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The Storm and the Web: Communication Technology and the Ecumenical Far Right

As seen on January 6th, 2021, once disparate tendencies within the radical right are mixing and collaborating as never before. The very core technological features of the internet and world wide web have played a crucial role in this process of integration.

Ski jumping judges favour contestants from their own nations

SHARE YOUR SCIENCE: Unfortunately the nationalistic bias in ski jumping has not disappeared. French, Czech, Polish and especially Russian judges seem to significantly favour their compatriots.

Who believes in conspiracy theories?

People who believe in conspiracy theories consider themselves critical thinkers. But most often they go by their gut feeling.

Tuberculosis and cholera gave us sewage systems and posters against spitting. What will the coronavirus leave us with?

Will we ever be able to hug again?

Skipping lunch break can be bad to your health

Skipping your lunch break at work increases the risk of physical and mental exhaustion, according to a new study from the Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences.

Norwegians get happier as they age, but the richest 25 per cent of the population is still the happiest

One in every four Norwegians is very happy with their life, according to a new survey. The young are less content than the old.

Norway’s wooden stave churches are are a demanding heritage to maintain

Only 28 of Norway’s unique stave churches remain. Maintaining them presents challenges.

Why does therapy for mental illness work?

Psychoanalysis. Cognitive behavioural therapy. Compassion-based therapy. People use countless forms of therapy for mental illness. Why do they all work equally well?

Covid-19 memorials: How people around the world are remembering those who have died

SHARE YOUR SCIENCE: As hospitals keep filling up, and the death toll rises, people around the world are finding traditional and new ways of remembering those we have lost so far.

Creeping Fascism in America

The January 6 attack on the US Capitol was not unexpected. It was anticipated by numerous warning signs, and it built upon a years-long process of radicalization that involves, but is not limited to, Trump supporters.

Viking women played an important role in raids

Kitchen equipment from the British Isles has been found in graves belonging to Viking women from aristocratic families. “We can gain new knowledge about women’s participation in the Viking raids by posing new questions to old findings,” says researcher.

Why do parents in one of the world's most gender equal countries still give children their dad's surname?

It's a romantic gesture, claims one researcher. "Men take their surnames for granted", says Line Førre Grønstad, who recently defended a doctoral dissertation on the topic.

Half the inmates in Norwegian prisons suffer from substance abuse, but there's only room to treat 3-4 per cent of them

“There’s a large, unmet need for treatment,” says Norwegian researcher.

Pupils’ skills no better after more math and science classes

Pupils in Denmark receive more mathematics instruction than their Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish counterparts. Yet they still do worse in the subject than Norwegian and Finnish students.

Production of pet food for cats and dogs leaves a considerable carbon paw print

Producing dry kibble for our pets requires lots of farmland — equivalent to roughly twice the area of the United Kingdom. Replace animal remains used in the feed with insects, suggests one Norwegian researcher.

Sex, Covid and archaeology. Here’s what you enjoyed reading the most in 2020.

Health and archaeology are the clear winners in our list of top ten most read articles last year.

Here's how Vikings celebrated Christmas

They drank, and they ate horse meat.

Why do young people long for a little house in the woods?

They want to live in cities, but also want a life in the country. That paradox has led to more and more young, urban middle class Scandinavians to buy second homes.

Kindergartens in the olden days

A lot has changed since childcare centres in the 19th century. But the reason children went to them was the same as today: parents needed to go to work.

Do White Supremacist Women Adopt Movement Archetypes of Mother, Whore, and Fighter?

White women have long been part of white supremacist movements in the U.S. and elsewhere. That continues today. But what place do they occupy in deeply misogynist movements that force white women into idealized categories of white mother, sexual partner, or racial fighter?

Netflix triumphs over the history books. Our brain remembers what we see on the screen better than what we read

The Crown and the new Norwegian series Atlantic Crossing are fiction, not fact. But research shows that viewers remember them as factual. One Norwegian historian argues that the series creators need to take responsibility for this misperception.

Quiet people suffer without being seen

A surprisingly large portion of the population may suffer from a personality disorder that very few have heard of.

St. Lucia's Day: An Italian saint, a German child and a female demon all play a role in the story of 13 December

The St. Lucia celebration in Sweden can be traced to the end of the 1700s or early 1800s, while it is still fairly new in Norway.

