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  • Scientists at Umeå University has pressure cooked birch leaves picked on campus to produce carbon particles that can be used as raw material in organic semiconductors. Photo. Mattias Pettersson

    Birch leaves as raw material for the production of organic semiconductors

    Today, petrochemical compounds and rare metals are usually used to produce semiconductors for optoelectronics, such as organic LEDs for super-thin TV and mobile phone screens. By pressure-cooking birch leaves picked on the Umeå University campus, the scientists behind this study produced carbon particles that can be used as raw material for organic semiconductors.

  • Stefan Larsson, Lund University, and Teresa Cerratto Pargman, Stockholm University, are the scientific leaders of this year's WASP-HS conference "AI for Humanity and Society 2023." Photo: Hanna Nordin

    Media Invitation: AI Research Will Be Further Developed at International Conference

    Researchers have made significant progress in understanding how artificial intelligence (AI) impacts our daily lives and the society we live in today, but the assumptions made in research must be regularly questioned. This will be discussed by experts during the international conference "AI for Humanity and Society 2023." The event is open to the public and will take place in Malmö between Novembe

  • In the sea, phytoplankton are the first step when methylmercury is absorbed into the food web. The image was taken under a microscope and shows a spring bloom of phytoplankton in the Bothnian Sea. Photo: Marlene Johansson

    Uptake of methylmercury by phytoplankton is controlled by thiols

    Methylmercury is one of the chemicals that poses the greatest threat to global public health. People ingest methylmercury by eating fish, but how does the mercury end up in the fish? A new study shows that the concentrations of so-called thiols in the water control how available the methylmercury is to living organisms.

  •  Silvia Remeseiro, lead author of the study. Image: Mattias Pettersson.

    DNA organization influences the growth of deadly brain tumours in response to neuronal signals

    A pioneering study at Umeå University, Sweden, has unveiled that the 3D organization of DNA can influence the progression of the aggressive brain tumour known as glioblastoma. Having identified the factors that glioblastoma uses to respond to neurons by growing and spreading, this discovery paves the way for further research into new treatments for brain tumours.

  • Virginia Dignum is one of 38 experts in UN's new high-level advisory body on artificial intelligence. Photo: Johan Gunséus

    Umeå professor new member of the United Nations AI Body

    Virginia Dignum, Professor at the Department of Computing Science, Umeå University, has, as the only Swedish representative, been appointed as a member of the United Nation’s High-Level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence, AI. The tasks of the body are to provide advice and propose solutions for the governance and management of AI at the global international level.

  • Tropical cloud forests have a unique biodiversity. Researchers from Umeå are investigating how plant and animal life is affected by climate change. Foto: Amy Grist

    Major grant will put Umeå at the forefront of tropical climate research

    The biodiversity of rainforests is threatened by climate change. Researcher Daniel Metcalfe conducts large-scale experiments to predict the consequences – but was ready to shut down when the funds ran out. Now, he has been awarded a major government grant from Formas to continue and expand the work.

  • Tan Luong, doctoral student at the Department of Chemistry. Photo: Trung Nguyen

    Water films – the silent architects of chemical transformations

    Air moisture landing on surfaces of materials forms thin, invisible, water films. These films play crucial roles in Earth’s soils and atmosphere as well as in new technologies. A thesis at Umeå University sheds new light on how this silent architect mediates chemical reactions.

  • Photo: Johnér Bildbyrå AB

    New method measures pressure with high precision

    A newly developed instrument makes it possible to measure gas pressure by using laser light. The method, developed at Umeå University and the Industrial Doctoral School for Research and Innovation, provides very precise measurements and can, for example, quickly detect extremely small gas leaks.

  • Sara Wilson and Luz Maria González-Castrillón

    Steps towards stopping the "conversation" between cancer and nerves

    Cancer tumors "hijack" the genetic program used by developing nerves. This is shown in a study by researchers at Umeå University. In the long term, the results may open up new ways of treating cancer by limiting the tumour’s interaction with the nerves.

  • Loulou Cherinet, State Design, 2023. Utställningsvy från Bildmuseet. © Loulou Cherinet / Bildupphovsrätt 2023

    Loulou Cherinet / State Design

    On Friday, October 13th, Bildmuseet opens an exhibition by the artist Loulou Cherinet. For Bildmuseet, she has created a site-specific room installation inspired by early panorama painting and 19th-century cycloramas. Around forty, four-meter-high paintings come together to envelop the museum visitor in the illusion of an urban environment.

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