Articles - English

SELF-MADE: "20 satellites will be filled with instruments from University of Oslo," says Tore André Bekkeng.

Oslo-physicists use 20 new satellites to forecast space weather

Published May 14, 2012 12:47 PM

The northern lights interfere with radio communications, GPS navigation and satellite communications. Researchers are now going to launch 20 satellites containing world class instruments from the University of Oslo to find out why.

SUPERNOVA EXPLOSION: Today astrophysicists are struggling to perform computer simulations of a supernova (a massive star explosion). New knowledge about atomic nuclei from the University of Oslo may make such simulations easier. Photo: NASA

Oslo-experiment may explain massive star explosions

Published May 8, 2012 08:00 AM

New insight into the behaviour of atomic nuclei may explain how gigantic star explosions, or supernovas, have formed the elements that are crucial to mankind.

GLIMPSE INTO PRIMORDIAL TIMES: Genetic analyses of a micro-organism that lives in the sludge of a lake in Ås, 30 km south of Oslo i Norway, are providing researchers with an insight into what the first life on Earth looked like. Foto: UiO/MERG

Mankind's remotest relative

Published Apr 25, 2012 05:15 PM

Mankind's remotest relative is a very rare micro-organism from south-Norway. The discovery may provide an insight into what life looked like on earth almost one thousand million years ago.

MAGIC: This photograph shows a section of the 2.5 metre papyrus on magic in the Oslo collection. It contains 19 magic recipes and is illustrated with drawings of demons that must be drawn as part of the magic. (UB)

Papyri reveal new aspects of Antiquity

Published Mar 20, 2012 02:37 PM

Some of the most important papyri on magic in the world are housed at the University of Oslo. Papyri show that though we tend to associate Antiquity with rationality and science, it was also characterised by several alien and obscure practices.

UNDISCOVERED NICHE: Professor Johanna Olweus has found a completely new method of using the immune system to attack cancer. Photo: Yngve Vogt

Immune cells from healthy people pulverise cancer

Published Feb 3, 2012 12:00 AM

Immune cells from healthy individuals can be the new immune cure for cancer. This treatment can kill cancer cells without destroying neighbouring cells. The hope is to eradicate cancer for ever.

ALL TYPES OF CANCER: Professor Gustav Gaudernack hopes that his most recent cancer vaccine can be used against all types of cancer. Photo: Yngve Vogt

Vaccine against pancreatic cancer

Published Feb 1, 2012 12:00 AM

A professor at the University of Oslo has developed a cancer vaccine that can prolong the life expectancy of patients with pancreatic cancer. Now he is testing a new vaccine that hopefully is able to kill all types of cancer cells.

INFLUENZA: “The new invention Vaccibody can also be used to make vaccines against flu,” comment PhD student Gunnveig Grødeland and Professor Bjarne Bogen. Photo: Yngve Vogt

Targeted DNA vaccine using an electric pulse

Published Jan 30, 2012 12:00 AM

The vaccines of the future against infections, influenza and cancer can be administered using an electrical pulse and a specially-produced DNA code from the University of Oslo. The DNA code programs the body’s own cells to produce a super-fast missile defence against the disease.

EXTENSION: Professor Jon Petter Omtvedt hopes to extend the periodic table with elements 119 and 120. Photo: Yngve Vogt

Racing to be the first to create the world's heaviest element

Published Nov 17, 2011 12:00 AM

All heavy elements are created in gigantic supernova explosions. Now scientists are competing to create the world's heaviest element in a laboratory. Production time: less than one atom per month. Lifetime: a few modest microseconds.

SELF-INVENTED EQUIPMENT: Professor Jon Petter Omtvedt will be taking along a van load of self-invented equipment for the chemical experiments that will be conducted abroad. Photo: Yngve Vogt

The World's most difficult chemical experiment: The struggle to discover the secret of super-heavy elements

Published Nov 17, 2011 12:00 AM

In order to find the chemical properties of super-heavy elements, chemists must conduct one of the world's most demanding chemical experiments in a matter of seconds. In this effort, the University of Oslo is at the global cutting edge.

