SNORW-tag

Svalbard's special northern lights

SHARE YOUR SCIENCE: Svalbard's unique geographical position gives the opportunity to observe both the green night time aurora and the redder daytime aurora. But what is the difference?

65 536 shades of grey can help us understand our geological past

SHARE YOUR SCIENCE: When medicine met geology - detecting the invisible traces of volcanic eruptions with CT scans.

Who rules the Arctic seas?

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

Almost 40 glaciers on Svalbard have woken up

After many years of "sleep", these glaciers are now advancing at full speed.

The "missing link" that triggered the ice ages

Melting icebergs from Antarctica are the key, according to a new study.

The sea along Norway’s coast has gotten darker. That’s bad news for fish, seagrass and kelp

At the same time, large numbers of moon jellyfish and helmet jellyfish have taken over many Norwegian fjords.

Researchers may have discovered where dreams come from

Brain cells that receive sensory stimuli while we’re awake may be activated by memories when we sleep.

Study finds signs of ancient megafloods on Mars – pure speculation, says professor in Norway

Based on images from the Mars rover Curiosity, researchers believe floods of unimaginable magnitude once washed over Mars. “They’re trying to justify a lot of things that you can’t really know based on a few pebbles”, says professor at the University of Oslo.

Record high levels of CO2 and methane in the atmosphere over Norway in 2019

For the 19th year in a row, record high levels of CO2 and methane were measured in the atmosphere over Norway, according to new numbers.

Why does the avocado have such huge seeds?Meet the plants that have lost their enormous partners

What kind of animal is actually capable of spreading a huge avocado seed? And why does the tree Maclura pomifera make huge fruits that no one wants to eat? These are plants that are still waiting for ‘friends’ that will never return.

The French man who forgot about fruit shows us how the language we speak is pre-coded in our brains

SHARE YOUR SCIENCE: A dog is not an apple. And this is perhaps why one man after a stroke no longer knew what an apple was.

Why are the ashes of one of Norway's most important scientists in an unmarked grave?

Victor Moritz Goldschmidt was arrested and about to be sent to Auschwitz on the prisoner ship Donau. But at the last minute, he was pulled from the queue.

Scientists are seeing ice age beginnings for very first time

Some fantastic 3D images have emerged from the bottom of the North Sea, making it possible to document the beginning of the ice ages 2.6 million years ago.

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.

Svalbard provides clues about Earth’s largest mass extinction

In a new study, Norwegian researchers have gotten closer to understanding what happened during the greatest mass extinction of life on Earth. The element phosphorus may have played an important role.

Researchers get a hint about how the brain matures

What really happens in the brain when a baby suddenly starts to smile? Or when a toddler from one day to the next becomes interested in playing with other children? Norwegian researchers believe they’ve discovered a clue from creatures that are completely different from us.

When a several-hundred-metre-high tsunami hit Northern Norway

Scientists know more and more about the giant meteorite that crashed into the sea between Finnmark and Svalbard millions of years ago. And about the huge wave that washed over northern Norway.

Historic amount of flooding in Europe during the last 30 years

Europe is now experiencing more frequent and greater floods compared to the last 500 years, according to a pan-European study that included Norway.

Geologists want people to help them hunt for meteor craters

Just two have been found on land in Norway so far. The world tally is 191, a number which keeps increasing. Geologists now want Norwegians to hunt for more craters.

These measures can slow lice infestations on farmed salmon

A study of nearly 50 million salmon over six years shows that cleaner fish can delay lice infestations at salmon farms — if there are enough of the cleaner fish. As a result, fish farms could reduce the number of delousing procedures.

Your blood is a power meal for mosquitoes

ASK A RESEARCHER: Mosquitos love human blood, but can they live without it? And what does a mosquito eat when it can’t get blood?

Here’s how you can make your own compost

Linda Jolly has been practicing organic gardening for 50 years. She explains how to make your own soil from garden and food waste.

What is soil, anyway?

Did you know that the soil in fields is made up mostly of rock, while planting soil from the garden centre is almost pure moss?

