SNORW-tag

Drones to map the entire coast of Norway

The drones, with a bird’s eye view at 100 metres, can provide a much more detailed picture of the coast.

Norway’s coronavirus tracing app halted by Data Protection Authority – too invasive and not useful

“This reduces our ability to fight the spread of the virus that is happening now”, warns Camilla Stoltenberg, director of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.

Scientists have determined what damaged Edvard Munch's "The Scream"

Why has the lively yellow paint on Edvard Munch's 1910 painting The Scream faded and flaked off? A new study lays the blame on moisture. Chemists from several countries have conducted experiments that have helped them come up with the answer.

Here’s how Norway’s public health institute will figure out what to do if the coronavirus flares up again

A new mathematical model used by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) is like a tiny laboratory inside a computer, says the head of the institute’s modelling group.

A new Norwegian sensor will help you sleep better when your sleep is being monitored

The new Norwegian-developed sleep sensor means that a study subject doesn’t have to sleep with sensors on his or her body. In addition, the fact that it is contactless solves a problem related to the coronavirus crisis, says a Norwegian sleep scientist.

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

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

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.

Could the video assistant referee system replace referees in football?

ASK A RESEARCHER: Referees make mistakes, but thanks to goal-line technology and video refereeing, these errors can be avoided. Maybe it's time to ask: Do we need referees at all?

Reading to your child? Digital books are as important as print books

OPINION: Instead of propagating a false dichotomy between print and digital books we need to start asking which books work best for which children and families.

Big Brother is watching you - and makes you behave differently

How free are you really if someone is always watching what you do? Digital tracking is a problem even if you have nothing to hide.

Improving weather forecasts in the Arctic

SHARE YOUR SCIENCE: A fisherman may risk his life, and an ambulance airplane may compromise safety by taking off in bad weather. More accurate weather forecasts in the arctic can save lives.

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.

No more online voting in Norway

Norwegian voters tested an online voting system for both local elections in 2011 and parliamentary elections in 2013, with overwhelmingly positive feedback. This year, however, Norwegians didn't have the option to vote on the internet.

Speed cameras save lives but are politically contentious

Norway has the fewest traffic deaths in Europe when calculated on a population basis. While the government wants to raise speed limits and set up fewer speed cameras, it is precisely these measures that have helped cut traffic fatalities, research shows.

Uncertain future for fraudsters

Fraudsters who cheat on their taxes, launder money or con insurance companies are facing uncertain times. New statistical methods are increasing the likelihood that they will be caught.

Avoids ship disasters with advanced statistics

The chance of major ship disasters at sea can be reduced by statistical methods. The trick is to interpret the large amounts of data streaming in from the many sensors in the ship, making it possible to sound the alarm on time.

Scientists are removing CO2 from the air to make new products

Scientists are experimenting with a kind of artificial photosynthesis to replace oil in manufactured goods.

Researcher wants to teach children to program robots

Some researchers think children should be spending more time learning about robots instead of being afraid of their development.

Can we really electrify the entire world?

Yes, but we will need to recycle crucial elements like lithium if we are to meet demand and avoid destruction of vulnerable ecosystems in Latin America.

Two-year-olds benefit from playing games on tablets

The use of electronic media by young children has an undeserved bad reputation, a new study suggests. Mothers are better at interacting with their two-year-olds when playing online games than when they are watching TV together or engaged in regular play.

VR doesn’t measure up to nature

Virtual reality can provide nature experiences for some people, but so far the technology isn’t very satisfactory. “Going for a walk" with VR glasses made study participants cyber sick.

Heavier cars can make traffic more dangerous

The probability of being killed or severely injured in a traffic accident is about 40 percent lower if you drive a new car. But new cars are often more massive and pose a greater threat to other road users.

Researchers get phone data to chart drug abuse in Oslo

Researchers have for the first time used anonymous data from mobile telephones together with analyses of wastewater to quantify use of illicit drugs in and around Norway’s capital.

Pensioners unknowingly subsidise groceries for young and wealthy

High-income families in Oslo get cheaper food at the expense of those in rural areas who are unable to use apps or unwilling to disclose their consumer habits. Apps that give discounts create new economic disparities.