Why are Norwegian trade unions opposed to the EU's minimum wage proposal?

The EU is proposing to introduce a system of statutory minimum wages in EU and EEA member states. But in Norway, the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) adamantly opposes the EU Directive.

We have to clean up our approach to cleaning up beaches, researcher says

The commitment among Norwegians to clean up plastic trash from beaches is enormous. But at the same time, the clean-ups have become chaotic and themselves have to be cleaned up, one researcher says.

Coronavirus measures are dividing Scandinavia. What is going on with the Swedish border?

OPINION: For people living near the border between Norway and Sweden, moving between the two countries was part of everyday life. The border was something they rarely – if ever – thought about. Coronavirus measures have changed this, dividing families and causing unemployment in Swedish border municipalities .

Having a foreign name decreased chances of being called for a job interview by 25 per cent

Using identical fictitious applications, researchers in Norway were in 2012 able to track who was and who wasn’t called for an interview - those with a Norwegian or those with a Pakistani name. But the study raised some ethical issues.

The border between Norway and Sweden is closed for the first time since 1954. Will the pandemic ruin their special friendship?

The Nordics were supposed to be the most integrated region in the world. But along came the coronavirus.

People have lost arrows and other objects at this spot in Jotunheimen — for more than 6000 years

Archaeologists have found many artefacts here in recent years. What do these finds tell us about the people who hunted here thousands of years ago?

Layers of soil and turf tell the tale of a grand Viking ship burial

The Gjellestad Viking ship has more or less disintegrated. But the ongoing dig to salvage the remains, the first Viking ship dig in Norway in a century, is still finding important clues to what happened here, a long time ago.

We can’t punish and help drug addicts at the same time, researchers say

Norwegian drug policy may be about to change radically. One researcher hopes this will provide addicts more help.

Huge increase in international students doing their PhD in Norway

40 per cent of the people who get doctorates in Norway are foreign citizens. Half of them leave when they are done. Is Norway investing in lost knowledge?

Sex testing of female athletes - fair for whom?

Female athletes with a high testosterone level are required to take hormone-reducing medication in order to participate in the women’s category. This is problematic, according to researcher Mari Haugaa Engh.

Swedish men report less stress with longer paternity leave

Fathers who shared parental leave equally with their partner felt more secure in their parental role. They were also happier in their relationship, according to a new study from the University of Gothenburg. Norwegian studies show similar results, according to researchers.

Floating solar power connected to hydropower might be the future for renewable energy

OPINION: Hydropower plants need an upgrade. And we need to use more renewable energy sources. The solution? Floating solar power connected to existing hydropower plants.

How do young Muslims deal with hate speech and verbal assaults?

What does it do to you to be regularly called a "bloody terrorist" or some other ugly epithet?

More people are getting permanent jobs in Norway

The share of permanent jobs have increased in the last 25 years. There are no signs of an increased use of temporary employees, according to a new report.

Mysterious remains of a huge, 'ship-shaped' house discovered near the Viking ship grave at Gjellestad

Archaeologists suggest that the almost 40-metre-long building may have been a house for ancient rituals, or a feasting hall.

Ecolabelling of clothes has catastrophic consequences for the environment

OPINION: When environmental rankings for apparel misuse research and are not reviewed by independent third parties, the results can be catastrophic for small-scale growers and farmers. Those who profit from these rankings, on the other hand are the global fashion industry.

Why are fewer men becoming fathers than before?

One in five men haven’t had children of their own by the age of 50. Fewer and fewer men are becoming fathers. What’s happening to Norwegian men?

Badger might have been behind "looted" viking graves in Norway

Someone, or something, has "drilled" deep holes into 17 Viking graves.

American politicians use the Nordic region as both a role model and a scare tactic

Different groups use the Nordic countries for different rhetorical purposes, one political scientist observes.

What happens when parents bring a foster child into the family?

New research illuminates the experiences of foster parents' biological children when their home becomes a foster home.

Ordinary Scandinavians tweeted more about the American 2016-elections than the Russian trolls accused of interference

OPINION: “Foreign interference” in US elections isn’t just for Russian trolls. Social media have made American politics accessible to ordinary users.

The far left: What happens when activist groups are labelled violent extremists?

Little research has been done on extreme left activists. Now, two researchers have looked at what happens when they are labelled as violent. Researchers who study extremism believe that the findings can be transferred to activists on the far right.

