science.au.dk: News http://science.au.dk/ News from the Faculty of Science en http://science.au.dk/en/http://enhed.au.dk/graphics/5000_screen_en_GB.pngFaculty of Science, University of Aarhus TYPO3 - get.content.right http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss AU Wed, 09 May 2012 09:06:00 +0200 Great international recognition of Torben Heick Jensen http://feeds.science.au.dk/~r/au-science-news/~3/cZjGyrRkEfA/ Professor Torben Heick Jensen, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, has... ]]> Nyheder lh@mb.au.dk Wed, 09 May 2012 09:06:00 +0200 http://mbg.au.dk/en/news-events/news-item/artikel/stor-international-anerkendelse-af-torben-heick-jensen/ Royal visit to Aarhus University – two Joachims and 20,000 ants http://feeds.science.au.dk/~r/au-science-news/~3/AHFyHKHLP1E/ Prins Joachim visited Aarhus University’s Silkeborg department on Friday 27 April. Senior Scientist... ]]> Nyheder export cts@science.au.dk Tue, 01 May 2012 09:08:00 +0200 http://www.au.dk/om/nyheder/nyhed/artikel/royalt-besoeg-paa-au-to-x-joachim-og-20000-myrer/ Minister for Science, Innovation and Higher Education waved goodbye to mother-in-law’s house http://feeds.science.au.dk/~r/au-science-news/~3/NMSwvo24nlo/ Minister for Science, Innovation and Higher Education Morten Østergaard was faced by facts when he... Mobile phone makes the world greener Next to the MADALGO stand, Postdoctoral Scholar Mikkel Baun Kjærgaard presented the EcoSense project, where research is being carried out into how to reduce the amount of CO2 affecting society as a result of different activities. This is done by means of crowd sensing, a method in which an app downloaded to a smartphone sends signals to central computers that register data about how the individual user moves around. The researchers use this information to gain thorough insight into the traffic behaviour of citizens, thereby forming a basis for analysing how new traffic initiatives could reduce CO2 emission. The Aarhus University project is being carried out in collaboration with private companies and the Municipality of Aarhus, and it looks at suburbs such as Skejby to get answers to different questions. How far is it to the bus stop? Are there direct cycle tracks? Could a new bus route make a difference? The aim is to get better at highlighting problems so decision-makers can get ideas for green initiatives, and to subsequently document the impact of such measures. “People contribute with data about their traffic behaviour for periods of a fortnight, for example. This can provide a much more detailed picture of problems and opportunities than would be possible by collecting responses to questionnaires. We’re at the same time working with environmental researchers who provide us with relevant environmental models. This enables us to calculate the environmental impact along with the municipal traffic planners,” explains Mikkel Baun Kjærgaard. Read more about the projects and the minister’s visit in the original news item (in Danish only) here.
]]> Nyheder export rrorbek@science.au.dk Fri, 27 Apr 2012 07:25:00 +0200 http://science.au.dk/nyheder-og-arrangementer/nyhed/artikel/videnskabsministeren-vinkede-farvel-til-svigermoders-hus/ Warming water temperatures provide cod as they were in the 1980s http://feeds.science.au.dk/~r/au-science-news/~3/lyaLdVGpmNI/ The cod is one of the most important commercial fish species, but overfishing is making them... Opposite trends
“In the 1980s, an average North Sea cod reached sexual maturity at 4 years and measured 70 cm. By the turn of the millennium, however, an adult cod in the same location was only 2.5 years and 50 cm long. The fish can nevertheless reach the same size today as they did thirty years ago,” says Associate Professor Grønkjær. The impact of climate change and the warming sea water on cod growth is the crucial question behind the results that Associate Professor Grønkjær has just published along with Anna Neuheimer from DTU Aqua (National Institute of Aquatic Resources) in the international journal Global Change Biology.
“Our results show two opposite trends. To start with, the cod reach sexual maturity at an earlier age. This would normally mean that we get smaller fish, because fish of a smaller size start using the energy that should really be used for growth to produce offspring. However, we’re also seeing increased growth in the mature fish, and this is due to the rising temperatures. For this reason, we haven’t seen the changes in the North Sea that would be expected as a result of the drastically earlier age of maturity,” says Postdoctoral Scholar Anna Neuheimer. However, continued warming is not a solution to the problems of the North Sea cod.
“Still higher temperatures can make the cod smaller – at least if the fish remain in the North Sea – because warming could set so many life processes going that the cod wouldn’t be able to maintain them,” explains Associate Professor Grønkjær.