Eleven rockets set to reveal the mysteries in the Earth's atmosphere

In cooperation with NASA and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, scientists at the University of Oslo are now set to reveal the mysteries of physics in the atmosphere by launching eleven rockets.

How inspiring are science festivals?

Norwegian research might not corroborate any effect of science festivals, but the rectors of two prominent Norwegian universities are convinced that the Starmus Festival in Trondheim has inspired future scientists.

Norwegian researchers are making super-efficient solar cells

In the future, solar cells can become twice as efficient by employing a few smart little nano-tricks.

Driverless busses coming to a street near you

Tests are underway in Stavanger, but new laws have to be drafted and passed before self-driving busses can actually take to the streets. The Norwegian Government will probably give them the green light this year.

Finding mushrooms with your mobile phone

Advanced image recognition can scan the forest floor looking for good mushroom locations. And it’s not just a fantasy, say two Norwegian NTNU students.

Safer with or without a steering wheel in autonomous vehicles?

Taking manual control in critical situations in dangerous. The car has to win passengers' confidence, say Norwegian researchers.

Why Norwegian drivers are slowing down

Norwegian drivers have been reducing their speeds year by year. Not surprisingly, baby-boomers and their older brothers and sisters are getting the blame. Researchers hit the roads to look into the matter.

This drone will obey a winking eye

Video: Watch the underwater drone that can be guided by facial expressions.

Finding predictability in car brand loyalty

Car brand loyalty involves more than customer satisfaction, it turns out. A new study examines the past purchases of 9000 Norwegian car owners for buying patterns.

The challenge of keeping everything charged

Can the power grid support the rapid increase in electric cars and buses? Hydrogen may be an important wild card in the power equation.

Watch the past happen

Warships sailed in Norwegian fjords in 1940. You can now go back in time and follow them through your mobile.

3D artists find inspiration in a bone yard

Morphing long-abandoned whalebone piles into plastic and cardboard art

What’s the sun screen of the future?

We could be downing pills rather than smearing ourselves with creams and lotions in a few years. Or we could count on bacteria from a deep fjord to protect us from the harmful rays of the sun.

Charting sores and bruises in multiple colours

Detailed nuances in colour can reveal the age of bruises or detect when sores are not healing properly.

No more recycling blues

Many Norwegians help recycle by placing all their household plastic refuse in special blue plastic bags they get for free from their municipalities. In Romerike, a district on the outskirts of Oslo, smart new machines are making this individual effort obsolete.

Spying on seals with videocams and sensors

Researchers are equipping seals with cameras and sensors to find out exactly what they do down in the deep blue sea.

Diagnosing arthritis with a colour scan

An easily used screening tool shines new light on how to detect arthritic inflammations.

Small steps toward the colonisation of space

Norwegian scientists will cultivate food plants on the Space Station

Lengthy can-do list for colour camera

Nuances of colour reveal environmental toxins, precious minerals or missing persons. Hyperspectral cameras are a niche product with multiple functions.

Mobile apps without programming

In the Norwegian Armed Forces, a new tool makes it easy to create training apps. Civilians will also have access if the military scientists get their way.

Tracking the Earth’s magnetic field in Northern Lights

Physicists are keen on solving the mysteries of the Earth’s magnetic field. Their curiosity has a practical side – when solar storms that create the aurora are bent by the magnetic field, it can affect technologies that modern civilization depends on.

Brain-controlled prosthetic arm connected to nerves

A just-published study in Science Translational Medicine describes the success of a new kind of prosthesis, used by a Swedish truck driver for more than a year. The researchers say the device moves us one step closer to more natural control of artificial limbs.

Plans underway to power up with kites

Flying generators running on wind power can revolutionise the green energy sector. A Norwegian project has made a lot of headway.

Norwegian satellite gets its orbital twin

AISSat-2 is a newcomer in space that will provide even better surveillance of maritime traffic in the High North.

Teaching tomorrow's computer programming methods

Students do not learn the programming methods the industry needs, says a Norwegian researcher. He has developed learning tools that provide quick feedback and encourage progress.

Yards stay on scene by planning lean

To nudge ahead of Asian competitors, Norwegian shipyards overlap various stages – simultaneously designing vessels, acquiring materials and constructing the ships.

