Published 14 June 2022 Illustration: ESA/ATG medialab. The emergence of a mysterious area in the South Atlantic where the geomagnetic field strength is decreasing rapidly, has led to speculation that Earth is heading towards a magnetic polarity reversal. However, a new study that pieces together evidence stretching back 9,000 years, suggests that the current changes aren’t unique, and that a rever

https://www.science.lu.se/article/earths-magnetic-poles-not-likely-flip - 2025-03-13

Published 14 June 2022 Photo: Charlie Cornwallis. The ostrich is genetically wired to adapt to rising or falling temperatures. However, when the temperature fluctuates more often, as it does with climate change, the flightless bird with a 40-gram brain finds it much more difficult. A research team at Lund University has shown that the ostrich is very sensitive to fluctuating temperatures in terms

https://www.science.lu.se/article/ostriches-can-adapt-heat-or-cold-not-both - 2025-03-13

Published 16 August 2022 When you take a dip in a Swedish lake, it is not unusual to find you cannot see the lake bottom. Lake water coloured brown by organic material can be an inconvenience for swimming tourists, but mainly causes problems for the ecosystem and drinking water. Focusing on Lake Bolmen, researchers, public authorities and local organisations are now joining forces in a research pr

https://www.science.lu.se/article/many-reasons-take-care-lake-water - 2025-03-13

Published 25 August 2022 Photo: Unsplash. By analyzing DNA with the help of artificial intelligence (AI), an international research team led by Lund University in Sweden has developed a method that can accurately date up to ten-thousand year-old human remains. Accurately dating ancient humans is key when mapping how people migrated during world history. The standard dating method since the 1950s h

https://www.science.lu.se/article/researchers-develop-first-ai-based-method-dating-archaeological-remains - 2025-03-13

Published 1 September 2022 Photo: Unsplash. The most common analytical method within population genetics is deeply flawed, according to a new study from Lund University. This may have led to incorrect results and misconceptions about ethnicity and genetic relationships. The method has been used in hundreds of thousands of studies, affecting results within medical genetics and even commercial ances

https://www.science.lu.se/article/study-reveals-flaws-popular-genetic-method - 2025-03-13

Published 19 September 2022 Photo: Albin Belsing. Solitary bees that ingested the pesticide clothianidin when foraging from rapeseed flowers became slower. In addition, the strawberries pollinated by these bees were smaller. This is shown by a new study from Lund University in Sweden. Strawberries are known to become bigger if bees have visited their flowers, but how strawberry growth is affected

https://www.science.lu.se/article/strawberries-were-smaller-when-bees-ingested-pesticides - 2025-03-13

Published 26 September 2022 Illustration: NASA JPL-Caltech R. Hurt (SSC Caltech). Using data from the Gaia space telescope, a team led by researchers at Lund University in Sweden has shown that large parts of the Milky Way's outer disk vibrate. The ripples are caused by a dwarf galaxy, now seen in the constellation Sagittarius, that shook our galaxy as it passed by hundreds of millions of years ag

https://www.science.lu.se/article/mysterious-ripples-milky-way-were-caused-passing-dwarf-galaxy - 2025-03-13

Published 30 September 2022 Photo: Tariq Sulemani/Istockphoto. A new study led by Lund University in Sweden shows that cities negatively affect the diversity of birds. There are significantly fewer bird species in urban forests compared with forests in the countryside - even if the forest areas are of the same quality. The researchers examined 459 natural woodlands located in or near 32 cities in

https://www.science.lu.se/article/less-bird-diversity-city-forests - 2025-03-13

Published 9 November 2022 Markku Rummukainen. Photo: Kennet Ruona. The UN’s annual climate change conference is currently ongoing in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. Over the course of two weeks, representatives of the world’s nations will gather to discuss how to achieve the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement and contribute to the climate transition. At this year’s COP, the focus will be on topics such a

https://www.science.lu.se/article/uns-climate-change-conference-cop27-topics-agenda - 2025-03-13

Published 9 November 2022 Photo: Ulrika Ervander. Almost one fourth of Sweden’s last unprotected old-growth forest was logged between 2003 and 2019. At this rate, all of these ecologically unique and valuable forests will be lost in about 50 years. These findings add to the growing body of evidence for widespread cryptic forest degradation across the global north. A small fraction of Sweden’s fore

https://www.science.lu.se/article/study-uncovers-widespread-and-ongoing-clearcutting-swedish-old-forests - 2025-03-13

