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Topics: Science, technology

  • Computer game in school made students better at detecting fake news

    A computer game helped upper secondary school students become better at distinguishing between reliable and misleading news. This is shown by a study conducted by researchers at Uppsala University and elsewhere. “The students improved their ability to identify manipulative techniques in social media posts and to distinguish between reliable and misleading news,” says Professor Thomas Nygren.

  • New antibiotic class effective against multidrug-resistant bacteria

    Scientists at Uppsala University have discovered a new class of antibiotics with potent activity against multi-drug resistant bacteria, and have shown that it cures bloodstream infections in mice. The new antibiotic class is described in an article in the scientific journal PNAS.

  • Vole fever spreading further south

    Researchers have discovered that bank voles in Skåne, southern Sweden, carry a virus that can cause hemorrhagic fever in humans. This finding was made more than 500 km south of the previously known range. This is revealed in a new study from Uppsala University. The researchers were surprised that such a high proportion of the relatively few voles they caught were actually carrying a hantavirus.

  • When words make you sick

    In a new book, experts in a variety of fields explore nocebo effects – how negative expectations concerning health can make a person sick. It is the first time a book has been written on this subject.

  • Lower survival rates for women than men with germ cell tumours

    Women with a type of ovarian cancer known as germ cell tumours have a worse prognosis than men with similar tumours, i.e. testicular cancer. After five years with the disease, 98 percent of men were alive while the survival rate for women was only 85 percent. This has been revealed by a new study from Uppsala University and Uppsala University Hospital published in the Journal of Internal Medicine.

  • Stone Age strategy for avoiding inbreeding

    Blood relations and kinship were not all-important for the way hunter-gatherer communities lived during the Stone Age in Western Europe. A new genetic study, conducted at several well-known French Stone Age burial sites, shows that several distinct families lived together. This was probably a deliberate system for avoiding inbreeding.

  • Uppsala University sets new world record for CIGS solar cells

    Uppsala University is the new world record holder for electrical energy generation from CIGS solar cells. The new world record is 23.64 per cent efficiency. The measurement was made by an independent institute and the results are published in the journal Nature Energy.

  • Death and grief in Swedish children’s books

    Death is blue, or a flying animal. This is how death is most commonly illustrated in Swedish children’s literature, according to a new study from Uppsala University based on analyses of 62 books. Just six out of ten books use the word ‘dead’, which may be a problem.

  • Increased access to water a threat to nomadic livestock farmers

    Increasing access to water in extremely arid parts of sub-Saharan Africa can help nomadic livestock farmers in the short term. However, in the long run it may lead to serious consequences for their livelihoods. This is shown by new research from Uppsala University, published in Nature Climate Change.

  • Double risk of dementia after mouth ulcer virus

    People who have had the herpes virus at some point in their lives are twice as likely to develop dementia compared to those who have never been infected. A new study from Uppsala University confirms previous research on whether herpes can be a possible risk factor for dementia.

  • Introducing competition between schools involves a lot of work and major costs

    After the introduction of the freedom to choose between upper secondary schools in Sweden 1992, it took nearly ten years for upper secondary school heads to start seeing themselves as competitors. Any analysis of change from a later perspective needs to bear in mind that a transition of this kind takes a good deal of organising, costs a lot of money and takes many years to become established.

  • A standard blood test can predict a heart attack

    Using the results of a standard blood test and an online tool, you can find out if you are at increased risk of having a heart attack within six months. The tool has been developed by a research group at Uppsala University in the hope of increasing patients’ motivation to change their lifestyle.

  • Distance education during pandemic led to less care for mental ill health

    Upper secondary school students were less likely to seek help for mental ill health when they were forced to study at home during the pandemic. A similar decrease was not seen for secondary school students aged 14–16 who remained in school. This has been shown in a new study at Uppsala University, based on data covering all of Sweden's upper secondary school students between 2015–2021.

  • New 2D material with super-heavy electrons

    A new 2D quantum material has been discovered. The material consists of atom-thin layers of cerium, silicon and iodine (CeSiI) and is the first example of a 2D material with heavy fermions. It is presented in a new study by researchers in materials science at Uppsala University and others, published in the scientific journal Nature.

  • Important to involve both parents in breastfeeding

    The most important support person for women to succeed in their ambition to breastfeed is the new mother’s partner. The partner also needs to be included through more support from healthcare professionals. For single mothers, alternative solutions must be found. “Single people are a vulnerable group and need other types of support," explains researcher Ingrid Blixt.

  • Many more infected by TBE virus than previously known

    The number of infections by the tick-borne TBE virus that are not detected by health services is far higher than previously assumed. This has been shown in a new study of Swedish blood donors from Uppsala University and the University Hospital in Uppsala. The results have been published in the journal Eurosurveillance, which is associated with the EU’s Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

  • New larks revealed in Africa

    Researchers at Uppsala University have studied the relationships between five closely related species of larks that occur in Africa south of the Sahara. They propose that the two species be split into seven. Some of them haven't been observed for decades, so the researchers analysed DNA from museum specimens, some of which were over 100 years old.

  • Small publishers increasingly important for translated literature

    Over the period 1970–2016, small publishing houses became increasingly important for the publication of literature in translation in Sweden. More than ever, Nobel laureates are being published by relatively small independent publishers. A specialisation in translations often stems from a publisher’s personal interest in a language or geographical area.

  • New research sheds light on Bantu-speaking populations' expansion in Africa

    About 350 million people across Africa speak one or more of the 500 Bantu languages. New genetic analysis of modern and ancient individuals suggests that these populations probably originated in western Africa and then moved south and east in several waves. The study has been published in the scientific journal Nature.

  • Genes influence whether infants prefer to look at faces or non-social objects

    Whether infants at five months of age look mostly at faces or non-social objects such as cars or mobile phones is largely determined by genes. This has now been demonstrated by researchers at Uppsala University and Karolinska Institutet. The findings suggest that there is a biological basis for how infants create their unique visual experiences and which things they learn most about.

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