Print shops search for a survival scheme

As printed news media lose their readers, printing plants need to find alternative sources of income. Technology places strong limits on their options.

Wresting more power from wind turbines

Offshore floating wind farms require some highly advanced and novel controls to be both long-lasting and productive.

Flipped classrooms don’t need to flop

New technology will forge ahead in classrooms whether we like it or not, according to experts. This poses a challenge for educators who prefer traditional techniques.

Apps open new urban dimensions

Architecture is more than building design. The project YoUrban uses digital technology to reveal layer upon layer of action, interaction and future visions.

Smartphone app battles trauma from abuse

Victims of abuse could soon find help from an app under development that will include tests, information about symptoms and useful local initiatives.

Radar detects heartbeats

Advanced software sees heartbeats through the skin as well as enemies through walls.

Locating shipwrecks along the Norwegian coast

Robotic subs are honing in on uncharted sea floor, searching for wrecks.

Taking silicon for a spin

Scientists sling it outwards in centrifuges, or whip it up like hot hailstones. They are finding novel ways to make super pure silicon quickly and efficiently.

Machines are better than people at sorting household trash

Novel technology makes it unnecessary to sort trash at home for recycling. But Norwegian authorities want us to keep doing it anyway.

Paper beats computer screens

People comprehend what they're reading on a sheet of paper far better than when they read those same words on a computer screen.

A silicon sprinkle for electric cars

The driving range of electric vehicles can be increased by 25 percent if silicon replaces graphite in their batteries. A new manufacturing method creates nanopowder sprinkles that can do the job.

An 8th grader’s multitasking goes awry

Teens are good at multitasking, but learn less while they’re doing it.

Bright future for solar energy in the north

Many Nordic regions have potentials for exploiting solar energy matching that of the solar giant Germany.

The Arctic Ocean is not an important shipping route – yet

OPINION: Ten ships navigated the Northeast Passage last year, while 18,000 transited the Suez Canal. It will be a long time before the Northern Sea Route becomes an important navigational route, but the development must be followed closely.

Harvesting energy from all forms of sunlight

By simply cutting UV photons in two, we could get twice the amount of energy from sunlight.

Identification chips are vulnerable to attacks

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips can identify people, animals and objects from a distance of several metres but the technology is susceptible to misuse and hacking.

Lasers catching the wind in rough seas

Wind gauges that use laser beams will soon be tested offshore where gigantic wind farms will operate.

Space radars see pirate loggers

Loggers can get away with felling single trees here and there in rain forests, you might think. Not so – they can be caught by radars in space.

Bronze Age people with a mine of their own

Copper mining has a long history in Norway, with mines being established from late 15th century onwards. But the industry might be a lot older - stretching all the way back to the Bronze Age.

Robot care: cold comfort?

It's furry and cosy, with big eyes and gentle whistles - miles away from the traditional perception of steel-clad imposing robots. Meet PARO, a fake seal but a real robot, with a mission to comfort the elderly in care homes.

How vinyl got its groove back

Has digital sound in CD and PC killed the soul of music? Or are there other reasons why vinyl records are experiencing a steady increase in sales?

Space eyes on ocean traffic

Not spaceships, but ships monitored from space. Norwegian hardware on the International Space Station monitors traffic on the seven seas. A new Norwegian satellite is soon on its way to help police the oceans.

3D radar study of northern lights

The atmosphere is electric high above us. Now scientists want to see the stream of particles that make up the Aurora Borealis – in 3D.

The gentle drone

Not all un-manned aircraft are prowling military predators. Drones can also be deployed to chart ice fields and pollution, or locate people who’ve fallen overboard from ships.

A murky glass mystery

Discovered by accident, it's useful as a window coating. When the sun shines, this compound gets darker. But why? Scientists have yet to find out.

Northern biolab for rent

If you have some good bio-tech ideas but no place to test them, you might consider a travel to the far North.

New material for solar cells

The raw materials are abundant, cheap and environmentally friendly. Metal hydrides can represent the next breakthrough for solar power.

How to see through rock

It’s costly to drill deep into the ground for thermal energy. So you may want to know what’s going on down there. Mathematicians can help.