Science Stories

Experts from all over the world met four days during the Summer 2024 invited by the Niels Bohr Institute to discuss the available knowledge on the theme:

Are we a Unique Species on a Unique Planet?

- or are we just the ordinary Galactic standard?

A selection of recognised scientist gave their best bid on:

- Life on Exoplanets?

- Disks and pre-biology

- Terrestrial contra alien biology

- Future of life and humanity

In this podcast science journalist Jens Degett from Science Stories is interviewing Professor Uffe Gråe Jørgensen from Centre for Exolife Sciences at the Niels Bohr Institute at University of Copenhagen.

The Conference was organised by Centre For Exolife Sciences at the Niels Bohr Institute, and the main organiser was Professor Uffe Gråe Jørgensen with support from Carlsberg Foundation, CHAMELEON, Niels Bohr Institute Foundation, Novo Nordisk Foundation and University of Copenhagen

All organisms from fruit flies to humans share the same mechanism for controlling the day and night rhythms also called the circadian rhythms. This mechanism is considered fundamental to all advanced life forms, and it has a surprising feature. It binds us genetically to live on earth.

Michael Rosbash received the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2017 for the discovery of the circadian rhythms together with Jeffrey Hall and Michael Young. He is a professor and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at Brandeis University.

In 2019 he was invited by The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters to give the nineteenth Royal Academy Nobel Laureate Lecture in Copenhagen and was interviewed by science journalist Jens Degett.

Photo credit: Chris Heller for Science Stories.

You may have heard about about space telescopes and gravitational wave detectors which are new instruments for the investigation of space and the universe. Now a new instrument is being tested underneath the South Pole. It literally consists of a cubic kilometer large ice cube with detectors that can catch small light emissions from a long distance.

This instrument is giving us a new look at the universe very different from the electromagnetic light we can see in a traditional telescope.

Science Journalist Jens Degett is interviewing senior researcher Troels Petersen from the Niels Bohr Institute at University of Copenhagen about the new type of telescope and what it can measure.

This podcast is supported by a Maria Leptin / EMBO Science Journalism Fellowship.

Several research groups all over the world are working intensively around the clock driving rowers around and making experiments on Mars. A lot is happening, and we are learning a lot every day.

Senior researcher Morten Bo Madsen from the Niels Bohr Institute at University of Copenhagen explains to science Journalist Jens Degett some of the latest results presented rently.

Huge amount of water is detected beneath the surface of Mars. Astrophysicist states that travel to Mars can be done in two weeks with unlimited fuel and power.

Stone with organic like materials collected to be sent to Earth.

MOXIE a success!

If you wonder why the podcast is in English, and not Danish it is because we have an increasing number of listeners whenever we publish a podcast in English. Therefore, we make the experiment the next few months to produce all our podcasts in English.

This podcast is supported by a Maria Leptin / EMBO Science Journalism Fellowship.

Life has existed and evolved on earth for almost 4 billion years. Living organisms copy themselves from other life and central for all known life forms is the genetic code.

We are used to hear life described by biologists. but physicists have access to tools which can give a different and to some extend deeper understanding of life. Science Journalist Jens Degett is visiting the Niels Bohr Institute at University of Copenhagen, Denmark, talking with Professor in physics Kim Sneppen.

If you wonder why the podcast is in English, and not Danish it is because we have an increasing number of listeners whenever we publish a podcast in English. Therefore, we make the experiment the next few months to produce all our podcasts in English.

This podcast is supported by a Maria Leptin / EMBO Science Journalism Fellowship.

About fifty million individuals worldwide are affected by chronic hepatitis C virus. It has been one of the most expensive virus infections to treat, and it is an ongoing threat to global health. Now the virus has revealed a secret to a group of researchers in Denmark lead by Jannick Prentoe, from University of Copenhagen, after five years of intensive work.

Link to article in Nature:

Link to article in Nature:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07783-5

If you wonder why the podcast is in English, and not Danish it is because we have an increasing number of listeners whenever we publish a podcast in English. Therefore, we make the experiment the next few months to produce all our podcasts in English.

This podcast is supported by a Maria Leptin / EMBO Science Journalism Fellowship.

Today’s story is a good example of how little we know about biology and life, and how we can use our knowledge to better fight diseases and environmental threats.

We are going to talk about bacteriophages or just fages. These are small viruses which attack bacteria. The story is literally about life and death and most organisms on earth are being killed every week.

Senior researcher Namiko Mitarai from the biocomplexity group at the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen Namiko Mitarai is being interviewe by Science Journalist Jens Degett. The podcast is supported by a Maria Leptin / EMBO Science Journalism Fellowship.

With new astronomical instruments and new knowledge of fundamental physics our understanding of the universe is developing fast. The new understanding of the universe from its Dark Ages, after the Big Bang, to the current acceleration with planets, stars, galaxies and life raises a lot of questions.

In this podcast, Science Journalist Jens Degett interviews Associate Professor Darach Watson from the Cosmic Dawn Center at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen.

The podcast is part of our project "Danish Space Research" supported by Otto Mønsteds Foundation and Thomas B. Thriges Foundation.

Photo credit: Jens Degett, © Science Stories ApS

Gennem nogen tid har man kunnet høre politikere og meningsdannere tale om at skære ned på uddannelserne, gøre dem kortere og udhule indholdet, så man ikke behøver at kunne så meget. Antallet af studerende skal skæres ned, og det skal være sværere for mange at komme ind på den uddannelse de ønsker sig.

Forskerne klager samtidig over at forskningsmidler som udbydes i fri konkurrence er stagneret i gennem de sidste år og helt galt står det til med EU-Midlerne der modregnes i forskningsbudgettet, så når forskerne har success til at hjemtage midler fra EU, så bliver der færre penge til den øvrige forskning.

Hvad foregår der egentligt? Videnskabsjournalist Jens Degett fra Science Stories har talt med forskningsordfører fra Radikale Venstre, Stinus Lindgreen om udviklingen inden for uddannelse og forskning. Er der et rationale bag, eller er forsknings og uddannelsessystemet bare meget dårlige til at forklare hvorfor de er vigtige?

Superstrings was a very popular topic among physicists in the 1980ies. They had a renaissance in 1995 but then the researchers changed focus to other things. Now superstrings have gained new momentum in physics again. Professor Niels Obers from the Niels Bohr Institute explains what superstrings and string theory is. He also explains why superstrings are popular among researchers. Science journalists Jens Degett is interviewing.