When someone begins to study the evolution of the universe and the laws of physics, one easily comes to wonder how strange it is that humans and life exist, and we are able to observe the universe. If the laws and constants of nature were just a little bit different, the occurrence of life is unthinkable. However, we can state that we are here, and this raises a number of other issues, such as: Has the universe always been able to sustain life? Will the universe continue to sustain the existence of life in the future ? Are we just one of many universes that exist in parallel?

Science Journalist Jens Degett from Science Stories talks to Professor Niels Obers, Director of the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics (NORDITA) and professor at the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen, to try and get to the bottom of the matter. This podcast is a continuation of their conversation in a former story "Big Bang challenged by Conformal Cyclic Cosmology".

The anthropic principle

Siden Viking 1 og Viking 2 landerne ankom til Mars i 1970erne har forskerne haft store forhåbninger om at finde liv på Mars. Selv om man har vand på overfladen nær planetens poler er det stadig ikke et bevis for liv. Heller ikke de berømte rovere og den lille Mars helikopter, Ingenuity har fundet noget, der kunne minde om liv.

Nogle forskere mener dog stadig, at der kan være liv på Mars, men man skal lede et helt andet sted. En af dem er Professor Kai Finster fra Institut for Biologi på Århus Universitet.

I podcasten taler Kai Finster med Jens Degett fra Science Stories om betydningen af at finde liv uden for jorden, og hvordan man skal lede efter spor af liv på Mars.

Foto kredit: Jens Degett, © Science Stories ApS.

Podcasten er en del af vores projekt "Historier om Dansk Rumforskning" støttet af Otto Mønsteds Fond og Thomas B. Thriges Fond.

Jagten efter liv på Mars

Med alle de mange kostråd som cirkulerer kan det være svært at overskue hvad der er sundt at spise. Et af de store problemer er overvægt, og det handler ikke kun om kosten men også om,  hvordan og hvornår man spiser, og hvor meget motion og søvn man får.

Ernæringsforsker Sisse Fagt fra  fra det nationale fødevare forskningsinstitut på DTU fortæller om de danske kostråd,  og hvordan forskerne forholder sig til de nye strømninger omkring fødevareforskning. 

Et af de helt store problemer er vægtkontrol, som vi tidligere vendt med professor Thorkild I.A. Sørensen og professor Jens Juul Holst. 

Science Stories egen journalist har selv kastet sig ind i kampen og prøvet en af de populære livsstilsændringer, som ikke bygger på medicin. Vi lægger referencer på hjemmesiden.

Spiser vi sundt nok?

Underdirektør i Dansk Industri, Mikkel Haarder,  skrev i sidste uge (11 marts, 2024)  en artikel til Berlingske Tidende om hjemtag af EU midler som danske forskere har vundet i åben konkurrence.  Det betyder at EU midlerne fratrækkes det samlede danske forskningsbudget. Det er vist på  tide man begynder at opfatte forskning som en investering - ikke bare en udgift.

I år 2000 vedtog EU's Ministerråd en vision for fremtiden baseret på viden og uddannelse. Visionen blev støttet af økonomer i hele verden og Danmark var blandt de lande som levede op til målene. Men hvad blev der af den optimistiske vision, hvorfor er forskning ikke en del af den offentlige debat eller del af den nyligt overståede valgkamp? 

Videnskabsjournalist Jens Degett fra Science Stories taler med Professor David Budtz Petersen fra Humanomics Forsknings Centret på Ålborg Universitet. Om hvad vi kan lære af vidensøkonomien og hvordan vi kommer videre.

Podcasten er produceret med støtte fra DM.

Foto kredit: Jens Degett, @Science Stories ApS

[Best of] Hvad er viden værd? Den videnbaserede økonomi

[Best of] Hvad er viden værd? Den vidensbaseret økonomi

Space rocks from all over the world, including pristine material which has been collected directly from asteroids in our solar system is being analysed in Copenhagen by Professor Martin Bizzarro. He is Director of Center for Star and Planet Formation at University of Copenhagen and explains what we can learn from the material collected in space compared to meteorites on Earth. Will we have a space mining industry in the future? How old is our solar system really? Do we find traces of life on pristine asteroids in space?

Martin Bizzarro is interviewed by science journalists Jens Degett from Science Stories.

Photo: Jens Degett
The podcast on rocks in space is supported by Otto Mønsted Foundation og Thomas B. Thriges Foundation.

Space rocks in Copenhagen

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.

Superstrings and string theory

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

[Best of] From the Dark ages to life

The first quantum computer has arrived. The version of a quantum chip that recently came out of the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen is now for sale, but it has already been sold out. 

The price is cheap according to professor Peter Lodahl from Sparrow Quantum  who has recently moved out of the old Niels Bohr Institute to the other side of the street. Not a big move but a quantum leap. 

Science journalist Jens Degett is talking to Peter Lodahl in this podcast trying to understand what a quantum computer can do, how it works and what purpose it will serve.

Quantum computing has arrived

Obesity, mobility, exercise and cancer are in the spotlight for researchers as there is an increasing amount of evidence pointing at the metabolic mechanisms which bind them together.  

Associate Professor Lykke Sylow from  the Department of Biomedical Sciences, Molecular Metabolism in Cancer and Ageing at the Health Faculty at University of Copenhagen Is being interviewed by science journalist Jens Degett from Science Stories about why it is important to be in a good shape, and all the benefits of exercise.

Obesity, mobility, exercise and cancer are related

3iATLAS is the third interstellar object or "Interloper" that has been observed in our solar system. The first  object of this kind was Oumuamua  which was discovered on its way out of our solarsystem in 2017.  This time we are more lucky  as the interstellar object 3iATLAS has been observed early in its path through our solar system in the beginning of july.

3iATLAS is a rare guest  and will disappear out of our solar system in a few month. Until then, we may study the object via telescopes and other sensors and discover new scientific secrets about  the development of our galaxy, the universe and maybe even organic material which is needed for development of life  as we know it. There are even researchers who think the new interstellar object is formed by intelligent life, but there are currently no proven signs of that. Professor in astrophysics Uffe Gråe Jørgensen from the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen is interviewed by Science Journalist Jens Degett.

3iATLAS

En montage om at vokse op i 80erne, under den kolde krig, hvor alting kunne ende på et øjeblik, når stormagternes atombomber ramte. 
Optaget i 2001, kort efter 911, i Danmarks Radios tidligere nødstudie på rosenørnsallé - tre etager under jorden til lyden af George W. Bush, der taler om dem og os...,
Tilrettelæggelse: Henrik Bidstrup og Anders Kjærulff Christensen 
Konsulent: Stephen Schwartz

MONTAGE: Den Røde Knap(2001)

Science Stories fortæller historier om videnskab baseret på nysgerrighed og fascination af viden og indsigt, men vi kan også være kritiske og stille spørgsmål ved veletablerede dogmer. Vi stræber efter at forstå grundlaget for viden og sætte den i perspektiv. Redaktionen er uafhængig og ikke underlagt udefrakommende politiske eller kommercielle interesser.

Superstrings and string theory

Science Stories

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