News 2022 from the Faculty of Science
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21.12.2022
Carbon, soot and particles from combustion end up in deep-sea trenches
New research shows that disproportionately large amounts of carbon accumulate at the bottom of deep-sea trenches. The trenches may thus play an important role for deep-sea storage of organic material - and thus for the atmospheric Co2 balance.
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14.12.2022
When was the first time life began to predate on each other?
In the early oceans billions of years ago organisms lived peacefully side by side. Today, there are predators among us - when and how did this change happen? New research indicates that our single-celled ancestors began to feed on each other almost a billion years earlier than previously thought.
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05.12.2022
New life emerges as the ice melts in the Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean is one of the most rapidly warming regions on Earth and is headed towards being ice free in the summer. However, this provides opportunities for new ecosystems to develop, biologist Karl Attard argues.
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29.11.2022
Bats growl like death metal singers and Mongolian throat singers
Bats produce an extreme range of sound frequencies far exceeding human ability. Now researchers have for the first time directly filmed how they produce their extraordinary range of sounds.
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22.11.2022
Less mold, more food
Foods like fruit, vegetables and dairy products often get attacked by mold or fungus and therefore must be discarded. If we can extend the shelf life just a few days, we can save a lot of food from being thrown out. SDU researchers are trying to contribute to that.
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04.11.2022
Nobel Prize chemistry in a more sustainable version
Nobel Prize chemistry in a more sustainable version This year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to the discoverers of click chemistry – an invention used every day by chemists all over the world. This technique can be carried out more sustainably, SDU researcher reports.
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31.10.2022
Will this yeast fungus become the world's next big health problem?
In a race against time, SDU researchers are trying to understand how to combat the dreaded yeast fungus Candida auris.
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12.10.2022
New, blue fish found in deep-sea trench
Snailfish live at the deepest parts of the ocean. Now an expedition has found a new species; it is small, blue and looks anything but a deep-sea monster.
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02.09.2022
With quantum computers, hackers can access all your sensitive information
Quantum computers are coming, and they will benefit society. But they also have a downside: their superior computing power can break today’s protection of sensitive electronic information on conventional computers. Help is on its way.
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25.08.2022
Study finds microbes with a surprising appetite
Researchers have discovered a new player in aquatic environments that thrives on nitrate.
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19.08.2022
Which animals can best withstand climate change?
A new study investigates how different mammals react to climate change. Animals that live for a long time and produce less offspring – like bears and bison - are more resilient than small animals with a short life – like mice and lemmings.
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16.08.2022
New details from the black hole's backyard
Details are beginning to emerge as researchers work their way through image data from the black hole M87. Now a sharp ring of light, created by light particles whipping around the back of the supermassive black hole, has been discerned.
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12.08.2022
Here's the secret of man's ability to speak clearly
No other animal can speak and sing like humans, and there is especially one reason for that: Evolution has simplified our larynx.
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27.07.2022
Can math help us understand the gut system of obese people?
Obesity has become a global epidemic and there is no effective cure yet. Some evidence indicates that the bacterial composition of our intestinal system plays a role. A new research project will use advanced math and computer science to investigate.
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23.06.2022
Humans can’t, but turtles can…
Reduce weakening and deterioration with age. Evolutionary theories of ageing predict that all living organisms weaken and deteriorate with age and eventually die. Now, researchers show that certain animal species, such as turtles and tortoises, may exhibit slower or even absent senescence when their living conditions improve.
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21.06.2022
Can we save more lives if we let resistant bacteria live?
Every day, people die of simple inflammation because bacteria can no longer be killed with antibiotics. So what do we do? Maybe we should spend less energy on killing them and more on "only" making them harmless while they are in our body, researchers suggest.
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10.06.2022
Bacteria to wear protection
Bacteria can contribute to a more sustainable production of chemicals, so providing a good working environment for them is a good investment. Now SDU- researchers present a nano protection suit, developed for bacteria, in Nature Communications.
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08.06.2022
Nitrous oxide-emitting bacteria can help us predict climate impacts
Nitrous oxide is a powerful greenhouse gas, but we know very little about how much is actually emitted. A new research project, supported by the Independent Research Fund Denmark, seeks to change this by measuring nitrous oxide emissions in coastal areas and studying the bacteria that produce the gas.
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23.05.2022
Who hear best underwater - human or seal?
We humans do better on land than under water - also when it comes to our hearing. But now a new study shows that we actually have better underwater hearing than previously thought - at certain frequencies we hear just as well as the seal.
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12.05.2022
New, healthy lakes in Denmark
Many new lakes are being established in Denmark in these years, and with that comes, of course, a desire for them to be healthy and have good water quality. SDU biologists show the way.
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12.05.2022
This is the first image of the black hole at the heart of our galaxy
Astronomers have unveiled the first image of the supermassive black hole at the center of our own galaxy, The Milky Way. This result provides overwhelming evidence that the object is indeed a black hole and yields valuable clues about the workings of such giants, thought to reside at the center of most galaxies.
