https://phys.org/ en-us Latest news from University of Helsinki Digital twins are virtual 3D replicas of real spaces such as factories, warehouses and industrial plants. Companies use them to monitor equipment, plan maintenance and simulate changes without disrupting operations. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-ai-factories-thesis-sharpens-3d.html Hi Tech & Innovation Wed, 14 Oct 2026 10:40:01 EDT news711192676 In her dissertation, Hanna Entsalo examines how public policies, such as policy strategies and legislation, influence transitions toward the circular economy and sustainability. Entsalo works as a researcher in the Circular Economy Solutions Unit at the Finnish Environment Institute. Her work focuses on circular economy policy instruments, sustainability transitions and innovation policy, particularly at the national and EU levels. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-small-big-impact-sustainability-transitions.html Environment Fri, 02 Oct 2026 15:20:13 EDT news710160961 According to the World Health Organization, depression affects roughly 332 million (5.2%) adults globally. In Finland, depression is the most common single cause of both prolonged absences due to illness and disability pensions. Because two people with considerably different symptoms may receive the same depression diagnosis, researchers at the University of Helsinki wanted to determine whether this individuality also appears in brain activity. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-depression-diagnosis-brain-patterns-profiles.html Wed, 23 Sep 2026 13:11:09 EDT news709387820 Laboratory animals are anesthetized to avoid pain during invasive procedures. Anesthesia is necessary for these animals' welfare, but it is not always without problems: Substandard anesthesia can cause suffering, distort experimental results and force researchers to repeat tests on more animals. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-animal-smallest-rodent-safe-anesthesia.html Veterinary medicine Mon, 14 Sep 2026 17:20:08 EDT news708619322 A recent study coordinated by the University of Helsinki tracked the populations of 100 bird species across Finnish protected areas. Cold-dwelling species fared better in large protected areas, while the same species saw much steeper declines in smaller ones. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-large-areas-northern-bird-species.html Ecology Thu, 10 Sep 2026 13:00:01 EDT news708248333 The joint BepiColombo mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is settling into orbit around Mercury after an eight-year journey. In early September, BepiColombo's two orbiters, the Mercury Planetary Orbiter and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter, separated from the transfer module. The orbiters will enter Mercury's orbit in November and separate from each other in December. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-bepicolombo-mercury-particle-bombardment.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 10 Sep 2026 10:40:09 EDT news708249205 In a 50-year follow-up study, men with low cardiovascular risk in their 40s maintained their functional capacity, happiness and quality of life better than others as they aged. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-healthy-lifestyle-middle-age-happiness.html Tue, 08 Sep 2026 16:00:04 EDT news708097633 Researchers at the University of Helsinki and HUS Helsinki University Hospital have built normative growth charts for infants' gross motor development using measurements made in the children's own homes. In the study, 92 typically developing infants ages 4–19 months wore the MAIJU smart jumpsuit during free play, producing 580 measurements and 1,227 hours of data covering activities from lying on the floor to walking fluently. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-smart-jumpsuit-growth-infants-motor.html Tue, 08 Sep 2026 09:00:01 EDT news708075601 Research led by scientists at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette challenges a long-held assumption about the effects of climate change on marine life: Warmer oceans won't simply make animals smaller. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-seas-mollusks.html Plants & Animals Thu, 03 Sep 2026 18:40:03 EDT news707666701 Why do some groups of organisms contain thousands of species while others have only a handful? Evolutionary biologists have spent decades trying to answer this question using mathematical models that estimate how biological traits and environmental factors influence the formation and extinction of species. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-biology-mathematics-hidden-symmetries-widely.html Evolution Wed, 02 Sep 2026 13:00:05 EDT news707565841 A study conducted at the University of Helsinki indicates that the total number of people with dementia will grow significantly in the coming years, and the number of those living at home may even more than double after 2018. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-people-dementia-home.html Tue, 01 Sep 2026 13:40:07 EDT news707483221 Tina Nyfors, who recently defended her doctoral thesis at the University of Helsinki, studied sufficiency, a way of living and a principle for organizing society to stay within environmental limits while ensuring that people have enough. Nyfors directs attention to people whose carbon footprint is already in line with sufficiency and refers to them as the sufficiency class. Their way of life has a moderate climate impact yet still meets their needs. