News archive 2015

New collaboration: SDU computer scientists to help solve the mystery of how life emerged on Earth

How did life rise on Earth? How common is life in the universe? These questions have traditionally been tackled by biological science, but computer science is increasingly contributing to solving the mysteries of life. Now computer scientists from SDU team up with Tokyo Institute of Technology in a new collaboration.

Are quarks born free or in chains?

Obituary: Bent Jørgensen

With Professor Bent Jørgensen's death on 19 November, we have lost a good friend and colleague and the statisticial communinity a very large capacity.

A common mechanisme for human and bird sound production

When birds and humans sing it sounds completely different, but now new research reported in the Journal Nature Communications shows that the very same physical mechanisms are at play when a bird sings and a human speaks.

EUR 270,000 for deep sea research

Professor Ronnie N. Glud, Department of Biology, has received EUR 270.000 from the Atlas Consortium for studies of deep ocean seabeds.

Food producers can help lower cardiovascular diseases if they add a little seaweed to their products

Adding seaweed to processed foods such as frozen pizzas, hot dogs and dried pasta will reduce cardiovascular diseases, concludes a new scientific article. One suggestion is to replace 5% of the flour in pizza dough with dried and granulated seaweed.

DKK 3.8 million for research in Earth's history

Postdoc Emma Hammarlund, Department of Biology, has received funding from the Swedish Science Council for a project where she will continue to explore Earth's history

Researchers want to turn acid-loving microbes into safe drug-carriers

Usually the microbe S. islandicus is found in hot and acidic volcanic springs, but now the microbe has also found its way to the labs of SDU. Here researchers have for the first time showed that the exotic microbe is capable of delivering drugs to the human body.

Being rich in the Middle Ages led to an unhealthy life

In the Middle Ages only wealthy town people could afford to eat and drink from beautiful, coloured glazed cups and plates. But the glazing was made of lead, which found its way into the body if you ate acidic foods. This has been revealed by chemical investigations of skeletons from cemeteries in Denmark and Germany.

Meet the last commander of the NASA space shuttle

What does the future hold for space transportation? Chris Ferguson was NASAs last space shuttle commander, and he will visit SDU to share his visions.

New tool: How to get meaningful information out of big data

Every second trillions of data bits are accumulated and stored. All these data bits make no sense if you don´t know how to sort them. Now SDU researchers present a tool that helps researchers sort data and retrieve meaningful knowledge from the data jungle, presenting their work in the journal Nature Methods.

Sticklebacks urinate differently when nestbuilding

Fish also build nests. Among sticklebacks this is done by the male, requiring so many of his resources that he cannot function normally while at work: He loses his ability to produce urine normally. Now scientists reveal how the hard-working males manage to get rid of surplus fluid from their body.

New theory: If we want to detect dark matter we might need a different approach

Physicists suggest a new way to look for dark matter: They beleive that dark matter particles annihilate into so-called dark radiation when they collide. If true, then we should be able to detect the signals from this radiation.

Carnivorous dinosaurs strolled around in Germany

142 million years ago two carnivorous dinosaurs strolled along the beach in what is now Germany. Their footprints fossilized and have been analyzed by a biologist who now provides insight into the two hunters' daily life.

Seagrass thrives surprisingly well in toxic sediments - but still dies all over the world

Toxic is bad. Or is it? New studies of seagrasses reveal that they are surprisingly good at detoxifying themselves when growing in toxic seabed. But if seagrasses are stressed by their environment, they lose the ability and die. All over the world seagrasses are increasingly stressed and one factor contributing to this can be lack of detoxification.

Obituary: Professor Annemarie Surlykke

We were deeply grieved to learn that our good colleague and friend Annemarie Surlykke passed away on 28 July 2015.

Obituary: Professor Uffe Haagerup

With Professor Uffe Haagerup’s untimely death on 5 July 2015, Denmark and indeed the entire world lost a unique mathematical genius, a warm and amiable person, and a beloved father.

No need for sophisticated hunting techniques: Equatorial bats live the easy life

Most of the world's bats use extremely sophisticated hunting techniques, but not bats around the equator. They use pretty much the same less sophisticated hunting techniques as their ancestors did millions of years ago. They probably do not need more than that, because life at the equator is easy.

Starfish have a surprising talent for squeezing foreign bodies out through the skin

Starfish have strange talents. Two biology students from University of Southern Denmark have revealed that starfish are able to squeeze foreign bodies along the length of their body cavities and out through their arm tips. This newly discovered talent gives insight into how certain animals are able to quickly heal themselves.

Rarely seen snake fight caught on camera

SDU biologist Coen Elemans has been snake watching all over the world for 20 years, but for the first time he has personally witnessed a snake fight.

Estuaries protect Dungeness crabs from deadly parasites

Parasitic worms can pose a serious threat to the Dungeness crab, a commercially important fishery species found along the west coast of North America. The worms are thought to have caused or contributed to the crash of the crab fishery of central California during the last half century. New research shows that infected crabs can rid themselves of parasites by moving into the less salty water of estuaries. Low salinity kills the worms creating a parasite refuge for the crabs.

New ERC Advanced Grant: University of Southern Denmark sets out to explore deep ocean trenches

A research team led by Professor Ronnie N. Glud from SDU has received a ERC Advanced Grant of 3.185.000 Euro to carry out a series of ambitious explorations of the deepest parts of the oceans. Previous expeditions led by Professor Glud have revealed surprisingly high levels of biological activity at nearly 11 kilometers deep, and now the aim is to investigate how life can exist at these depths and how it's activity affects the biogeochemical functioning of the oceans and the Earth.

The Faculty's new Dean: I am going to push you to the limit!

Scientists go high-tech to study fragile cold-water reefs

Coral reefs are generally associated with warm, shallow and crystal-clear waters in the tropics. Other species of coral, however, flourish in the deep cold ocean where they also form large reefs. Now researchers from SDU have applied a technique to study these important and fragile cold water reefs without affecting them or altering their surrounding physical environment.

Seeing the unseen: PET/CT scans reveal worm's hidden life

What are lugworms and other small animals doing in the seabed? Until now scientists have not been able to study these animals without disturbing them, but thanks to modern PET/CT scans, now we can study their hidden life.

Bats are surprisingly fast decision makers

Bats are not as stereotyped when they hunt as previously believed. New research shows that these flying mammals are capable of making ultra-fast decisions about how to attack their prey - or maybe even call off the attack. It takes only milliseconds.

These 15 species have the lowest chances for survival: Researchers urge to act

Climbing rats, seabirds and tropical gophers are among the 15 animal species that are at the absolute greatest risk of becoming extinct very soon. Expertise and money is needed to save them and other highly threatened species.

Same forces as today caused climate changes 1.4 billion years ago

Natural forces have always caused the climate on Earth to fluctuate. Now researchers have found geological evidence that some of the same forces as today were at play 1.4 billion years ago.

Scientists bring oxygen back to dead fjord

More and more of the world's waters are seriously lacking oxygen. Could we use pumps to bring oxygen and thus higher life back into these waters? A Danish/Swedish research team says yes. They installed pumps in a Swedish fjord that showed a strong oxygen deficit and now they report that all the right oxygen-loving organisms have come back to the fjord.

1.3M Euro to develop computational microscope

The Lundbeck Foundation has granted 1,344,321 Euro to foster the development of a computational microscope for biomedical applications.