A new thesis shows how robots can manage conflicts and knowledge gaps in dialogues with people. By understanding the reasons behind dialogues that don't unfold as expected, researchers at Umeå University have developed strategies and mechanisms that could be important when living side by side.
To reduce carbon dioxide emissions from lime kilns, there is a growing interest in introducing bio-based fuels as an alternative to fossil fuels. Naresh Kumar Wagri, Department of Applied Physics and Electronics, Umeå University, shows in his thesis that this presents challenges due to the different chemical and physical properties of biofuels.
A variety of potentially disease-causing bacteria exist in the Baltic Sea and in Swedish lakes. Karolina Eriksson, a doctoral student at the Industrial Doctoral School at Umeå University, reveals in her thesis future health risks for humans in the light of climate change.
Just like people can get sunburned, plants can also suffer from too much sunlight. To stay healthy, they use an internal “sun protection mechanism”. Pierrick Bru, a PhD student working with Alizée Malnoë at Umeå Plant Science Centre and Umeå University, has been studying a special component of this mechanism, called qH, and has found that it is quite adaptable.
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.
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
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.
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, 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.
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.
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.
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.