HOT AND COLD WATER: Ole Martin Løvvik demonstrates thermoelectricity with one glass of cold and one glass of hot water. The new technology utilises the temperature difference and generates enough energy to operate a rapidly rotating fan. Foto: Yngve Vogt

Temperature differences give rise to electricity

Published Nov 9, 2011 12:00 AM

Over half of all the energy in the world is lost as useless waste heat. Much of this heat loss can now be converted to electricity.

KILLS CANCER CELLS: University of Oslo researchers have discovered that certain inflammatory reactions are part of the body's natural defences against cancer. The picture shows macrophages, which are typical inflammatory cells (green) that kill cancer cells (blue and red). PHOTO: Clara Hammarström

Future cancer treatment: Inflammation fights cancer

Published Aug 30, 2011 12:00 AM

Many have believed that inflammation can lead to cancer. On the contrary, University of Oslo researchers have now found that inflammation can fight cancer. This means that in the future, cancer may be treated with inflammation-promoting immunotherapy.

THE BODY'S RADIATION WARNING: Cells that are exposed to low-dose radiation emit a molecular warning. The message is sent to other unirradiated cells in the body, which then can turn on resistance to radiation. Professor Erik Olai Pettersen and Postdoctoral Fellow Nina Jeppesen Edin have now found out how to turn this resistance on and off. The research was done at the cell cultivation laboratory at the University of Oslo. Photo: Yngve Vogt

Turns resistance to radiation treatment on and off

Published Aug 30, 2011 12:00 AM

Radiation can make cancer cells resistant to radio- and chemotherapy. University of Oslo researchers have now figured out how resistance can be switched on and off.

BURN DANGEROUS FAT: Eili Tranheim Kase has found a new substance which can birn fat around intestines and muscles. Photo: Yngve Vogt

New medicine against obesity

Published Aug 30, 2011 12:00 AM

Researchers at the University of Oslo have discovered a substance which can fight obesity. The pharmaceutical industry is interested and the potential market value is estimated to a billion dollars per year.

UNNOTICEABLE SWEAT: "Even simple mental arithmetic can have a big impact on the sweat meter," says scientist Christian Tronstad (right). Photo: Yngve Vogt

Sweat meter warns patients of dangerously low blood sugar

Published Aug 30, 2011 12:00 AM

Some diabetic patients receive no warning before they pass out from low blood sugar. A modern sweat meter could alert patients in time. Biathletes and ME patients might also benefit from the sweat meter.

FINANCIAL SPECULATORS: The purchase and sale of inclement weather is primarily associated with the electricity market. But the storm market is also attracting financial speculators, Professor Fred Espen Benth points out. Photo: Yngve Vogt

Storm Shopping

Published Mar 7, 2011 12:00 AM

It is possible to buy and sell cold, heat, rain and snow on the Chicago Stock Exchange. A professor in stochastic analysis has found the optimal formula for reducing the risk of storm shopping.

INCREASING AWARENESS: “I hope my work can make scientists and journalists more aware of how they communicate about genes,” says Rebecca Carver. Photo: Ola Sæther

Oslo-scientists have found the media gene

Published Mar 2, 2009 12:00 AM

The word “gene” is at the heart of public discussions - everything from food, health and disease to test tube babies and crime scene investigations. But what actually is a gene?

IMPORTANT DISCOVERY: - Our discovery is important for understanding cultural identities in the Balkans in ancient times,”, says Marina Prusac at University of Oslo. Photo: University of Mostar

The world’s first Illyrian trading post found

Published Dec 7, 2008 12:00 AM

A unique archaeological discovery in the Balkans: Archaeologists from the University of Oslo have just found the first Illyrian trading post of all time. So Balkan history must now be rewritten!

BRAIN RESEARCH FOR GENERATIONS: Jan B. Jansen and Alf Brodal established the so-called Oslo School of Neuroanatomy, which became world famous for its brain research. Young researchers have been able to maintain its international reputation. The brain research undertaken at the University of Oslo remains in the world’s top league.

