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Electric car concerns

A REPORT by Elbilskommissionen, the electric car commission, reveals the cost of running a petrol or diesel-run vehicle will get more expensive as the number of electric cars rises. Conversely, perhaps, it also reports it will only reduce CO2 emissions to a relatively small extent. The Klimarådet climate council has raised its target of the number of electric cars needed to cut greenhouse emissions by 70 percent from 1 to 1.5 million.

Schedule for victory

TWO PHD students from DTU and their supervisor claimed victory at this year's International Timetabling Competition. The competition revolves around creating an algorithm to resolve a scheduling problem and takes place over many rounds and challenges. Satellites shedding light

A NEW STUDY from Danmarks Tekniske Universitet suggests that satellite measurements can be used to predict floods and droughts. As threats of such climatic events increase, such methods and results are in greater demand than ever before.

Novo’s dream team

FOLLOWING a 25 million kroner grant from the Novo Nordisk Foundation, four researchers sought out from the corners of the globe have set up labs in Copenhagen and Aarhus. The researchers specialise in biomedicine and biotechnology.

Secrets of skin

IT IS HOPED that genetically engineered human skin, developed by researchers at the University of Copenhagen, will provide new insights into the treatment of diseases such as psoriasis and cancer. There is very little understanding of the way human skin is formed.

Using AI to beat time

THE EUROPEAN Research Council has been given an 11 million kroner grant to support the introduction of AI into the electricity sector.

Testing times for nation amid upsurge

From Smittestop failing to work to the delay in the AstraZeneca vaccine trials, there is no quick fix to the pandemic in the near future, it seems

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KAUKAB TAHIR SHAIRANI

THE DANISH coronavirus app Smittestop could be misinforming users, as its definition of ‘close contact’ is different to that of Google and Apple.

While the smartphone’s operating systems could send a notification – such as: ‘Your device has identified four potential exposures this week and shared them with Smittestop’ – the app itself might not be informing the user if contact is not judged to be close enough or long enough.

The Danish authorities define close contact with an infected person when a user has been less than a metre from someone who registers as infected on Smittestop for more than 15 minutes.

Over a million people in Denmark have so far downloaded the app, and @ users have reported an infection.

Hotspot testing

NEVERTHELESS, despite the apparent failings of the app, hundreds of thousands are getting tested – most notably in Greater Copenhagen, where the infection rate has been the highest in Denmark of late.

Pop-up tents and extra testing vehicles have been arriving in the Capital Region from other

Vaccine gets all clear

THERE is no link between the HPV vaccine and a range of neurological disorders, according to a Statens Serum Institut study of 1.4 million women and girls. Negative stories about the vaccine, which helps to protect women with HPV from getting cancer, resulted in a 50.4 percent fall in vaccinations between 2013 and 2016, but its usage is picking up again.

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regions, while two new test centres have been set up in the city districts of Valby and Nørrebro.

Frederikshavn Municipality in northeast Jutland, another recent coronavirus hotspot, has also been the beneficiary of additional testing facilities.

Leading the way with the testing is DTU, which is currently carrying out 10,000 tests a day – a third of the nation’s needs – following the addition of a new night team.

Children over the age of two are eligible for testing at all centres and can be booked in for a time-slot online. The under-twos, on the other hand, can be tested at TestCenter facilities.

Vaccine delays

DENMARK, like most of the EU countries, had been pinning its hopes on the vaccine being developed by the British-Swedish company AstraZeneca, but

No link to diabetes

DESPITE the previous belief that type-2 diabetes doubled a patient's likelihood of developing blood clots in the heart, recent research from Aarhus University and Aarhus University Hospital shows this is not the case. Instead, there is no change in the clot rate between diabetics and non-diabetics. Researchers attribute the finding to improved drugs. their trials were put on hold in early September after a participant fell ill.

Danish medical experts concurred that the news offered a bitter-sweet reminder that humanity's hopes in a vaccine may be overstated, and that we should be looking to improve treatment if we are to properly overcome the pandemic.

The World Health Organization reports that elsewhere there are a further five vaccines undergoing late-stage trials – three in China and one each in the US and Germany – while a Russian one has skipped the late-stage trials.

Denmark itself reached an important stage in developing its own vaccine when researchers from the University of Copenhagen reported the success of its mice trials in June. Clinical trials on humans are expected before

the end of the year.

Dual climate test house

A NEW TEST house has been developed in Nuuk by DTU with the intention of discovering whether it is possible and appealing to build houses with an indoor and outdoor climate under the same roof. The team have created two separate environments within the same building and will spend the next two years testing it.

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On the racoon range

FROM FEBRUARY this year it has been legal to hunt raccoon dogs with night vision sights, and one hunter, Jytte Paarup, has told DR that she has more than doubled the number of her night kills this year to 21. Raccoon dogs are an invasive species and have no natural predators.

Foreign food to blame

A TOTAL of 48 people in Denmark have become sick as a result of imported foods, suspects the Statens Serum Institut. It believes separate outbreaks of salmonella and hepatitis A virus are the result of holiday-makers returning with food carrying the diseases.

