See, feel, taste the newest research

Two sunny days in April, students and researchers from University of Copenhagen are assembled at the Town Hall Square to share their work with people passing by.

The event is part of the annual Festival of Research intended to enhance public interest and understanding of current research in an unconventional, interactive way.

People in all ages are invited to take part in experiments ranging from stress tests to sunscreen fabrication based on oranges. It is also possible to taste some nutritious caterpillars or a bit of freshly squeezed cabbage juice.

Computer use gives junk-food cravings

As well as tired eyes and repetitive strain injury from the mouse, computer users have now yet another reason to fear spending the day at their keyboard. According to new research, they might also pile on the pounds.

This is according to a report by iVillage.com.

Research from the University of Copenhagen’s Center for Prevention and Treatment of Obesity and Appetite and Energy Metabolism shows that staring at a computer screen makes us crave sweet treats like chocolate and cakes even if youre reading a good-for-you weight loss article.

Kenya and Copenhagen cooperate to save Mau forest

Researchers from the University of Copenhagen have recently joined forces with Kenyan scientists and an environmental organisation, to create a balance between the need of local people in Kenya and the Mau forest, which is under threat from felling and climate change.

This is according to the University of Copenhagen's Faculty of Life Science homepage.

»Kenya will die«

Milk can help you slim down

Milk has had a hard time in recent years. The preferred food of calves everywhere has been dubbed fattening (for humans), hard to digest and a trigger for allergies.

Now, University of Copenhagen research has shown that milk can actually help to prevent obesity. This is according to the Danish medical news site, Dagensmedicin.dk.

Researcher Janne Lonrenzen from the Faculty of Life Sciences has, in her PhD thesis, demonstrated a link between milk intake and the ability to eliminate fat from the body.

Hinders fat absorption

Beyond the code

Proteins do all the work. They digest food, fight bacteria and viruses, and in the brain they sense the outside world and process signals.

But for pharmaceutical researchers hoping to find new ways to fight illnesses, the body’s hard-working natural proteins have their limitations.

So scientists at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences are generating new artificial ones. In the long term, these new proteins may be the scientific basis of the fight against illnesses like Alzheimer’s disease.

Football lowers blood pressure risk

The study shows that inactive men who played soccer twice a week for three months saw a big drop in blood pressure, resting pulse rate and body fat percentage. This is according to a University of Copenhagen press release.

Led by Professors Peter Krustrup and Jens Bangsbo from Department of Exercise and Sports Sciences at the University of Copenhagen, 50 researchers from seven countries studied the physical, psychological and social aspects of soccer.

Versatile and intense

Killer whales come in two sizes

University of Copenhagen researchers have discovered, in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Aberdeen, that there are two distinct types of killer whales in the waters around the British coast, writes the Scottish newspaper The Scotsman.

The two types of whale have different feeding habits and are inhabit different territories in the waters around the British Isles.

Diet variations

Designing the bike-friendly city

How can city planners encourage people to travel by bike?

This is the question to be answered by a new research collaboration between 4 different universities, including the University of Copenhagen, as well as the Danish cancer charity Kræftens Bekæmpelse and two other Danish institutions.

Bike-ability

The project is calle Bike-ability and will be coordinated from the University of Copenhagen's Faculty of Life Sciences (Life) over the next three years.

Pandas can´t taste meat

An international study led by scientists in China and co-authored by University of Copenhagen researcher Jun Wang, has catalogued all 2.4 billion DNA base pairs of a 3-year-old female panda named Jingjing. This is according to the US science journal Nature.com.

This new information about the panda genome may aid conservation efforts for the endangered bear, and help scientists understand why pandas have, for example, such picky eating habits.

Can't taste high proitein foods

Bacterium resists body defences

A common bacterium called P. Aeruginosa can shield itself against the body's defence mechanisms, writes the US science website Sciencedaily.com

A research collaboration between Danish and US researchers, including a scientist from the University of Copenhagen, has discovered how the bacterium resists attack.

Detect and destroy

The bacterium, which causes many hospital-acquired infections as well as chronic lung infections in those with pre-existing conditions such as cystic fibrosis, uses a communication system called quorum sensing (QS) to detect approaching white cells.