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The Conversation news

Stockholm University takes part in the digital magazine The Conversation where researchers write articles and comment on current news and events in the world. On this page we present articles published in The Conversation until December 2022 by researchers at Stockholm University. From 2023 we highlight their articles in the regular newslist on the SU web.

All articles in The Conversation by researchers at Stockholm University can be read on this page.

Read more about the collaboration between Stockholm University and The Conversation and how to pitch an article idea.

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Five options for restoring global biodiversity after the UN agreement

The best ways to revive and strengthen biodiversity.

 

Henrik Svedäng in The Conversation

 

 

Biodiversity: one way to help countries stick to their commitments to restore nature

 

New targets for conserving and sustainably using nature.

 

Niak Sian Koh and Claudia Ituarte-Lima in The Conversation

 

How genome research is helping the recovery of the Chatham Island black robin

 

Evolution on a small archipelago may have helped the severely inbred Chatham Island black robin.

 

Nicolas Dussex and Michael Knapp in The Conversation

 

The barrier that helped the Great Barrier Reef form

Establishing the age of K’gari, or Fraser Island, confirms it emerged before the Great Barrier Reef.

 

James Shulmeister and Daniel Ellerton in The Conversation

 

Climate tipping points could lock in unstoppable changes to the planet – how close are they?

Tipping points in the climate become more likely beyond 1.5°C of warming. 

 

David Armstrong McKay in The Conversation

 

 

Svante Pääbo’s ancient DNA discoveries offer clues as to what makes us human

 

Pääbo is widely regarded as having pioneered the field of ancient DNA.

 

Love Dalén and Anders Götherström in The Conversation

 

 

Should Spain implement the universal school lunch?

A school canteen with small tables, plates, bananas and glasses
 

How does the students’ academic career, health and work life benefit from having free school lunches early in life?

 

 

José Montalbán Castilla in The Conversation

 

How safe is it to drink rainwater?

 

Rainwater may be contaminated with chemicals and scientists are still uncertain about their effects

 

Researchers at Stockholm University in The Conversation

 

Human disruption to Earth’s freshwater cycle has exceeded the safe limit, our research shows

Uttorkat landskap

‘Green water’ is essential for healthy soils and a benign climate, but it’s under threat. 

Arne Tobian, Dieter Gerten and Lan Wang Erlandsson in The Conversation

 

Discrimination: Swedish study shows job applicants with foreign names receive far fewer responses

Discrimination patterns in Sweden
 

A significant employment gap exists between Swedish-born and immigrant job seekers.

 

Anni Erlandsson in The Conversation

 

Relying on carbon capture to solve the climate crisis risks pushing our problems into the next gener

 

CCS tech alone won’t be enough to avert climate disaster.

 

Avit Bhowmik and Neil Grant in The Conversation

 

 

Swedish gangsta rap exposes a dark side of the country some would rather ignore

The Cover of Swedish rapper Yasin’s second album
 

The recent wave of gangsta rap has been the result of worsening dynamics in society. 

 

Sjors Joosten in The Conversation

 

Chemical pollution exceeds safe planetary limit

Chemical pollution

The production and release of synthetic chemicals worldwide is destabilising the Earth system.

 

Patricia Villarrubia-Gómez in The Conversation

 

Lockdown schooling: research from across the world shows reasons to be hopeful

For some children, learning online, at their own pace, has been beneficial.  

 

Nina Bergdahl and Melissa Bond in The Conversation.

 

Archeologists long believed that ancient graves were robbed, but here’s why they’re wrong

New research on early medieval graves. 

 

Alison Klevnäs and Astrid Noterman in The Conversation.

 

Why are young people drinking less than their parents’ generation did?

 

Researchers have identified four main reasons young people in high-income countries are drinking less. 

 

Jukka Törrönen and other researchers in The Conversation.

 

Calling children ‘vectors’ during COVID-19 is turning into discrimination

Children have been widely referred to as “vectors” of COVID-19.

 

Rebecca Adami and Katy Dineen in The Conversation.

 

 

The climate crisis gives science a new role

A fundamental rethinking of research ethics in light of the climate and ecological crises is needed.