Basis for preservation
The two researchers drew on data collected for administrative work at the ICES Data Centre, an international database with marine data from all over the world. They developed a method that can help provide an understanding of the impact of global warming on marine life, and their discoveries about the growth dynamics of fish provide important input to the work that is necessary to develop preservation strategies.
Contact
Associate Professor Peter Grønkjær, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, +45 8715 6114/2338 2177, peter.groenkjaer@biology.au.dk
Postdoctoral Scholar Anna B. Neuheimer, Centre for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, DTU Aqua/University of Copenhagen, +45 2343 6037, anna.neuheimer@bio.ku.dk Link to article: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2012.02673.x/abstract Read more (in Danish only): Global warming benefits the cod population in Jyllands-Posten, 22.04.12
]]> Nyheder export toftdal@biology.au.dk Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:00:00 +0200 http://science.au.dk/nyheder-og-arrangementer/nyhed/artikel/varmt-vand-giver-os-torsk-som-i-80erne/ Researcher who studies the death throes of stars http://feeds.science.au.dk/~r/au-science-news/~3/KQkXbhIg9V4/ Maximilian Stritzinger has been appointed associate professor at the Department of Physics and... ]]> Nyheder export rrorbek@science.au.dk Tue, 24 Apr 2012 14:48:00 +0200 http://science.au.dk/nyheder-og-arrangementer/nyhed/artikel/forskeren-der-studerer-stjernernes-doedskamp/ Palms reveal the significance of climate change for tropical biodiversity http://feeds.science.au.dk/~r/au-science-news/~3/GdcMSbb6QN8/ Palms can do much more than sway on beaches of pure white sand. According to new research from... Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA (PNAS). South America has had a relatively stable humid and warm climate for the last 50 million years, and rainforests have been widespread throughout this entire period. This is where species diversity is highest. There have been good living conditions and plenty of space for many new species to arise. As species formation has been concentrated in particular groups, the species-rich South American palm communities are now dominated by closely related species. Africa, on the other hand, has been hit by severe drying during the last 10 to 30 million years. The area of rainforest has thus diminished dramatically, until it reached a minimum during the cold, dry ice ages that have repeatedly affected the world over and over again during the last 3 million years. As a result of past climatic changes, many species have simply disappeared entirely from the continent. There are therefore far fewer palm species in Africa than in South America. The poor palm flora of Africa thus has a relict character, and consists of species that are often not closely related to each other.

Contact

Professor Jens-Christian Svenning, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, +45 8715 6571, mobile +45 2899 2304, svenning@biology.au.dk Assistant Professor W. Daniel Kissling, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, kissling@biology.au.dk, +45 8715 4345 (cannot be contacted until 26 April 2012)  

Working partners

Ecoinformatics & Biodiversity Group, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University

  • The research was led and predominantly conducted at the Ecoinformatics & Biodiversity (ECOINF) Group at Aarhus University. The research group focuses on using the rapid increases in data sources and computing and statistical modelling capabilities to advance biodiversity science, ecology, and environmental science. In addition, a long tradition of palm research exists in this group, with world-leading expertise on all aspects of the biology of palms.
  • Authors from ECOINF: W. Daniel Kissling, Wolf L. Eiserhardt, Finn Borchsenius, Henrik Balslev, and Jens-Christian Svenning

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK

  • The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, is a world-famous botanical institution, internationally respected for its outstanding living collection of plants and world-class herbarium, as well as its scientific expertise in plant diversity, conservation and sustainable development in the UK and around the world. Kew Gardens is a major international visitor attraction that, with its country estate Wakehurst Place, attracts nearly two million visitors every year. Kew was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2003 and celebrated its 250th anniversary in 2009.
  • Author: William J. Baker, Head of Palm Research

Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), Montpellier, France

  • The IRD is a unique European research institution with a focus on conducting research in the southern hemisphere. Its researchers work on issues of major global importance such as global warming, biodiversity, and poverty. Palm research focuses on systematics and biogeography, and the evolution of tropical rainforests.
  • Author: Thomas L. P. Couvreur
 

Methods

Our research uses an informatics approach to ecology and evolution by handling and analysing large datasets, including databases on the distribution of thousands of species across the world, global data layers on paleo-reconstructions of climate and tropical rainforests, and molecular information on the phylogenetic tree of palms. By doing this, we build on major recent advances in ecology, informatics, systematic botany, and paleo-geography.

Funding

]]> Nyheder export pbc@dmu.dk Tue, 24 Apr 2012 07:58:00 +0200 http://science.au.dk/nyheder-og-arrangementer/nyhed/artikel/palmer-afsloerer-tropernes-mangfoldighed-er-formet-af-klimaforandringer/ Minister for Science, Innovation and Higher education samples seaweed http://feeds.science.au.dk/~r/au-science-news/~3/KvHnP3NSXuY/ Morten Østergaard and others including 350 school pupils had a good look at what seaweed has to... ]]> Nyheder export cts@science.au.dk Tue, 24 Apr 2012 09:03:00 +0200 http://www.au.dk/om/nyheder/nyhed/artikel/uddannelsesminister-med-tang-i-munden/ Special recognition to Trine Bilde, Lars Bojer Madsen and Jesper Buus Nielsen at the WCC Award 2012 http://feeds.science.au.dk/~r/au-science-news/~3/Zd4bx7_VMEQ/ Some of Europe’s most outstanding researchers have gathered at Aarhus University this week for the... ]]> Nyheder export cts@science.au.dk Fri, 20 Apr 2012 12:00:00 +0200 http://www.au.dk/om/nyheder/nyhed/artikel/tre-au-forskere-modtager-saerlig-anerkendelse-ved-wcc-award-2012/ Meet research at eye level – come to the Festival of Research http://feeds.science.au.dk/~r/au-science-news/~3/qdfGWshhz24/ Bring along your friends and family, and show them what research can be like at institutions such... ]]> Nyheder export cts@science.au.dk Thu, 19 Apr 2012 18:09:00 +0200 http://medarbejdere.au.dk/en/view/artikel/moed-forskningen-i-oejenhoejde-kom-til-forskningens-doegn/ They can work it out – without knowing the numbers http://feeds.science.au.dk/~r/au-science-news/~3/5ey6WJOFGAM/ The need for being able to compute on encrypted numbers has increased at the same rate as it has...
There is an increasing need for being able to compute using data while it is encrypted. This makes it possible to work with others on confidential data without letting each other see any more than they actually need to. “Twenty-five years ago, it was hard to imagine that this could be used for anything in practice. However, secure multiparty computation – as the concept is called – has gradually found so many applications that I’d never have dreamt of,” says Professor of Computer Science Ivan Damgaard from the Centre for Research in the Foundations of Electronic Markets (CFEM), Aarhus University. “We’re currently seeing great interest in benchmarking, for example. Companies want to compare their data with others, because it can help them optimise the company. On the other hand, they’re not interested in showing their data to competitors. What we offer is that you compute using data without anyone else seeing it. In other words, the cupboard is locked with several different digital keys, each of which belongs to the person who has an agreement about seeing the result. The door can only be unlocked when all the approved digital keys are in place,” explains Professor Damgaard. Along with other researchers and practitioners, Professor Damgaard will be focusing on what secure computation can be used for at the Theory and Practice of Multiparty Computation workshop being held from 4 to 8 June in collaboration with the Sino-Danish Centre for the Theory of Interactive Computation (CTIC).   Read more here.
]]> Nyheder export marlene.thomsen@alexandra.dk Fri, 20 Apr 2012 12:24:00 +0200 http://science.au.dk/nyheder-og-arrangementer/nyhed/artikel/de-kan-regne-den-ud-uden-at-kende-tallene/