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Many claim that people too easily anthropomorphise animal behaviour. But what’s the story regarding laughter – is it something unique to humans? Cognitive scientist Peter Gärdenfors explains why we often overlook the laughter of a parrot and why slapstick is a type of humour appreciated by both humans and animals. ”Aristotle thought that it was only humans who laugh, but he was wrong,” says Peter
https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/can-animals-laugh - 2026-05-15
Lead, pesticides, brominated flame retardants, plastic additives, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and heavy metals. This is what researchers at Lund University in Sweden found when they collected dead hedgehogs to investigate the environmental pollutants found in urban environments. Previous research has investigated the presence of heavy metals in hedgehogs from other urban areas in Europe and
https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/surprising-number-environmental-pollutants-hedgehogs - 2026-05-15
This article is over 5 years old, and the information may therefore be outdated. What do muffins and space travel have in common? Answer: They affect our genes through altered DNA methylation patterns. Two researchers who studied this recently met at the public defence of a doctoral thesis at Lund University. Andrew Feinberg from Johns Hopkins University's School of Medicine in Baltimore, USA, has
https://www.ludc.lu.se/article/big-data-muffins-and-space-travel - 2026-05-15
This article was written by Paul W Franks, Professor in Genetic Epidemiology at Lund University, and Peter Nilsson, Professor of Epidemiology at Lund University for The Conversation (https://theconversation.com/uk). It was published on March 27th 2020. A growing number of Swedish doctors and scientists are raising alarm over the Swedish government’s approach to COVID-19. Unlike its Nordic neighbou
https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/sweden-under-fire-relaxed-coronavirus-approach-heres-science-behind-it - 2026-05-15
A team of international researchers led by senior lecturer Åsa Mackenzie at Lund University has received a $9 million USD grant from the Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP) initiative, in partnership with The Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF), to advance understanding of Parkinson’s disease treatment, with a particular focus on depression, anxiety, and other psychiatr
https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/9m-usd-safer-treatment-psychiatric-and-cognitive-symptoms-parkinsons-disease - 2026-05-15
Patients suffering from myocardial infarction who receive early add-on lipid-lowering medication have a significantly better prognosis than those who receive add-on treatment late, or not all. Based on the results of a study from Lund University in Sweden, many new heart attacks, strokes and deaths could be prevented. Cardiovascular disease is by far the most common cause of death worldwide, and m
https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/simple-medication-can-save-lives-cardiac-patients - 2026-05-15
Seeing a lot of talk about the importance of gut health? These are the latest findings, including those on food and supplements Weighing in at nearly two kilos, our gut bacteria seem to play an even bigger role than was previously thought. These bacteria can influence our mood and act as a communication centre. Gut microbiota researchers Åsa Håkansson and Frida Fåk Hållenius at Lund University in
https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/key-takeaways-latest-research-gut-bacteria - 2026-05-15
What happens when we get out of the driver's seat and our vehicles become autonomous? Mathematician Viktor Larsson is developing methods to enable cars and drones to see their surroundings. This is his insight into the self-driving present and future. Cameras, satnav, laser, radar and sensors. To earn the prefix ‘self-driving’, or ‘autonomous’, vehicles need a range of technologies capable of both
https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/road-self-driving-future - 2026-05-15
Two years ago, a new type of stem cell was discovered in the brain that has the capacity to form new cells. The same research group at Lund University in Sweden has now revealed that these stem cells, which are located in the outer blood vessel wall, appear to be involved in the brain reaction following a stroke. The findings show that the cells, known as pericytes, drop out from the blood vessel,
https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/migrating-stem-cells-and-stroke - 2026-05-15
75 percent of all people with haemophilia around the world are left untreated, which causes a great deal of suffering and many severe disabilities. But it is possible to lead a healthy life. This is what the internationally known contract education Haemophilia – from diagnosis to therapy is about. Some 10 years ago, a discussion began outside of Sweden about the difficulty in recruiting physicians
https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/pioneering-course-decreases-suffering-people-haemophilia-around-world - 2026-05-15
This article is over 5 years old, and the information may therefore be outdated. Stephan Reber has been awarded an Ig Nobel Prize for Acoustics - for a 2015 study that involved an alligator inhaling helium. This was done to understand if crocodilians have resonances in their vocalizations, something that certain animals use to communicate body size. “I am extremely happy and grateful for this priz
https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/lu-researcher-receives-ig-nobel-prize-alligator-helium-study - 2026-05-15
This article is over 5 years old, and the information may therefore be outdated. We find ourselves in trying times. Much of what we know and take for granted is being turned on its head. Around the world, we see the spread of the coronavirus affecting country after country. As an international student, you are far away from your loved ones at a time when your studies, mobility, travel and socialis
https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/message-vice-chancellor-lund-university-students - 2026-05-15
Today, Times Higher Education (THE) published its latest ranking and Lund University has retained its position at 95. “It’s very gratifying that we have retained our position, despite tougher global competition. A university is never better than its staff and students. This is therefore an acknowledgement of the skilled work everyone performs to create a top-class university and confirms that we a
https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/lund-university-top-100-times-higher-education-ranking - 2026-05-15
The Fernström Foundation’s Grand Nordic Prize – one of the largest medical research prizes in Scandinavia – goes this year to the stem cell researcher, Jonas Frisén. His research concerns stem cells, primarily how they are transformed and renewed in mature organs. Jonas Frisén, professor at the Karolinska Institute, has been awarded the 2017 Grand Nordic Prize by the Eric K. Fernström Foundation.
https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/stem-cell-researcher-wins-prestigious-prize - 2026-05-15
Living forests with diverse plants and animals, forests where you can hike, hunt or pick berries and mushrooms – will they still be there when the pressure on forestry production increases? Is it possible to increase production in a sustainable way, without reducing the possibility of achieving environmental and sustainability goals? Great hopes are being placed in the forest to provide the raw ma
https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/forest-under-strain-many-directions - 2026-05-15
Six of the most innovative ideas and projects currently within Lund University were spotlighted at the Future Innovations Award, held on November 7th. The contributors shared a total of SEK 500,000 when Lund University's and Sparbanken Skåne's Future Innovations Award was given out. The winning ideas included an energy storage system that makes use of upcycled electric vehicles batteries and a new
https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/most-innovative-lund-university-receive-awards - 2026-05-15
Gaining access to Brief Admission by self-referral reduced the need for emergency care in adolescents with severe self-harm. The method has previously been introduced for adults, and a study led by researchers from Lund University has now explored whether the method could also be used for children and young people. The results are published in The Lancet Psychiatry. Most children and young people
This article is over 5 years old, and the information may therefore be outdated. Endurance running is often seen as a welcome escape from everyday life. But extraordinary experiences, such as running ultra-marathons, are not untouched by the competitive nature of contemporary consumer culture, a new thesis from Lund University in Sweden argues. The at times romanticized notion of experiencing comp
https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/what-attracts-people-endurance-running - 2026-05-15
Patients born with heart defects experience their first acute heart attack at a significantly earlier age than others. This is shown by a new national study from Lund University in Sweden. However, despite this earlier onset of illness, there is no difference in survival rates or the risk of further heart attacks between those with congenital heart defects and others. The study includes 214 patien