David Fopp, Alexandre Wadih Raffoul, Emma Elfversson, Helen Avery and Ryan Carolan in The Conversation.

 

Even if Bolsonaro leaves power, deforestation in Brazil will be hard to stop

Deforestation in Brazil.

There are also long-term issues behind the Amazon deforestation.
 

Larissa Basso and Cristina Yumie Aoki Inoue in The Conversation.

 

Why we dispute “Dunbar’s number”

Picture to the article "Why we dispute

New research calls into question the validity of “Dunbar's number”.

 

Johan Lind and Patrik Lindenfors in The Conversation. 

 

 

Podcast: The ocean economy is booming

Ocean economy

Who is trying to make money from our oceans and is it sustainable?

 

Jean-Baptiste Jouffray in The Conversation Weekly.

 

Incest isn’t a taboo in the animal kingdom – new study

Inbreeding. Article from the Conversation
Photo from the article in The Conversation. Credit to Kletr/Shutterstock

Little evidence that animals avoid inbreeding.

Regina Vega Trejo and Raïssa de Boer in the Conversation.

 

 

 

Viking DNA and the pitfalls of genetic ancestry tests

Viking DNA - a new article in The Conversation

It’s important to be aware of the interplay between genetics and ideas of race.

Anna Källén and Daniel Strand in The Conversation.

 

 

How children are taking European states to court over the climate crisis – and changing the law

Youth activists are breaking new ground in court.

Pernilla Leviner in The Conversation.

 

 

How the discovery of a single Norman coin expands our knowledge of French history

The Viking hoard being excavated. Photo: Acta Konserveringscentrum

A very exciting find at a Viking-age settlement north of Stockholm.

Jens Christian Moesgaard in The Conversation.

 

 

Inside the Ocean 100 – small group of wealthy sea-based companies worth as much as Mexico

Inside the Ocean 100, article from The Conversation. Photo: Marek Stepan/Alamy Stock Photo

As the industrialisation of the ocean continues apace, it risks transforming marine ecosystems.

John Virdin, Henrik Österblom and Jean-Baptiste Jouffray in The Conversation.

 

 

Napping in the afternoon can improve memory and alertness

Article about napping, published in The Conversation. Photo: Rawpixel.com/ Shutterstock

Short naps are great at improving alertness and attention.

 

John Axelsson and Tina Sundelin in The Conversation

 

“We sequenced the oldest ever DNA, from million-year-old mammoths”

Current view of the steppe mammoth. Beth Zaiken/Centre for Palaeogenetics

This finding could have wide implications of how species evolve.

David Díez-del-Molino and Love Dalén in The Conversation

 

 

Demand for meat is driving deforestation in Brazil

The Amazon rainforest meets soybean fields in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Photo: Paralaxis/Shutterstock

Changing the soy industry could stop deforestation in Brazil.

Angela Guerrero Gonzalez and Malika Virah-Sawmy in The Conversation

 

Can countries end overfishing and plastic pollution in just 10 years?

Article about overfishing in The Conversation. Photo: Artem Mishukov/Shutterstock

It’s in everyone’s interests to protect the ocean. So how can the world make progress – and what’s holding us back?

Henrik Österblom in The Conversation

 

 

Central Asia risks becoming a hyperarid desert in the near future

Jakub Czajkowski / shutterstock /The Conversation

Around 34 million years ago, sudden climate change caused ecological breakdown in Central Asia.

 

Natasha Barbolini in The Conversation

 

 

How the youth climate movement is influencing the green recovery from COVID-19

Photocredit: EPA-EFE/Hayoung Jeon/The Conversation

World leaders have rightly seized on the pandemic as a chance to build more sustainable economies.

Jens Marquardt in The Conversation

 

 

The value of a banana: understanding absurd and ephemeral artwork

Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian. EPA/EFE. Article in The Conversation

What makes something a high-priced artwork when another, seemingly identical, object is not?

 

Sara Callahan in The Conversation

 

Coronavirus: thresholds for effective herd immunity could be lower than predicted

Coronavirus: thresholds for effective herd immunity. Photo from The Conversation

Basic models for COVID-19 suggest herd immunity is achieved when 60 percent of people are immune. This assumes that everyone in the population mixes to the same degree and at random.