Published 6 December 2022 The winning picture: The eyes of a Helena's treefrog seem to glow in the dark. Photo: Roberto García-Roa. Roberto García-Roa, postdoc at the department of Biology has won yet another prestigious photo award. This time he’s the overall winner of “Capturing Ecology”, the British Ecological Society photo competition. Congratulations Roberto, what does this award mean to you?

https://www.science.lu.se/article/sharp-shooting-biologist-winner-international-photography-award - 2025-03-13

Published 5 January 2023 The researchers used ultrafast laser spectroscopy. Photo: Pavel Chabera. With the help of mirrors, placed only a few hundred nanometers apart, a research team has managed to use light more efficiently. The finding could eventually be useful for controlling solar energy conversion during photosynthesis, or other reactions driven by light. For example, one application could

https://www.science.lu.se/article/researchers-take-first-step-towards-controlling-photosynthesis-using-mirrors - 2025-03-13

Published 5 January 2023 Jan Dhont. Jan Dhont, a chemist whose major achievements have been significant for life science and food science, has been awarded an honorary doctorate by the Faculty of Science at Lund University. Jan Dhont is a professor at the Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf and Director of the Institute of Biomacromolecular Systems and Processes at Forschungszentrum Jülich in Ge

https://www.science.lu.se/article/colloid-chemist-new-honorary-doctor-science - 2025-03-13

Published 19 January 2023 Christoffer Johansson with the robotic wing. Photo: Anders Örtegren. Birds fly more efficiently by folding their wings during the upstroke, according to a recent study led by Lund University in Sweden. The results could mean that wing-folding is the next step in increasing the propulsive and aerodynamic efficiency of flapping drones. Even the precursors to birds – extinct

https://www.science.lu.se/article/feathered-robotic-wing-paves-way-flapping-drones - 2025-03-13

Published 24 January 2023 Photo: Jörgen Wiklund. Only males among the fish species crucian carp have developed a strategy to protect themselves from hungry predators, according to a new study from Lund University in Sweden. The explanation could lie in that the surrounding environment affects the stress system in males and females differently. Some animals have evolved the ability to swiftly chang

https://www.science.lu.se/article/stress-may-trigger-male-defence-against-predators - 2025-03-13

Published 2 February 2023 Martin Bech in the X-ray microscopy lab, which is now set to be updated. Photo: Till Dreier. Martin Bech, senior lecturer in medical radiation physics, has been awarded a prestigious ERC Consolidator Grant. Over a five-year period, he will conduct several exciting projects within X-ray microscopy which, among other things, can be used to generate 3D images of human tissue

https://www.science.lu.se/article/radiation-physicist-receives-sek-20-million-grant-european-research-council-erc - 2025-03-13

Published 2 February 2023 Adding "mini-meadows", seen here in Malmö, Sweden, is one way of helping pollinators. Photo: Private/Lund University. Have you made adjustments to your garden to make it more welcoming for pollinators? If so, you have probably made a valuable contribution, according to a new study from Lund University. The researchers evaluated the national ‘Operation: Save the Bees’ camp

https://www.science.lu.se/article/what-you-do-your-garden-help-pollinators-works - 2025-03-13

Published 6 February 2023 Photo: Harald Ris. Since antiquity, humans have been fascinated by birds’ intercontinental migratory journeys. A new study from Lund University in Sweden shows that two areas in their genome decide whether a willow warbler flies across the Iberian Peninsula to western Africa, or across the Balkans to eastern and southern Africa. Researchers have long known that the behavi

https://www.science.lu.se/article/genes-decide-willow-warblers-migration-routes - 2025-03-13

Published 10 February 2023 Urban great tits prefer native trees for breeding. Photo: Caroline Isaksson. Small passerine birds, such as blue and great tits, avoid breeding in urban areas where there are many non-native trees. Chicks also weigh less the more non-native trees there are in the vicinity of the nest. This is shown in a long-term study from Lund University, Sweden. City trees contribute

https://www.science.lu.se/article/urban-birds-prefer-native-trees - 2025-03-13

Published 13 February 2023 Maria Blasi Romero took her strong drive and engagement to the UN Conference of the Parties on Biodiversity, COP15, in Montreal. Photo: Kennet Ruona. We need to prioritise nature even if there are other conflicting interests – biodiversity is essential to all of us on the planet and ultimately to our health and wellbeing. The statement comes from Maria Blasi Romero, rese

https://www.science.lu.se/article/young-scientists-eager-influence-policy-makers-biodiversity - 2025-03-13