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Quaternary geologist Raimund Muscheler and physical geographer Thomas Pugh have been awarded the ERC Advanced Grant by the European Research Council. They will receive EUR 2.5 million each over a five-year period to study historical solar storms and the rate at which trees grow and die around the world. The European Research Council (ERC) supports research of the highest quality in all fields. The

https://www.science.lu.se/article/two-lund-researchers-receive-prestigious-eu-grant - 2025-10-03

Gustavo Jasso Ahuja, a researcher at the Centre for Mathematical Sciences, has been awarded funding within the framework of the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation’s mathematics programme. The grant will be used to recruit a researcher from overseas to a postdoc position in Lund. The mathematics programme is a long-term initiative by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation. Between 2014 and 2029

https://www.science.lu.se/article/maths-researchers-receive-funding-study-mysterious-algebras - 2025-10-03

During the unusually dry year of 2018, Sweden was hit by numerous forest fires. A research team led from Lund University in Sweden has investigated how climate change affects recently burnt boreal forests and their ability to absorb carbon dioxide. The boreal forests form a single biome that spans the entire Northern Hemisphere. These forests play a key role in the global climate system by absorbi

https://www.science.lu.se/article/unique-field-study-shows-how-climate-change-affects-fire-impacted-forests - 2025-10-03

Body shape, colour and behaviour often evolve together as species adapt to their environment. Researchers from Lund University have studied this phenomenon in a specific type of large, bright green and aggressive common wall lizard found near the Mediterranean. They discovered that a unique cell type might have played a key role in this joint evolution. Adaptation is a genetic change that results

https://www.science.lu.se/article/incredible-hulk-lizard-provides-clues-understanding-evolution - 2025-10-03

Climate researchers often emphasise the fact that reducing carbon emissions is in everyone’s best interest, and should involve all of us. But how good are they at minimising their own carbon footprint? A new study carried out jointly by Lund University and the University of Lausanne in Switzerland shows that some of them use up half their annual carbon allowance in a single week. There are ways to

https://www.science.lu.se/article/conferences-make-scientists-climate-transgressors - 2025-10-03

Bumblebees have a great capacity to navigate despite their small brain size. This is borne out of new research conducted at Lund University in Sweden, among others. The research results can potentially benefit the development of navigation robots in crisis situations where GPS does not work, for example. According to the study, bumblebees appear capable of navigating as well as vertebrates can, an

https://www.science.lu.se/article/bumblebees-sense-direction-rivals-humans - 2025-10-03

The income and education levels of a child’s environment determine their relationship to nature, not whether they live in a city or the countryside. This is the finding of a new study conducted by researchers at Lund University, Sweden. The results run counter to the assumption that growing up in the countryside automatically increases our connection to nature, and yet the study also shows that na

https://www.science.lu.se/article/socioeconomics-shape-childrens-connection-nature-more-where-they-live - 2025-10-03

Øystein Opedal, associate senior lecturer at the Department of Biology, has been awarded an ERC Starting Grant. Congratulations, Øystein! Can you tell us a little about your project?“The project aims to better understand how plants adapt to new pollination environments, such as declining pollinator populations or local changes in the diversity of pollinator species. We know quite a lot about how p

https://www.science.lu.se/article/biologist-receives-erc-starting-grant - 2025-10-03

It takes a long time, up to several decades, before the benefits of organic farming take full effect on land that was previously cultivated conventionally, a new study from Lund University suggests. After thirty years, the plant species richness around the cultivated crop had doubled on organic farms compared to conventional farms. It is well known that organic farming benefits biodiversity and ca

https://www.science.lu.se/article/organic-farms-had-doubled-plant-diversity-only-over-time - 2025-10-03

A research team led by Lund University in Sweden has discovered a small planet that displays peculiar orbital motion. The shimmying planet, located 455 light-years from Earth, shows that planetary systems can be considerably more complex than researchers have previously thought. The newly discovered planet TOI-1408c has a mass equivalent to eight Earths and circles very close to a larger planet, t

https://www.science.lu.se/article/researchers-discover-space-oddity-exoplanet-moving-mysterious-ways - 2025-10-03