90 per cent of Syrian refugees in Norway have had life-threatening experiences

Had been in life-threatening danger before they fled the country or during their attempts to reach safety, according to a new report.

Dying for the Cause? Not really. The Far-Right has its own take on “martyrdom”.

Suicide attacks are virtually absent in far-right terrorism. A recent study of the subcultural, strategic, and historic references to martyrdom, self-sacrifice, and suicide in the contemporary far right shows the potential reasons for this, highlighting the peculiar political mythology of “martyrdom” that characterizes this extremist environment.

Viking children practiced with swords and quickly grew up to become adults

They grew up playing with swords, and were adult at puberty. Here's what we know about the life of a Viking child.

Women in academia publish more than people think

At least if you look in the middle, at the more normal researchers, with normal publication rates.

The ‘plastic rivers’ of Asia play a key part in the fight against plastic in the ocean

OPINION: Near half of the global plastic leakage from land to sea comes from a few countries in Southeast Asia. To overcome the plastic problem, we need to treat the cause and not just the symptoms. We must turn the spotlight on the sources.

When Norwegian petrol stations looked like Greek temples

Old petrol stations evoke strong emotions.

Epidurals do not in themselves improve birth experiences

OPINION: Epidurals may slow down a birth and are associated with lower levels of satisfaction with the birth experience. While sometimes necessary, we are skeptical of the extent to which they are offered and used.

Remains of what may be a temple where Norse gods were worshiped have been found in Norway

Researchers believe they have found the remains of a pagan temple, where Vikings made sacrifices to gods like Thor and Odin. If so, then this would be the first Norse temple identified in Norway.

Why don't cyclists just stop at red lights?

Do you ride your bike through red lights? If so, you're not alone. And perhaps sometimes, it should even be legal for you to do so.

Shattering the myth that nice and quiet teenagers pose a danger sign

Is there cause for concern if a teenager is introverted and never does anything wrong? A new Norwegian study now shows that kids who were loners in their youth are doing surprisingly well. Researchers have been following them for 25 years.

Why do we condemn, blame and stigmatize people who have experienced something traumatic?

OPINION: Some trauma victims are met with negative social reactions when they tell others about what they have experienced. Why does this happen?

Being labelled as “violent extremists”: The consequences of soft repression

What are the consequences of being labeled as a “violent extremist”? How does labeling affect individual activists, their organizations, and the social movement they are part of?

Fewer people in Norway are getting permanent jobs these days

More immigrants, “bike messenger jobs,” and what researchers call gig economics. Put together, these trends challenge traditional working life.

Why do jihadists cry?

Norwegian researcher has collected hundreds of stories about terrorists crying over the past decade. For it appears that terrorists shed quite a few tears when they are together. But why?

The richest Norwegians pay the least taxes

Researchers now see that income inequality in Norway is much greater than official figures have shown.

Both pedestrians and drivers are angry with the cyclists

The coronacrisis has led to an increase in cyclists on Norwegian roads. But the sharing of roads with cars and pedestrians creates frustration and potentially dangerous situations according to a new study.

Social media “likes” and comments lead to poorer self-esteem

SHARE YOUR SCIENCE: Girls who “like” and comment on what others post on social media develop a worse self-image over time. Posting on your own profile doesn’t have the same effect.

No, a woman’s hymen does not reveal whether she has had sexual intercourse or not

“When girls reach puberty, the hymen becomes very elastic and may not tear at all during first sexual intercourse,” says gynaecology researcher.

The COVID-19 pandemic may have caused more violence against women in Norway

A new report uncovers insufficient communication from the Norwegian authorities concerning support for women who are victims of domestic violence during the corona crisis.

Not even a Nordic welfare system protects children from the effects of a tough childhood

Children who experience a high degree of adverse events had up to 4.5 times the risk of dying before they were 35 years old as compared to children with few or no challenges, according to a new study from Denmark.

Why are teenagers drinking less alcohol than before?

Far fewer adolescents in big cities are drinking alcohol. Four out of ten 13- to 17-year-olds reported being drunk in 2002. In 2015 that percentage had declined by half. A big part of the reason is that they have become more home- and school-oriented and hang out less with friends.

Researchers have examined the burial mound where the Gokstad Viking ship was found. What they found surprised them.