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Tag: biology

New tool can quickly reveal special parts of a genome

More and more animals and plants have had their entire genome mapped. But what do all the letters really mean? Norwegian researchers have created a new tool that can locate microRNAs.

Is it true that trees talk to each other?

A fantastic idea and a popular science book that has sold millions of copies claims that they do. This is laying it on too thick, according to Norwegian biology professor, who warns against 'disneyfication' of research results.

Biological sex: What kind of variations exist in nature?

In plants and animals, one type of gamete – reproductive cell – is larger than the other.

Here’s how to get rid of black spots on the apples in your garden

You can do a lot to get rid of apple scab on this summer’s apples, but you have to act now, in May.

What is going on in the bodies of ME/CFS patients?

Chronic fatigue syndrome remains a mystery. Many factors likely contribute to triggering and maintaining the problem. Here we take a closer look at what recent research has found out about biological differences between healthy people and ME/CFS patients.

Serving up edible kelp to Michelin restaurants and supermarkets

An entrepreneurial company called Seaweed Solutions is now harvesting more than 100 tonnes of nutritious kelp from a seaweed farm off the coast of central Norway. The seaweed is being sold to food producers in Europe. “This industry will be big,” says an independent researcher.

Are some people more prone to getting cavities than others?

ASK A RESEARCHER: Both genes and the environment play a role in how likely you are to get cavities. But the most important thing is how you take care of your gums.

Lost and (not always) found: The ups and downs of sediment trap deployments

Some days you win, some days you lose. Your car keys. A single sock out of your favorite pair. A 200-metre long rope worth hundreds of thousands of kroner in equipment and samples. No? Just us?

Who rules the Arctic seas?

SHARE YOUR SCIENCE: It's not the polar bear...

The rodents are back: Surprising amounts of mice in Eastern Norway

The phenomenon of rodent population explosions had stopped appearing in Norwegian nature. Until around the year 2000, when they for some reason returned. This summer, enormous amounts of mice have taken over Eastern Norway.

Do men and women have different circadian rhythms?

New research may provide answers as to why some people tolerate being awake at night better than others.

Moose lower body temperature and heart rate in winter

Using surgically implanted sensors, researchers have for the first time been able to measure precisely what happens in the body of the moose during the changing seasons. Their body temperature and pulse are at their lowest in early spring - when conditions are the toughest.

How miniature human organs are giving hope to cancer patients

SHARE YOUR SCIENCE: Organoids. The good, the bad and the beautiful.

How long does sex normally last before climaxing?

For sure not all night, in case you might have thought so.

What happens to a species when it becomes more important to reproduce than to survive?

Researchers fiddled with how seed beetles were allowed to mate. The experiment showed that when the competition between the males becomes too strong, their offspring end up with more mutations.

Here’s what it looks like 4000 meters below the Arctic ice

Far below the Arctic ice lies a special area with volcanic activity. What lives down there? Scientists have gone on a journey to find out.

Neuroscientists cultivate mini-versions of human brains in the lab. Could they become conscious?

An American brain researcher warns that we may already be "perilously close" to crossing ethical boundaries. At the same time, research on so-called mini-brains can provide great opportunities to unlock some disease mysteries.

Wasting water in Norway has consequences for the environment

Norwegians use almost twice as much water as the Danes. These wasteful habits come at a cost.

What are these gigantic balls of jelly in the sea?

Observations have been made of large gelatinous spheres in the ocean off the west coast of Norway. Many have seen them this year. Scientists want to know what these are.

Eureka moment with a eukaryote

Certain unicellular organisms have fabulous abilities to create intricate skeletons. How do they do it? The single-cell radiolarian on this grainy photo has provided scientists with an answer to a question that has baffled biologists for over 150 years.

Walnuts are fruits, not nuts - but does it matter?

Biologists shy away from the term vegetables and they consider bananas to be berries. Why do they use other names than the rest of us?

Suggesting answers to one of Darwin’s mysteries

Why do we see so little evolution in some fossils?

Goby behaviour says much about sexual selection

One fish off the coast of central Norway has set a record for the number of female mates it had. And that’s not all.

Scientists clash: Is there an exercise hormone?

Norwegian researchers claimed that the so-called exercise hormone irisin is merely a myth. Now the discoverers of irisin are fighting back, writing that they have irrefutable evidence that the hormone works in humans.

Discovery could yield bee vaccine

A team of scientists has found out how bees protect their young against diseases. “This could be tremendous,” says a Norwegian participant in the project.

Primitive worms threaten harvests

They live in the soil, are numerous, and can be microscopic. Yet nematodes can effectively kill off fruit trees and cereals.

Students tote ecosystems in rucksacks

What key discoveries do researchers make about climate change when they use students as sherpas to shuffle ecosystems around on Norway’s west coast fjord landscapes?

Sounding out marine life

Scientists aboard the research ship G.O. Sars transmit pulses of sound into the sea to image the biomass below.

Slipping past slime with sneaky biological medicine

Researchers need to find a way to plow through a mucous barrier to deliver biological medicines to the right place.

Biologists often numbed by numbers

Biologists often find their analytical aptitude falls short of the mark when dealing with complicated data. It can mean that their research strays off target too.

Falling lemming populations

Due to irregular winters, the lemming cycle has stopped. This might in time change the whole ecosystem in the Arctic.

Sugar shock for busy bees

When genes that control honey bees’ taste for sweetness are inactivated, the bees nearly end up as diabetics. This can provide hints about the link between our sense of taste and our body's health.

Tooling around with Chimpanzees

Chimpanzees from the Savanna use human-like tools to dig up roots and potatoes. This is one of the behaviours that people used to believe was uniquely human.

Lilliputian shop of horrors

Do you cringe at the thought of head lice or intestinal worms? Well, if you were a little creepy thing you would risk something much worse than an itch.

Animals that might exist

Cryptozoology isn’t just about abominable snowmen and dinosaurs hiding out in highland lakes. Normal animals also have their place in the study of creatures that are still hypothetical. Anyway, what do we mean by normal?

How Rudolph keeps his cool

How would you like to go for a run wearing a thick winter fur? Reindeer regulate heat by sticking their tongues out and re-directing their bloodstream.

All eyes on sea urchins

It doesn’t have normal eyes – it sees with its entire body. Special light-sensitive cells turn this spiny ball of a creature into an optical organ.

The extreme man

Men vary more than women do in size as well as in physical and mental performance.