Small additives can make old antibiotics work again

Norwegian researchers have created several promising additives for old antibiotics. But even if they were to reach the market, they would only be a short-term solution. “We can never win the battle against bacteria,” says professor Dag Berild.

The hunt for a shell with a left-hand twist

One summer long ago, two children found a naked hermit crab. They wanted to save it. But it would prove to be difficult. Decades later, sciencenorway.no is trying to figure out why the crab was in such dire straits.

New research supports Thor Heyerdahl's theory on South Americans in the Pacific

There was contact between Polynesia and America long before the arrival of Europeans, a large new DNA study shows. One Norwegian researcher says the new findings are solid.

World food production depends on phosphorus. Are we about to run out?

For the past decade, scientists have warned that phosphorus reserves are running low. Are we heading towards a crisis?

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.

Oceans are at their deepest in 250 million years

And they have hardly been deeper in the last 400 million years than now.

Chinese and Norwegian scientists have drilled an almost 600-meter deep hole into the Tibetan Plateau. This gives them a window into the past.

Among their findings is that ice age cycles suddenly became stronger just over 600,000 years ago. Researchers were also struck by how little plant life has changed over the past 1.7 million years.

Data on how Norwegians move around allow for a finetuned model of calculating the spread of coronavirus

But how accurate are these calculations, and what exactly can they be used for?

A new solar cycle may be underway

A new solar cycle has probably begun. It may peak in just a few years.

Emil Korsmo’s goal was to beat back weeds. But the wall charts he made of the bothersome plants were beautiful and popular

Weeds are no longer just plants we want to get rid of. Many people are concerned about biodiversity, while others have become increasingly captivated by harvesting wild plants to eat.

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.

Discovered new species on Svalbard: Britney was an arctic plesiosaur with a tiny head and enormous eyes

Researchers have learned more about an ancient, nearly headless family of prehistoric animals.

Norway's first onshore sea urchin farm up and running

Sea urchin farming could give Norway a new export commodity for gourmet restaurants in Europe and Asia, and help to save the kelp forests on Norway’s coastal seabed.

From the laboratory to the gallery: Microscopic images of our cells as art

The researchers' goal is to create artifical cells that can for instance knock out a type of cancer or neutralize harmful substances in the body. Now they are sharing their images of how life's tiny building blocks behave under the microscope.

Do birds like modern architecture?

Birds need hiding places, and some like to build nests in our buildings. So how are birds dealing with all the flat roofs and clean lines in modern construction?

You will never fly to far-away holiday destinations by electric plane

There are physical limitations that we can never overcome, one physicist says.

RNA: Scientists have discovered a new layer in the genetic code of life

Our cells contain a previously unknown layer of information. This layer facilitates a whole new level of regulation that might make us more adaptable. Or sick, when the system fails. Welcome to the new world of epitranscriptomics.

Smartphones still need to be charged daily. So what's happened to the battery revolution we've been promised?

The media often portray laboratory results as market-ready products, one battery researcher says.

The Kongsberg mines are famous for their beautiful native silver. Researcher now claims they may also be full of gold.

In the 1600s, promising gold discoveries were made in Kongsberg's silver mines. Now a researcher has looked into the gold finds from 350 years ago.

Bacteria lady: She’s terrified of bacteria – and their greatest champion

Jessica Lönn-Stensrud was holding her new-born daughter in her arms when she heard that three infants had died in an outbreak of antibiotic-resistant intestinal bacteria at a maternity ward in Sweden. Fear hit her like a punch to the stomach. Ten years later, she has become the micro-organisms’ noble defender.

As many as 200,000 coral reefs off Norway

Researchers are surprised by the number.

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.

From tornadoes in Oklahoma to Arctic survival training

Is it okay to feed your dog leftovers?

ASK A RESEARCHER: Many dogs love to eat the same thing that we humans serve for dinner, but is it good for them?

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.

Wolves won’t save the forest

Wolves have returned to Norwegian forests in greater and greater numbers in recent years. Although wolves mainly prey on moose, researchers have found that the presence of more predators hasn’t cut back on the damage caused by hungry moose.

