Dive into the video series Stay Curious, which offers down-to-earth explanations of complex science, as well as portraits and talks with the Carlsberg Foundation's top researchers.
STAY CURIOUS: Galaxies have not always existed. The have emerged through the course of the history of the Universe. Galaxies consist of a type of dark matter condensate and gas. So, does Professor Johan Fynbo believe, that there is life on other planets? Anything else would be peculiar.
STAY CURIOUS: Professor Ali Salanti has been awarded a special Semper Ardens grant to develop a vaccine against Covid-19. Like most of the world’s vaccine researchers, Ali Salanti and his research team at the University of Copenhagen aim to develop a vaccine strategy that targets the so-called Spike protein of the coronavirus. The Spike protein enables virus take-up into the cells of the human body by binding to a receptor called ACE2. With a vaccine, the researchers try to prevent these binding events.
STAY CURIOUS: Robot philosophy is about social robots, which are autonomous and designed to interact with people and other robots. Professor Johanna Seibt examines what robots do to people, and what we can and cannot use them for.
STAY CURIOUS: The concept of “rewilding” covers the endeavours to lessen human impact on natural ecosystems and restoring natural processes. Professor Jens Christian Svenning’s research revolves around how to reinstate animal populations to restore their function in the food chain, hence increasing biodiversity.
STAY CURIOUS: Today, diplomacy does not only take place behind closed doors, but can be followed by everyone on social media. What earlier took a long time in conference rooms, will now happen in an instant on Twitter. Professor Rebecca Adler-Nissen conducts research into what happens when foreign policies unfold in the digital age.
STAY CURIOUS: The Anthropocene is the age of mankind and is characterized by the significant changes we see all over the world as a result of our use of, and effect on the geology and eco-system of Planet Earth. Anthropologist Kirsten Hastrup explores the changes in Greenland where they are very obvious.
Professor Jørgen Kjems has been awarded a special Semper Ardens grant to design antiviral compounds which can bind to coronavirus and thus prevent the virus from being taken up by and harm cells in the body. The research is based on years of basic research into the method used. The hope is that within a year, an antiviral compound has been developed, which can prevent the virus from being taken up by cells in the body.
STAY CURIOUS: The city ruin of Palmyra is an important archeological area, which has been home to settlements for millennia and played a pivotal role in the infrastructure of the Roman empire. Professor Rubina Raja studies Palmyrene funerary portraits and what they reveal about the past and present.
STAY CURIOUS: The composition of plankton in the oceans is changing as a consequence of global warming. Professor Thomas Kiørboe examines eco-systems and live organisms in the ocean, which generally move towards the poles to remain in the temperatures in which they are used to exist.
STAY CURIOUS: New genetic variants of plants are more tolerant to cold, heat, and drought which enables them to produce higher crop yields. Research director Birgitte Skadhauge conducts research into ancient plants, which can lead the way to better and more sustainable crops.
STAY CURIOUS: When a pandemic strikes, it is necessary to be able to predict the course of events. Professor Lone Simonsen, has received a special Semper Ardens grant to develop mathematical pandemic models to estimate how and why, outbreaks of new viruses sometimes turn into global pandemics.
STAY CURIOUS: Never before have we had as much information available as now. But how do we distinguish between truth on the one side, and misinformation and fake news on the other? Listen, as Professor Vincent Hendricks explains how precious your attention really is.