Dung beetles are among the strongest animals in the world. They also possess an exceptional ability to cooperate. Research shows that female and male spider dung beetles together are able to move large dung balls across difficult obstacles. However, same-sex attempts to do the same always ended in aggressive fights. Dung beetles live in and on animal droppings. By breaking down organic substances,

https://www.science.lu.se/article/beetles-cooperate-tricky-dung-moves - 2025-10-03

Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have studied how nanoplastic affects aquatic organisms in lakes and rivers. The results are surprising and the researchers are the first to show that some species are being wiped out, while others – such as cyanobacteria that contribute to algal blooms – are completely unaffected. Every year, the amount of plastic in the world’s oceans increases by between

https://www.science.lu.se/article/grazing-zooplankton-severely-impacted-nanoplastic-particles - 2025-10-03

Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have discovered thirteen new species of extinct brittle stars on the island of Gotland, Sweden. The fossils were dug out of rocks from the Silurian Period (around 444 to 419 million years ago). The species have now been named after several famous hard rock musicians and bands. Ophiuroids are a group of echinoderms closely related to starfish. Their bodies c

https://www.science.lu.se/article/extinct-brittle-stars-named-after-death-metal-bands - 2025-10-03

Scientists have found an alternative way to produce atoms of the superheavy element livermorium. The new method opens up the possibility of creating another element that could be the heaviest in the world so far: number 120. The search for new elements comes from the dream of finding a variant that is sufficiently stable to be long-lived and not prone to immediate decay. There is a theory in nucle

https://www.science.lu.se/article/successful-experiment-paves-way-new-element - 2025-10-03

A research team led by Lund University has developed an AI tool that traces back the most recent places you have been to. The tool acts like a satellite navigation system, but instead of guiding you to your hotel, it identifies the geographical source of microorganisms. This means you can use bacteria to determine whether someone has just been to the beach, got off the train in the city centre or

https://www.science.lu.se/article/new-gps-system-microorganisms-could-revolutionise-police-work - 2025-10-03

Physical geographer Alex Vermeulen, who leads the work on the ICOS Carbon Portal, was the editor of a new publication on greenhouse gas flows that has received significant international recognition. It was recently presented at the UN Climate Summit in Baku. Alex, you've been working with the Greenhouse Gas Bulletin again this year. What do the results look like?– Concentrations of all major green

https://www.science.lu.se/article/researcher-draws-attention-dark-report-greenhouse-gases - 2025-10-03

Lund University and the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) are establishing a joint hub, focusing on water. The initiative will strengthen Lund University’s connection with the UN, and also offer a unique UN track for students. The new hub will be called Water in a Changing Environment (WICE). The initiative will run for five years and then be evaluat

https://www.science.lu.se/article/lund-university-start-new-un-collaboration-focusing-water - 2025-10-03

Andreas Nord, a researcher at the Department of Biology, will receive EUR 2 million to study how warm-blooded animals are affected as the climate becomes warmer and more unpredictable. As part of the project, he will study different species of birds to determine how quickly heat tolerance could evolve and what will happen to our bird populations if tolerance fails to adapt. In the final part, Nord

https://www.science.lu.se/article/researcher-receive-erc-consolidator-grant - 2025-10-03

Now that Christmas is just around the corner, thoughts inevitably turn to an expectant Mary in the stable. However, she is not alone in the sphere of life-giving without the involvement of both sexes. In the animal kingdom, there are many species that engage in immaculate conception. What we refer to as virgin birth means that an unfertilized egg can develop into a new individual. The technical te

https://www.science.lu.se/article/virgin-birth-beyond-biblical-legend - 2025-10-03

Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have analysed the soft tissue from a fossilized plesiosaur for the first time. The results show that the long-necked marine reptile had both smooth and scaly skin. This was likely so it could both swim rapidly and move along rough seabeds. Plesiosaurs lived in the world's oceans for much of the Mesozoic Era (203–66 million years ago). These reptiles, which

https://www.science.lu.se/article/soft-tissue-183-million-year-old-jurassic-plesiosaur-analysed - 2025-10-03