At the forefront of brain research for 70 years

Published Dec 1, 2008 12:00 AM

In the 1930s a unique research environment was founded in Norway, which later was to develop into what in other countries is known as the Oslo School of Neuroanatomy.

FRIDTJOF NANSEN at his desk in Bergen Museum. On the table are his precious microscope and a hagfish in a glass of formalin. At the age of 26, he earned a doctorate degree on the basis of a groundbreaking dissertation on the nervous system.(Photo: Johan v.d. Fehr. Bergen University Library. The Image Collection).

Nansen – Norway’s first brain scientist

Published Nov 26, 2008 12:00 AM

Exactly 120 years ago, the first Norwegian doctoral dissertation in neuroscience was defended. It presented a revolutionary idea: that the brain consists of individual, separate nerve cells. The candidate’s name was Fridtjof Nansen.

JOHAN STORM, Professor of Medicine at the University of Oslo uses genetically modified mice and reconstructed HIV viruses to study brain cells. Photo: Ola Sæther

New knowledge on the brain: An emergency brake in the brain

Published Nov 26, 2008 12:00 AM

To prevent brain cells from damage following a stroke, the cells have an ingenious mechanism that can restore their electrochemical balance. Researchers are currently investigating how to strengthen this emergency brake.

SIMPLE TEST: - We need a simple test that can quickly identify who needs a thorough examination of tuberculosis. The test must be so cheap that developing countries can afford to use it, points Asma Elsony og Gunnar Bjune out. Photo: Yngve Vogt.

100,000 saved from dying of tuberculosis

Published Nov 13, 2008 12:00 AM

Asma Elsony took her doctoral degree at the University of Oslo on the implementation of tuberculosis control in Sudan at the same time as she saved 100,000 people from dying of tuberculosis in Sudan. Now Dr Elsony and Professor Gunnar Bjune are searching for a simple tuberculosis test.

STATISTICS BY THE ILLITERATE: The local traditional birth attendant registers births, children who die immediately after birth, stillbirths and the illness or death of the mother by placing small stones in a box. Photo: Jørn Braa

Collecting health data in areas with no power supply

Published Nov 12, 2008 12:00 AM

Information scientists at the University of Oslo have refused to become disheartened by illiteracy and the lack of power supply in rural Africa. They have produced a health information system that enables the authorities and the World Health Organization to improve health services in a number of African countries. Price tag: 35 million Euro.

NAVIGATION ERRORS: Jøran Moen is planning to use the registrations from the rocket to gain a better understanding of the connection between the northern lights and disturbances to navigation systems and radio signals.Photo: Agnete Brun

Professor launches a rocket to investigate the northern lights

Published Nov 11, 2008 12:00 AM

Airplanes that fly over the northern polar region can risk losing radio contact for several hours when the northern lights are at their most active in the skies. In the near future a professor from the University of Oslo will launch a Norwegian rocket to find the explanation for this. The aim is to set up reliable warning routines.

LACK OF PUBLIC SECURITY: Kjetil Tronvoll calls attention to several serious flaws in regard to the Ethiopian trial against the war criminals of the brutal Derg Regime. Photo: Ola Sæther

Etiopia: War crimes tribunal violated human rights

Published Apr 8, 2008 12:00 AM

The Ethiopian legal system has accused several thousands of brutal war crimes. Now the war crimes tribunal has itself violated fundamental human rights.

HYDROPLANING: The front part of the landslide points upwards and moves above a thin layer of water, hardly in contact with the sea bed. The phenomenon is called hydroplaning and causes less resistance, Professor Anders Elverhøi says. Photo: Ståle Skogstad

Underwater landslides: 100 km/h

Published Mar 28, 2008 12:00 AM

Deposit landslides move much faster in water than in air. Even in places where the sea bed is as flat as a pancake, the underwater landslides can accumulate a speed of over 100 kilometres an hour.