Toxic fluorocarbons – not just in ski waxes
The toxic pollutants in your ski wax basically never disappear. A Norwegian lake and the area around several Norwegian airports are full of them, and so is your body.
UN Sustainable Development Goals: Life on Land
LOADING CONTENT
New species discovered in Norway
This brand new species of cuckoo wasp was discovered because of its own language.
Darwin had Galapagos finches. Norway has… house sparrows?
Uncommon lessons learned from the world’s most widespread bird.
Abandoned cropland should produce biofuels
More biofuels are needed to counteract climate change. But producing them shouldn’t diminish food production or wilderness areas. The solution may be to grow more grass on recently abandoned cropland.
Smart site selection can make hydropower greener
Even though new hydropower dam developments are intended to provide green energy, they can drown areas that are rich in plant and animal species. But this kind of collateral damage can be limited by strategic site selection, a new study shows.
Skinnier but resilient geese thriving in the high Arctic
Barnacle geese in the Arctic have been on a diet. So many now migrate to northern breeding grounds that in some places there’s less food to go around. The good news is that it doesn’t seem to restrict their population growth — yet.
Global warming is faster than evolution
If global warming happens too quickly, not all species will be able to adapt in time.
Species more likely to die out with rapid climate change
The great tit and other birds can adapt to changes in their food supply as a result of climate change, but they run into trouble if the changes happen too quickly.
Losing ground in biodiversity hotspots worldwide
Agriculture is eating into areas that are important in protecting some of the most biologically diverse places on the planet. Most of this new agricultural land is being used to grow cattle feed.
Bioplastics no safer than other plastics
Bioplastics contain substances that are as toxic as those in ordinary plastics.
Battling harmful insects by understanding their sense of smell
The larvae of cotton bollworm attack our food. But the adults pollinate plants. So how can we stop them from destroying crops without using poison? Researchers in Trondheim are on the case.
Red fox displaces Arctic fox thanks to littering
Red foxes are moving to the mountains to feed on trash along roadsides. This is bad news for the endangered Arctic fox.
Inbreeding detrimental for survival
Inbred birds don’t live as long and have fewer offspring than non-inbred birds. Inbreeding is equally harmful regardless of where the birds live.
Panthera leo’s family tree takes shape
Once upon a time, lions were the world’s most widespread mammals. Now we know more about their genealogy – and that could make it easier to help the species survive.
Bats not a threat to public health, but important for ecosystems
Bats have received a lot of negative attention, but the chances are slim that the virus that causes COVID-19 was transmitted from bats to humans. The world needs bats – in ecosystems, for pollination and for seed dispersal. On top of that, they keep harmful insects in check around our homes, on farms and in cities.
A tiny arctic shrub reveals secrets of plant growth on Svalbard
It’s not easy being a tiny willow on the wind-and snow-blasted islands of the Norwegian territory of Svalbard. It turns out that Salix polaris, the polar willow, handles these tough conditions by growing as best it can in response to July temperatures — a response that researchers recorded all over the archipelago.
Mystery of the blunt-tipped beetle penis
It took seven years, countless beetle penis field investigations, and hours upon hours on hands and knees in coastal wetlands. This is the story of all the research that has to happen before a new species can finally get its official name.
Trees struggle when forests become too small
As forest areas shrink and become fragmented, many tree species face problems. They often rely on animals that can no longer disperse their seeds effectively.
Climate change fuels Australia’s enormous wildfires
Bushfires are a normal part of the cycle of nature in Australia. But not like this. And it is going to get worse.
Gaming their way to sustainable development
Researchers wanted to involve local people living around Kenya and Tanzania’s Serengeti-Mara parks in developing a sustainable future for them and the parks. They developed a board game to get people talking to the researchers — and to each other. That game has now won an international award.
Svalbard reindeer populations rebounding from centuries of hunting
As reindeer go, the animals living on Svalbard might not be Santa’s first choice. They’re a smaller subspecies of their common mainland relatives, and to save energy they basically never run. But because they were nearly exterminated from Svalbard around 1900 — and were then protected in 1925 — the animals provide unique insights into how conservation can help species thrive.
Moose: like having wild livestock in the woods
Moose prefer to browse on deciduous trees. Then conifers take over and affect the species diversity in the forest. One researcher contends that Norwegian wildlife management is not good enough to address what happens in the wake of these large herbivores.
Artificial bees from a pressure cooker?
What if we could create artificial bees that helped us with food production? Ola Gjønnes Grendal cooks up the materials needed to do just this.