Your cat meows mostly for you

Cats don't often meow to other adult cats, but they quickly learn to use sounds to talk to humans.

What use are biting horseflies?

All animals, birds and insects have their place in the ecosystem, scientists say. But what good is a horsefly, really?

What happens to flowers and birds when we massacre mosquitoes with modern traps?

It’s only recently that people have thought that eradicating mosquitoes might be a bad thing, a mosquito researcher says.

How annoying is it for sheep to wear a bell all summer long?

Do sheep bells qualify as mistreatment of animals?

Into the Subglacial Tunnel

A POST FROM THE SUB-GLACIAL BLOG: After a steep walk up the mountain, we arrived in front of the tunnel entrance. There we stood, in shorts and t-shirts, suddenly realising that the heat and sunshine we were used to until now were about to become only a distant memory. With our winter coats, hats and gloves on, we followed Miriam as she opened the door leading into the mountain.

Arrival at Svartisen

A POST FROM THE SUB GLACIAL BLOG: On the 17th of July, our advisor Miriam Jackson and the three of us (French students Perrine, Sophia and Juliette) made an excursion from their internship in glaciology at the NVE in Oslo to the Svartisen Subglacial Laboratory.

How studies of Norwegian fjord ice can help create a safer future for the arctic

SHARE YOUR SCIENCE: During winter, a thick layer of ice can form on the surface of the northern Norwegian fjords. The knowledge of the varying conditions of this ice can be applied to understand to protect and aid the Arctic in the future.

A teeny-weeny mystery: investigating the difference between you and me and a single-celled organism

The more scientists look at single-celled organisms, the more they realize we’re not as different from them as was once thought.

What the world can learn from Brazilian coral reefs

Unlike Australia, coral reefs in Brazil haven’t seen any mass mortality events related to bleaching so far. Could Brazilian corals hold the key to more resilient reefs?

Scientists explain a fishy attraction to Norwegian waters

Complex mixing patterns and underwater waves that occur in specific locations drive productivity along Norway's coast, making them hotspots for certain fish and marine life.

Time to wake up: Climate Change is already here

The serious warnings of the latest IPCC report lost the battle for media attention to Brexit, Trump, and the US mid-term elections. But it’s time to sit up and take notice. For small island states that face loss of sovereignty due to climate change, the clock is already ticking, warns climate researcher Adelle Thomas from the Bahamas.

Holy mackerel! Debunking myths about this silvery fish

After six years of tracking mackerel in the North Atlantic, scientists have uncovered a few fishy secrets.

Scientists want to make holes in Norwegian fjords

Norway doesn’t know nearly enough about their fjords, say scientists.

How did birds first begin to fly?

Three trained bats named “Chin,” “4” and “Clear” could help scientists figure out how birds first took flight.

An ice-free oasis in the Arctic sheltered life during the last ice age

Researchers from Norway and the UK have found evidence for ice-free corridors in the Arctic where life flourished during the Ice Age.

Giant gas craters discovered at the bottom of the Barents Sea

Cracked gas chambers in the seabed south of Svalbard could blow out and create craters that are up to 30 metres deep, say scientists.

Common painkiller may substantially increase the risk of heart disease

Painkillers like Voltarol and Voltaren may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease by as much as 50 per cent, according to a new study.

Boreal lakes are becoming browner, but the fish don’t mind

Boreal lakes can become darker over time by a process known as “browning.” But these darker waters do not seem to affect fish as much as researchers once thought.

House sparrows and humans are old buddies

These little beggars have hung around humans for more than 11,000 years, new Norwegian research suggests.

How the last ice age changed Norway

Researchers are learning more about what happened when several thousand metres of ice covered Norway roughly 10 000 years ago.

The truth is in the sediments

OPINION: The seafloor has different patterns on top than underneath the surface. Researchers at Nord University suggest that new seafloor research in the Lofoten-Vesterålen region contributes to future marine management.

Humans have always caused plant and animal extinctions

Our warming planet is pushing some plant and animals species towards extinction. But there’s actually no such thing as untouched nature — humans have always altered their environment. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do our best to protect what’s here now.

World’s highest waves form west of Norway