Nature, Numbers & Technology

Grant

2024.09.05

Flea toads, dwarf pygmy goby fish and bumblebee bats: Researcher aims to solve the riddle of miniature animals

Just seven millimetres long, flea toads are among the smallest vertebrates on Earth. Despite their diminutive size, their organs and functions hardly differ from animals a thousand times larger. While examples of extrem…

Fossil

2024.08.30

Fungus gnat entombed in a 40-million-year-old piece of amber is a rare gem

A Danish amber collector’s find upon a wild North Sea shore in the 1960’s has proved to be of great and surprising significance. After having thoroughly examining the roughly 40-million-year-old piece of amber,…

Food

2024.07.03

New study on children and food: Fruit chunks in yogurt are a turn off for one age group in particular

It’s no secret that kids aren’t crazy about having too many seeds, pulp or chunks in their food. But six-year-olds in particular definitely can’t stand lumps, according to a new study from the University of Copenhagen…

nature

2024.07.02

Spotted apex predator being pressured by spotted pack hunters – and it's our fault

Leopards, who are already in decline, can’t keep up with hyenas when people are around. As we humans move into the their territories more and more, we are helping to disturb and unbalance ecosystems. This has been shown…

Mars

2024.07.01

Organic material from Mars reveals the likely origin of life’s building blocks

Two samples from Mars together deliver the "smoking gun" in a new study showing the origin of Martian organic material. The study presents solid evidence for a prediction made over a decade ago by University of…

Quantum computer

2024.06.28

University of Copenhagen and MIT Join Forces for Transatlantic Research in Quantum Computing

Quantum computers have the potential to change the world. A new collaboration between Novo Nordisk Foundation Quantum Computing Programme at University of Copenhagen and Engineering Quantum Systems group at the renowned…

Artificial intelligence

2024.06.26

AI successfully helps detecting more breast cancers around Danish capital

AI has helped to detect significantly more cases of breast cancer and reduce radiologist workloads. These are among the main conclusions of a new evaluation study from the University of Copenhagen and Capital Region of…

Plastic

2024.06.18

Researchers invent one hundred percent biodegradable "barley plastic"

A biofriendly new material made from barley starch blended with fibre from sugarbeet waste sees the light of day at the University of Copenhagen – a strong material that turns into compost should it end up in nature. In…

Artificial Intelligence

2024.06.12

AI method reveals millions of dead trees hidden among the living before California’s historic 2020 wildfires

University of Copenhagen scientists may have found a new explanation for the California wildfires of 2020. Applying AI to detailed aerial photos, they created a unique dataset detailing mortality down to single trees fo…

artificial intelligence

2024.06.06

Popular chatbot is a politically left-leaning EU supporter

LlamaChat, a popular AI chatbot alternative to ChatGPT, leans left and holds pro-European views. This is demonstrated by a University of Copenhagen study in which researchers tested the model on EU policy issues.…

sustainability

2024.06.03

Avocados are 'bad' and vegans are ridiculous: How we justify eating too much meat

Those of us who find it difficult to eat less meat for the sake of climate tend to apologize or justify ourselves in social contexts. And… shaming vegans isn’t off limits. This, according to a new University of…

fødevarer

2024.06.03

Greenhouses cover more and more of Earth’s surface

Greenhouse cultivation is booming globally, especially in the Global South – and across one country in particular. This is revealed in a new study by researchers at the University of Copenhagen that deploys detailed…

Ice sheet

2024.05.30

Local bright spot among melting glaciers: 2000 km of Antarctic ice-covered coastline has been stable for 85 years

A whaler's forgotten aerial photos from 1937 have given researchers at the University of Copenhagen the most detailed picture of the ice evolution in East Antarctica to date. The results show that the ice has remained…

The universe

2024.05.23

Birth of universe’s earliest galaxies observed for first time

Using the James Webb Space Telescope, University of Copenhagen researchers have become the first to see the formation of three of the earliest galaxies in the universe, more than 13 billion years ago. The sensational…

Proteins

2024.05.22

New weapon against dementia: "In just minutes, the AI solves a challenge that would take neuroscientists weeks."

The clumping of proteins is at the root of a wide range of neurodegenerative disorders that affect the brain such as Alzheimer's and dementia. Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have developed a new tool that…

Proteiner

2024.05.22

Nyt våben mod demens: ”Algoritmen løser udfordring på få minutter som tager hjerneforsker flere uger.”

Proteiner, der klumper sig sammen, er årsag til en lang række sygdomme, der nedbryder hjernen såsom Alzheimers og demens. Forskere på Københavns Universitet har opfundet et nyt værktøj, som kan hjælpe os med at finde og…

Astrophysics

2024.05.21

Complete Stellar Collapse: unusual star system proves that stars can die quietly

University of Copenhagen astrophysicists help explain a mysterious phenomenon, whereby stars suddenly vanish from the night sky. Their study of an unusual binary star system has resulted in convincing evidence that…

Quantum Sensing

2024.05.02

Young researcher has created a sensor that detects errors in MRI scans

Hvidovre Hospital has the world's first prototype of a sensor capable of detecting errors in MRI scans using laser light and gas. The new sensor, developed by a young researcher at the University of Copenhagen and…

sustainability

2024.04.26

Fixin’ to be flexitarian: Scrap fish and invasive species can liven up vegetables

Greening the way we eat needn’t mean going vegetarian. A healthy, more realistic solution is to adopt a flexitarian diet where seafoods add umami to “boring” vegetables. University of Copenhagen gastrophysicist Ole G.…

Atoms

2024.04.22

Superradiant atoms could push the boundaries of how precisely time can be measured

Superradiant atoms can help us measure time more precisely than ever. In a new study, researchers from the University of Copenhagen present a new method for measuring the time interval, the second, mitigating some of th…

CLIMATE

2024.04.18

Increased CO2 emissions from world’s tundra surprise researchers

As they warm, Arctic tundra environments will probably release 30% more CO2 than they do today – an increase that is nearly four times more than previously estimated. This is the conclusion of a large international stud…

Quantum Data

2024.04.15

Internet can achieve quantum speed with light saved as sound

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen’s Niels Bohr Institute have developed a new way to create quantum memory: A small drum can store data sent with light in its sonic vibrations, and then forward the data with…

species

2024.04.12

Iconic savanna mammals face genetic problems due to fences and roads

Wildebeest migrations have become a rarer sight in Africa as humans continue to interrupt their historic migratory routes with roads, fences, cities, livestock and farmland. This has led to genetic decay in those herds…

poverty

2024.04.11

Economist: Tens of billions of dollars in forest products are being overlooked

Are we missing the forest for the trees? More than timber grows in forests – including products worth many tens of billions of dollars. Because these goods go unrecorded in official trade statistics, their economic valu…

Marine Biology

2024.04.09

Mediterranean marine worm has developed eyes “as big as millstones"

Scientists are amazed at the discovery of a bristle worm with such sharp-seeing eyes that they can measure up to those of mammals and octopuses. The researchers from University of Copenhagen and Lund University suspect…