As the festive season approaches, evergreen conifers adorn homes worldwide. But while Christmas trees bring warmth and joy into our lives, they endure some of the harshest conditions on Earth in their natural habitats. Most people take it for granted that they maintain their needles lush and green in freezing winters but now scientists can unwrap the science behind conifers’ winter survival.
Bildmuseet unveils a new site-specific iteration of Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg’s sound and light installation Machine Auguries, this time set in Umeå in northern Sweden. Premiere on 12 January! Presented alongside the previous iterations from London and Toledo, these three artificial dawn choruses from different parts of the world invite us to reflect on our relationship with nature.
With AI-generated birdsong under an artificial dawn sky, Machine Auguries warns of our infatuation with technology at the expense of nature. In Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg’s immersive sound and light installation, which opens at Bildmuseet on 18 October, the dawn chorus is slowly taken over by synthetic birdsong.
Human intervention has destroyed critical habitats for salmon and trout in Swedish streams. Researchers at Umeå University have discovered crucial clues to help restore the streams to their natural state. "To understand the processes that shape them, we need to think more about how glaciers function, rather than streams,” says Lina Polvi Sjöberg.
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.
Plants give us oxygen through photosynthesis - this is commonly taught in school. An international research team have now shown that particularly in early spring when low temperatures coincide with high light, conifer needles consume – not produce – oxygen by using an ancient mechanism. The results were published in Nature Communications.