Research news - Page 7

Globalisation provides the Sami people with political power as well as valuable networks with indigenous people worldwide. "Globalisation has been really positive for the Sami political struggle," says Maria Hernes, who recently returned from fieldwork in Karasjok, Oslo, and New York.

Instead of shifting the responsibility on to the refugees, we need to treat them as fellow citizens and include them in our everyday lives, according to researcher.

Erik O. Eriksen sheds light on the EU as an idea and concept in his newest book which is published in Norwegian with the title 'What is the EU good for?'.

The European Commission has exerted a surprising level of influence over decisions in EU foreign and security policy, Marianne Riddervold finds in a new study.

International media are celebrating the corporate-led relocation of Kiruna. Anthropologist Elisa Maria Lopez thinks it is important to talk about “forced displacement” and “chronic uncertainty” in the northernmost Swedish town instead.

Does health constitute another major crisis of globalisation? How does food relate to health, well-being, and social change? Wim Van Daele has talked with healers and doctors in Sri Lanka about the “unhealthy” mix of new and processed foods, stress, the corporate monopolization of food chains, and burning stomachs.

Over the course of just a few years, salmon farming has become one of Norway's most important industries. Yet we know little about the salmon. New research raises the fish to its rightful place as one of Norway’s most important livestock.

As the number of new ebola cases decreases in Sierra Leone, the west African country can now start looking to the future.

The ebola crisis, which started in March 2014, saw more than 13,000 people infected and left almost 4000 dead in the country. Trade became difficult, household costs rose sharply and many jobs were lost.

Pollution, violence, forced displacement: What to do against harmful side effects of mining? A big disaster on a small island helped anthropologist Catherine Coumans to find an answer.

“In Europe, we too quickly link the idea of converting to Islam with radicalization. Such discourses are much less common here. There is much less fear of Islam than in many European countries,” says Tiffany Linn Utvær Gasser, currently on fieldwork in Buenos Aires.

More temporary contracts, more flexible positions, and many people without paid jobs at all. The way we think about labour can be about to change, according to anthropologists.

The Oslo-based Research Group for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition has been named as a world-class research group. At the same time the group’s founders, Anders Fjell and Kristine Walhovd, have just received the Research Prize for 2015 awarded by the University of Oslo.

Wim van Daele is in Sri Lanka, and has been using Ayurvedic learning to understand how a complex interplay of hot foods, stress, fertilizers, inactivity, changed temporalities, and acceleration of life is leading to gastritis and other digestive problems - in short, an Overheating of the human body.

There is a waste of resources in forming academics, having them compete for positions, publications and research funding, that is arguably not efficient, according to Tatiana Fumasoli.

What options are available for the Brits should they decide to leave the European Union? Some important lessons can be drawn from Norway, Switzerland and Iceland, current non-members which enjoy the benefits of the EU’s internal market.

The Norwegian European policy is characterized by form rather than by content, a new study indicates. An ‘active’ European policy is primarily about a more efficient use of instruments and internal administrative coordination. It is only exceptionally about promoting Norwegian interests in specific policies.

People born with a particular gene variant have a greater risk of developing depressions, a recent study from the Department of Psychology shows.

​Coal for power, iron ore for steel girders, minerals for our smart phones: the mining business is booming. More and more anthropologists are uncovering effects of this development that would otherwise risk falling under the radar.

Pessimism prevails about the future of carbon capture and storage in both the USA and EU. This is despite the fine promises that it was precisely this technology that would save the oil and gas industry.

Why has Iceland, a country that is famous for its abundant renewable energy, started to engage in oil exploitation? Other countries are moving away from fossil fuels. Why is this volcanic island choosing the opposite path and will it be worth it, master student Pernille Ihme wonders, currently on fieldwork in northeastern Iceland.

Did you think Big Data was just a buzzword? American researchers have developed algorithms for predicting crime before it happens.

News about sinking boats carrying African migrants as they attempt to reach Europe is shaking the public. Similar dramas are unfolding regularly in Melilla, where Gard Ringen Høibjerg is currently on fieldwork.

Economic crises can lead to a rise in xenophobia. But the opposite can also be true. At the next Overheating seminar, anthropologist Theodoros Rakopoulos will talk about the thriving solidarity economy in Greece.

Instead of reviewing laws and policies in their offices, bureaucrats tour the country, hold public meetings and communicate with citizens via social media. An initiative in Tanzania can serve as example for other countries wishing to revive local democracy and expand their political and legal repertoire, believes anthropologist Knut Christian Myhre, who is currently writing a book on the topic.

A newborn infant can see its parents' expressions at a distance of 30 cm. For the first time researchers have managed to reconstruct infants visual perception of the world.