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.

Kim Robert Tekseth
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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.

seabed mining ship

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.

Climate talks and the way forward

What should power the future’s shipping fleets? How can we change the way we build buildings so that they’re truly climate neutral? If we’re going to actively alter the planet’s climate, how should we study this?

Tree ring research: Three researchers on a raft

When trees talk

We think of trees as silent sentinels, watching as the world goes by and the ages pass. But what if you could interview them about what they have seen?

Teachers who fought against Nazi ideology at a prison camp in northern Norway.

When 1100 teachers defied Hitler — and won!

More than 80 years ago, Norwegian teachers refused to teach Nazi ideology to their students. They were tortured, imprisoned and starved. But they prevailed. The story of how they won — and why it still matters.