Culture, Language & History

Repression

2023.01.25

Modern arms technologies help autocratic rulers stay in power

Autocrats and dictators quickly acquire new arms technologies from abroad and often use them against their own citizens. Now a study shows that the spread of military technologies inhibits democratic reform.

The Sonning Prize

2023.01.18

Conceptual performance artist is awarded the Sonning Prize

Body and gaze are the focal points of the Serbian performance artist Marina Abramović, who is also known as ‘the godmother of performance art’. She is known for using herself and her body and for actively involving the…

Food culture

2022.12.08

The wealthier we become, the fewer homemade meals we eat

The wealthier we are, the less time we spend cooking and washing up. This is demonstrated by a global megatrend, now investigated by a researcher at the University of Copenhagen. The trend applies to Danes as well, who…

Misinformation

2022.10.05

Healthy democracies are threatened by false information, but not everyone is keen on a cure

Our democracy relies upon the choices of an informed electorate. But today, it is threatened by mis- and disinformation. More and better fact-checking is needed according to the University of Copenhagen’s Isabelle…

Religion

2022.09.13

Millions of farmers put their faith in God when making decisions

A widespread belief among millions of smallholder farmers in one of the world’s poorest countries is that God determines their yields. This is shown by a study that has examined the correlation between religiosity and…

Centre of Excellence

2022.06.07

New research centre will investigate if mental illness is universal

Is the human psyche the same across cultures? And do people experience mental disorders in the same way no matter what language they speak? These are some of the fundamental questions that the new Centre for Culture and…

CULTURAL PREFERENCE

2022.05.24

Wagner or Adele? Genes play a significant role in shaping our cultural tastes

Our genetic composition not only affects our sex, height, and other physical characteristics. New research shows that genes also influence our cultural preferences and habits.

ideology

2022.03.21

The war is the logical consequence of Putin's ideological struggle with the West

If you have followed what Vladimir Putin has said and written about the West and Russia these past years, the invasion of Ukraine should not come as a surprise. What is surprising is how poorly it seems to have been…

THE INVASION IN UKRAINE

2022.03.18

In Russia, the media picture has been turned upside down

What is the purpose of the Russian media's pink portrayal of Putin's military conduct?

archaeology

2022.03.11

Reseachers confirm Plymouth shipwreck could be 400-year-old colonial "Sparrow-Hawk"

The remains of a shipwreck in Pilgrim Hall Museum in Plymouth, thought to be a 400-year-old colonial vessel, have now undergone extensive scientific analyses.

SOCIAL MEDIA

2022.03.02

People spreading misinformation are ridiculed rather than met with facts

People who spread misinformation on Twitter are more often met with ridicule than with fact-based arguments, new study shows.

Grants

2022.01.05

New intervention to strengthen efforts against diabetes in Vietnam

As one of four new Danida-supported projects involving researchers from the Department of Anthropology, a collaborative health anthropological project addresses diabetes among pregnant women in Vietnam.

CAR TRAFFIC

2021.12.16

Millions for research into green transition on the roads

The Independent Research Fund Denmark has allocated almost 12 million to the project GREENCAR, which will show the way to a green transformation of the car sector.

Grant

2021.11.25

Research project will crack the code behind green neighbourhood communities

With support from THE VELUX FOUNDATIONS, new research anchored at the Department of Anthropology will examine how to create green neighbouring communities in housing associations.

FOOD SCIENCE

2021.11.22

We prefer farmed salmon – as long as we don't know what we're eating

A blind taste test by University of Copenhagen researchers demonstrates that Danes prefer the taste of both conventionally and organically farmed smoked salmon over wild-caught salmon. However, the picture is turned…

artificial intelligence

2021.11.18

Artificial intelligence favours white men under 40

Publicly available language models of the sort used for everything from Google and Siri, to insurance and legal casework systematically favour the language of young white men. At the same time, they discriminate in…

Nano chemistry

2021.11.15

Danish chemist helps England extend lifespan of world-renowned shipwreck

Using an advanced new X-ray scanning technique, a team of University of Copenhagen researchers has helped to identify the substances quietly eating their way through the wreckage of the Mary Rose, a 510-year-old English…

The good life

2021.11.12

Living with chronic disease: Three questions that still need answering

We still lack knowledge on how best to help patients with chronic diseases. Ayo Wahlberg, who just completed a large-scale study on the everyday lives of people living with chronic disease, calls for new initiatives.

FOOD

2021.11.09

Danes have reduced meat consumption – but we lag behind other Europeans

A major new survey on meat consumption in Europe reports that Europeans have a growing appetite for plant-based foods and that meat consumption has dipped. While this applies to Denmark as well, Danes lag behind the…

Gender-balance

2021.10.21

Companies recruit more female board members through family ties

The introduction of a gender quota in Denmark has increased the number of women on company boards, but it also led to more family driven hiring, a new study finds.

archaeology

2021.10.20

Origin of domestic horses finally established

Horses were first domesticated in the Pontic-Caspian steppes, northern Caucasus, before conquering the rest of Eurasia within a few centuries. These are the results of a study led by paleogeneticist Ludovic Orlando. The…

9/11

2021.09.03

No strategy behind Danish war effort in Afghanistan – we followed USA

When Denmark decided to participate in the war in Afghanistan just three months after the terrorist attacks 11 September 2001, it was an act of solidarity with the United States. The efforts were not part of a long-term…

climate

2021.06.09

Ancient air bubbles speak to a much warmer Antarctica during the ice-age than once believed

Twenty thousand-year-old air bubbles have revealed that Antarctic temperatures during the last ice age were markedly different than what the leading science once suggested. This is according to new research in which the…

archaeology

2021.06.07

10,000-year-old bones reveal earliest goat herders’ practices

To trace the domestication of the goat, an international team of researchers have analysed 10,000 year-old goat bones from two sites in the Zagros Mountains in present-day western Iran. Using ancient DNA and…

Archeology

2021.05.25

Flint stone sounds suggest a Stone Age settlement in Copenhagen’s Svanemøllen Harbour

A new method has made it possible for University of Copenhagen researchers to register mysterious sounds from the sea at Svanemøllen Harbour, most likely originating from chipped-away flint tools of an unknown Stone Age…