New development unit

AARHUS University has teamed up with a number of local organisations and businesses to establish a new innovation unit promoting entrepreneurship and collaboration in the region. In particular, the unit aims to further develop food along with health and environmental technologies.

Chronically misunderstood

THE HEALTH authorities have launched an information campaign to raise awareness of the plight of the 1.3 million people who suffer from some kind of chronic pain. Many regard such sufferers as malingers and tend to be sceptical when back pain, for example, comes and goes.

Four TBE cases

FOUR PEOPLE in Denmark have been infected with Tick Borne Encephalitis over the summer, according to Statens Serum Institut, but none of them were in Bornholm, the favoured hunting ground of the parasite. Three were infected in Tisvilde Hegn in North Zealand and one in Falster. All four were hospitalised.

Huge solar park project

DANISH company European Energy is set to begin the construction of Sweden's largest solar park.

8CULTURE THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK ONLINE THIS WEEK White House junk mail as art

Montmartre could be saved

THE CULTURE minister, Joy Mogensen, is working with Copenhagen Municipality to try and save the legendary jazz club Montmartre, which is close to bankruptcy. Not long ago the Danish Arts Foundation decided against designating the club a ‘regional venue’, which would have given it 1 million kroner annually.

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With my Avengers bros

FORMER gang member Roland Møller has landed a major role in 'Citadel', a new Amazon series made by ‘Avengers’ directors Anthony and Joe Russo. In related news, Ridley Scott has hailed Danish actress Amanda Collin for her work in his new sci-fi TV series 'Raised by Wolves'.

Danish #MeToo finally?

FORMER Dansk Folkeparti leader Pia Kjærsgaard told 'Debatten' host Sofie Linde she had made herself a victim by recently revealing how a big name in TV told her to give him a blowjob when she was 18, or otherwise he’d torpedo her career. Many think this could be the start of the Danish #MeToo movement.

Hidden treasures

THE NATIONAL Museum’s new exhibition 'A Treasure to Denmark' shines a light on less celebrated elements of Danish culture. Among the 89 exhibits are a collection of sex toys and a letter informing somebody they are HIV positive.

"More poetry is needed" sounds like a heckle in this context

Politician Uffe Elbæk has been keeping all his unwelcome missives from the Trup Administration for over three years

LUKE ROBERTS

FOR THREE years, independent MP Uffe Elbæk, the former leader of Alternativet, has kept a record of the torrent of emails he has received from the Trump administration.

Now numbering over a thousand, Copenhagen Con

Short of the truth

THE NEW film 'Shorta' includes a scene in which a young Arabic man is strangled to death by a Danish policeman in a similar fashion to the way George Floyd was killed in May. Directors Anders Ølholm and Frederik Louis Hviid say the similarities are coincidental as they started planning the film six years ago. temporary has collated them in a new exhibition (running until Nov 3), which explores US politics through an inbox's lens.

Harassment as art

DURING this time, the emails Elbe received included fake news updates, takedowns of political opponents, and the odd dinner invitation – often up to three every day.

This unsolicited barrage has steadily increased in recent months, and it offers a fascinat

ing insight into communication

Dane working with BTS

DANISH choreographer Nicky Andersen worked on the dance routines of K-pop band BTS for the video of their new song 'Dynamite', which recently broke their own YouTube one-day world record with 101.1 million views. Last September, Andersen moved to Hollywood to pursue his dreams of working in the K-pop industry.

and rhetoric in the Trumpean age.

Hillary’s been there

THIS IS not the first time senior US politicians have found their emails promoted to works of art.

Last year, Hillary Clinton was pictured leafing through some of the 62,000 of her emails printed off by artist Kenneth Goldsmith, which were displayed at an art show in Venice. The infamous emails were a constant point of contention during the 2016 election campaign.

Gamely fighting on

THREE English-language productions – CTC’s The Effect (Oct 1-10), That Theatre’s ‘Extremophiles (Oct 21-Nov 21) and Playmate Theatre Malmö’s ‘Sylvia’ (Oct 22-25) – have told CPH POST how they are gamely continuing with their plans despite the recent tightening of coronavirus restrictions.

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Eyes on the prize

NOT CONTENT with two Oscars, Kim Magnusson is teaming up with Den Vest danske Filmpulje in Aarhus to make more short films aimed at winning major awards. Together they will produce four a year. Guide for emerging hood

THE DEVELOPING city area of Ørestad in the Copenhagen district of Amager has a new guide to keep visitors posted on the numerous events in the area. It is available on the By & Havn website.

Nature boom

NATURSTYRELSEN digital guides have been used by twice as many people compared to this time last year. More than 200,000 people used the online services in July and August – a period in which millions of kroner were dedicated to promoting Danish summer holidays.

New kinds of culture

WHILE the coronavirus has killed off many events, others are popping up to replace them, including Open (Sep 11-13), a festival that celebrated the cultural diversity of Østerbro and Nordhavn. Also bucking the trend, Stairway, a new culture and music venue, has opened in Vanløse.

Improv as therapy?

THE RECENTLY-launchedCopenhagen Theatre School has told CPH POST that its family Improv courses "aren't therapy", but they can “have a therapeutic effect”.