Pieter Trapman in The Conversation

A new role for transnational corporations in an increasingly crowded ocean?

What does stewardship mean on a global scale? After all, the ocean is the beating heart of a dozen global industries, the Earth’s climate system, and the biosphere.

Robert Blasiak in The Conversation

 

We lose about 30 minutes of sleep each night of the working week, new study shows 

screenshot from The Conversation

How much sleep is lost on days when we work? Johanna Garefelt at Stockholm University shares her latest research in a new article in The Conversation.

Johanna Garefelt in The Conversation

 

“We mapped the world’s frozen peatlands – what we found was very worrying”

screenshot The Conversation

Gustaf Hugelius, researcher at Stockholm University, and his colleagues have just produced the most accurate map yet of the world’s peatlands and discusses the results in a new article in The Conversation.

New article in The Conversation

 

“Is humanity doomed because we can’t plan for the long term?”

screenshot The Conversation

While the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic are still unclear, it is certain that they are a profound shock to the systems underpinning contemporary life.

Experts discuss the issue in an article in The Conversation

 

“Iran: decades of unsustainable water use has dried up lakes and caused environmental destruction”

screenshot from The Conversation

Salt storms are an emerging threat for millions of people in north-western Iran, thanks to the catastrophe of Lake Urmia.

New article in The Conversation

 

Flight shaming: how to spread the campaign that made Swedes give up flying for good

screenshot from The Conversation

Europe’s major airlines are likely to see their turnover drop by 50% in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, while European airports expect to welcome 700 million fewer passengers. It’s a brutal shock to a global industry, writes Avit K Bhowmik in a new article in The Conversation.

Avit K Bhowmik in The Conversation

Non-Indigenous Australians need to educate themselves

screenshot from The Conversation

The recent Black Lives Matter protests in Australia have highlighted the pressing and continued need for non-Indigenous Australians to take responsibility for reconciliation, writes Marnie Graham and colleagues.

New article in The Conversation

Why a 17% emissions drop does not mean we are addressing climate change

screenshot from The Conversation

The global COVID-19 quarantine has meant less air pollution in cities and clearer skies. But these relatively small and temporary changes should not be mistaken for the COVID-19 pandemic actually helping to fix climate change.

Larissa Basso writes in The Conversation

“We simulated how a modern dust bowl would impact global food supplies, the result is devastating“

screenschot from The Conversation

What consequences would a disruption like the Dust Bowl have now, when the Great Plains of the US are a major producer of staple cereals for the world?

New article in The Conversation

 

AI can tackle the climate emergency – if developed responsibly

screenshot from The Conversation

As pressures on the planet and its climate increase, so does the hope that novel technologies will be able to help us detect, adapt and respond to the growing environmental crisis.

Victor Galaz writes in The Conversation

Who believes in conspiracy theories and why?

screenshot from The Conversation

Research shows that people who believe in one conspiracy theory are more likely to believe in others. Interview with anthropologist Annika Rabo from Stockholm University in the podcast “Expert guide to conspiracy theories”.

Annika Rabo in new podcast

Why coronavirus may forever change the way we care within families

screenshot from The Conversation

The global spread of COVID-19 has illuminated the “care crisis” that has been building for decades, writes researchers in a new article in The Conversation.

New article in The Conversation

 

The history of the word “crusade”

Screenshot from The Conversation

The word “crusade” has always had different meanings and has served as a political instrument, writes Benjamin Weber in a new article in the digital magazine The Conversation where he untangles the history of the word.

Benjamin Weber writes in The Conversation

The burden on ocean ecosystems discussed in The Conversation

Screenshot from the conversation

The so called “Blue Acceleration” will have significant consequences for life on the blue planet, writes SU researcher Robert Blasiak in a new article in the digital magazine The Conversation.

New article in The Conversation

Climate action commented by SU researcher in The Conversation

screenshot from the conversation

Can individual behaviour make a real difference to the environment? In a new article in The Conversation, researchers from Stockholm University and Keele University discuss the relationship between alternatives and resistance.

New article in The Conversation

 

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