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02.05.2022
How do you make stem cells?
Many have probably heard about stem cells and their enormous potential because of their ability to renew themselves over and over – and replace exactly the type of cells you may need. But where do stem cells actually come from? And how can scientists make new stem cells? We put these questions to stem cell expert Helle Bogetofte Barnkob.
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02.05.2022
Will The Arctic Ocean flourish with new life when the ice melts?
The Arctic Ocean is one of the most rapidly warming regions on Earth and is headed towards being ice free in the summer. However, this provides opportunities for new ecosystems to develop, biologist Karl Attard argues.
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25.04.2022
Offspring weakens, when parents are given antibiotics
New study shows the immune system of zebrafish weakens if one parent has been exposed to antibiotics. Antibiotics can have unwanted effects for several generations, researchers discover.
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06.04.2022
Lakes are threatened by rising temperatures
Lakes in cold and temperate climates are important tools for sequestering carbon. But with rising temperatures, we are losing this tool, a new study shows. Instead, we should look for other places to store carbon, says expert.
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05.04.2022
Revolutionary tool could meet future pandemics with accelerated response
A new tool speeds up development of vaccines and other pharmaceutical products by more than one million times while minimizing costs.
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04.04.2022
Obituary for Professor James W. Vaupel
On Sunday 27 March 2022, Jim Vaupel died following an unexpected and brief illness. Thus, our university and Denmark, indeed the whole world, lost a leading demographer and researcher on ageing.
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04.04.2022
Forget about biodiversity for the first 10-20 years
If we stop cultivating low-land fields and let nature take over, we will get more biodiversity, we often hear. Correct, says expert: but the best thing we can do for biodiversity is to harvest everything that comes up for the first 10-20 years.
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30.03.2022
Do Danish oceans release or absorb CO2?
Denmark is surrounded by seawater, which can absorb CO2 and thus reduce emissions to the atmosphere - but seawater can also release CO2. According to biologists Christian Furbo Reeder and Jakob Bang Rønning, we have no idea whether Danish waters absorb or release more CO2. So now they prepare to map CO2 emissions from Danish waters.
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21.03.2022
Finally, the eelgrass is coming back
Scientists’ effort to bring the eelgrass back to Danish waters has proven very successful: After 2 years, there are now 70 times more eelgrass shoots in Horsens Fjord in Denmark.
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17.03.2022
Do climate changes spur microbes to produce more methane?
More and more mineral particles released by climate change events (like land erosion or desertification) and anthropogenic activities (like industrial soot) are being transported worldwide. Certain microbes thrive on these particles, producing methane – a potent greenhouse gas. A new project aims to understand how microorganisms interact via mineral particles and how these interactions may affect the methane cycle.
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11.03.2022
What happened in this forgotten cave in the Holy Land?
Due to both coincidences and political circumstances, several boxes of finds from a cave on the west bank of the Dead Sea ended up in a museum cellar, where it was forgotten for 40 years. Now new scientific analyzes provide insight into 5,000 years of human presence in the cave.
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07.03.2022
How do genes make us sick with diabetes and obesity?
When we get sick with life style diseases, some kind of gene activity has led to changes in, for example, our metabolism. But which genes? And what are the factors that trigger this altered gene activity?
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02.03.2022
Cyber expert: Hackers can increase Russians' awareness of the war in Ukraine
Opinion of cyber security expert after Ukraine has urged hackers around the world to help: The Russian army in Ukraine is a difficult target for hackers. Hacking of systems affecting ordinary Russians daily life may have greater effect.
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24.02.2022
“There hasn’t really been much interest in the dead”
Our oceans are filled with tiny, dead animals and jellyfish. But that is not bad news: without all these carcasses, the planet would not be a very nice place to live on, scientists are discovering. As all these carcasses seem to play an important role in the transportation and recycling of carbon and nitrogen on our planet.
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15.02.2022
The immune system also helps a healthy body
Were you also under the impression that the immune system only kicks in when you get sick? In fact, new research shows the immune system is also busy when you’re perfectly healthy. For example, it helps you convert fat into energy when you’re fasting.
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09.02.2022
Put a gecko-inspired robot on the teachers’ heels: More lively lectures
Lizards like geckos and agamas have inspired scientists to develop a new robot-controlled camera that can make streamed lectures less dull.
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18.01.2022
Students challenge 40-year-old theory of galaxy dynamics and the dark universe
No known physical laws can explain how stars move in galaxies. Now physics students from SDU show that a 40-year-old theory can be ruled out.
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10.01.2022
Will this new superpower molecule revolutionize science?
In a new study, researchers report the creation of an artificial molecule with superpowers. It has the potential to revolutionize nanotechnology – and it also explains one of Nature’s intriguing enigmas; why do we have a right hand and a left hand?
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06.01.2022
Microbes produce oxygen in the dark
There would be no oxygen on Earth were it not for sunlight; the key component in photosynthesis. Now researchers have made the surprising discovery that oxygen is also produced without sunlight, possibly deep below the ocean surface.