Our knowledge about the brain is still astoundingly full of question marks. We have yet to learn how memory and many functions of the brain are constructed, both in humans and in animals. The brain and its abilities have been studied in crows, among other animals. Historically, this type of...
Is smartness linked to the size of the brain? Larger organisms usually have larger brains, but are they really more advanced? Is a wood pigeon smarter than a chaffinch? Through the ages, birds have been associated with both stupidity, as in “birdbrain”, and wisdom, as in “wise as an owl”....
How can insects with their tiny brains navigate over large distances? Do they have a built-in GPS in the form of a magnetic sense? Eric Warrant, Professor of Sensory Biology at Lund University, studies the ability of small insects to navigate with the help of the Earth’s magnetic field. Eric...
Food waste is a major challenge for society. In Sweden alone, we throw away 1.2 million tons of food every year, most of which is unnecessary. What can we do to reduce it? What is the role of packaging? Can digitalization contribute to reducing food waste? What trends do researchers...
Opinion by Matthias Lehner, postdoc at the International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics (IIIEE), Lund University. Airbnb is a hugely successful American company that has managed to make us invite strangers into our own private homes. I visited New Zealand last winter and stayed with an old lady in her...
Due to rapid urbanisation, the slum population in India is expected to increase to 104 million by 2017, around 10 percent of the projected population. The term ”slums” refers to settlements unfit for human habitation, which often develop in areas prone to hazards such as floods and landslides. At the...
The distance between Lund and Bangkok is roughly 8 593 kilometres. Quite far, in other words. This does not stop Thailand being one of the most popular international holiday destinations for Swedes, along with the USA and Mediterranean countries. Air travel to destinations both near and far has become increasingly...
“Sustainability is a long-term issue. A journey, rather than a goal. You can always take steps along the way – but the work is never done. It is about continuous improvement”, says Erik Lindroth, Environment Director at Tetra Pak and now also new doctoral student at the School of Economics...
Opinion by Marcus Klasson, consumer researcher at School of Economics and Management. Food fuels humanity, but in today’s Western society, food is so much more. Food and the culture associated with food, is about lifestyle and status, economy and livelihood, individuals’ origins and, of course, about health. What we eat...
