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Natural Sciences

Older people in Denmark were mostly worried about other people getting infected with COVID-19

During the pandemic and the ensuing restrictions, the general picture in Denmark has been that older people have been much more worried about other people getting sick than they have been worried about themselves. Many were also worried about not becoming a burden during a difficult time for their families or anybody else. That was one of the insights from a large interdisciplinary research project at the University of Copenhagen that was launched shortly after the announcement in March 2020 of…
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From coca to cacao agroforestry – a sustainable livelihood strategy in the Peruvian Amazon

‘’Plato or Plumo’’. There is no other way I could start this article than by mentioning the famous intimidating words of Pablo Escobar, the drug lord who reigned not just Colombia but entire Latin America in the 1970s. It literally translates as ‘Silver (bribes) or Lead (bullets)’ in Spanish. The phrase itself says how ruthless the drug cartels were in those times. More than two decades after his death, cocaine still lurks as a livelihood strategy for many households in the region.
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Climate change: Permafrost carbon remobilization

Earth’s climate is dynamic. Past environmental conditions can be studied to give insights about current and future changes. As the planet warms quickly, scientists rush to investigate climate archives spanning thousands of years in order to unlock this information. Within the science community, there is an overwhelming consensus about human causing the current climate crisis among the science community, but it is a big challenge to raise awareness among the public.
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Can a pest species earn you more than the principal crop?

In October 2020, Krishnanunni Mavinkal Ravindran defended his Master thesis at Dept. of Food and Resource Economics (IFRO), University of Copenhagen. In this article, he tells about the fieldwork experience in Ghana. Krishnanunni studied the contribution of an edible pest species - shea caterpillars - to rural livelihoods in Ghana and the accessibility constraints associated with its harvest.
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No such thing as waste: resource recovery and shifting perceptions

‘Out of sight, out of mind’ is a well-known expression, but one with pernicious effects in the context of waste. We’ve always done things a certain way. Things are made, used, and thrown away. But where do all these thrown-away things go? What do they become? What could they become? Our linear way of thinking and behaving is being increasingly criticised as landfills overflow, water supplies dry up, and air becomes unbreathable.
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