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-climate-policy-people-limits-sufficiency.html Environment Fri, 28 Aug 2026 19:40:01 EDT news707127327 Researchers monitoring online activity for six weeks in mid-2025 found primates, birds, snakes, frogs, orchids and many other wildlife groups advertised for sale across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Wildlife is increasingly being trafficked through online platforms. Online illegal wildlife trade poses significant risks to species, ecosystems, and animal and public health. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-wildlife-trafficking-social-media-thousands.html Plants & Animals Mon, 24 Aug 2026 18:00:04 EDT news706802461 Mental health issues are now the most prevalent cause of sick leave in Finland. It is common for an employee's declining occupational well-being to result in a sick leave referral, while nothing changes at the workplace itself. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-occupational-health-require-individual-doctoral.html Social Sciences Thu, 20 Aug 2026 20:00:01 EDT news706438271 South America was a frightening place during the Miocene. More than 10 million years ago, a vast lake covered much of the continent, home to giant turtles and crocodylians. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-giant-crocodylians-dominated-food-chain.html Ecology Sun, 16 Aug 2026 21:00:04 EDT news705927781 Almost half of Finnish parents feel that their infants' sleep is abnormal. However, measuring sleep disturbances is complicated. In her doctoral thesis, University of Helsinki researcher Sofie de Sena investigated infant sleep using a smart wearable system called NAPPA (NAPping PAnts). It measures infant sleep at home and provides information on body position, respiration and activity. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-wearable-tech-babies-night-awakenings.html Tue, 11 Aug 2026 13:40:03 EDT news705665422 Snakes are highly modified lizards, with more than 4,000 living species today. The origin of snakes has long been one of evolutionary biology's most debated questions. Their sparse fossil record has made it hard to pin down what drove the evolution of their limbless body plan. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-early-snakes-explored-life-underground.html Evolution Sun, 09 Aug 2026 14:40:01 EDT news704977609 Boreal forests and peatlands are shaped by hydrological changes caused by both human activity and natural processes. In a recent study carried out in the Evo area in southern Finland, researchers examined how forestry drainage and beaver-induced flooding have transformed the landscape over the past 60 years. They combined historical maps, aerial imagery from different decades, current geospatial data and long-term field observations. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-humans-rewetted-beavers-opposing-boreal.html Plants & Animals Thu, 06 Aug 2026 15:20:01 EDT news705238503 For all its persistence as an adversary, aggressive breast cancer carries a weakness of its own making. A University of Helsinki research group has been investigating where this weakness comes from and how it can be exploited. The key lies in a protein called MYC, one of the most intriguing molecules in all of cancer research. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-common-oncogene-metabolic-cancer-cells.html Tue, 04 Aug 2026 10:40:04 EDT news705058081 New research conducted using airborne laser scanning reveals that a multicultural civilization that flourished in southwestern Amazonia between 600 BCE and 850 CE was home to millions of people. Spanning roughly 183,000 square kilometers (71,000 square miles), the Aquiry civilization built large centers for political and ritual purposes. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ancient-civilization-millions-flourished-amazon.html Archaeology Wed, 29 Jul 2026 15:40:02 EDT news704545984 The distribution of income and growing inequality are central themes in public debate. Far less attention has been paid to how resources are distributed in ecological communities, in the so-called state of nature, without any social contract. Species abundance distributions have been studied extensively in ecology, but descriptively. They largely follow a distribution similar to human wealth. Yet the fairness of that distribution has rarely been examined. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-state-nature-fair-biomass-microbial.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 08 Jul 2026 13:20:02 EDT news702724269 Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible visual impairment worldwide. Because the disease often progresses without symptoms for years, many patients are diagnosed only after permanent damage to the optic nerve has already occurred. Earlier detection through targeted screening could help prevent vision loss. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-genetic-onset-glaucoma.html Sun, 05 Jul 2026 11:00:01 EDT news702217598 For nearly 50 years, scientists have suspected that microscopic marine plankton play a role in cloud formation over the oceans. Now, an experiment led by the University of Helsinki suggests that it may be more important than previously thought. The findings are published in the journal Nature. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-plankton-linked-vapors-cloud-seed.html Earth Sciences Thu, 25 Jun 2026 18:00:01 EDT news701617972 The carrying capacity of the Baltic Sea could withstand a seal population twice its current size, but hunting quotas and Baltic herring mean weight greatly affect the future of the seals. A recent study provides a new estimate for the carrying capacity of the Baltic gray seal population and accurate guidelines for decision-makers when determining hunting quotas. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-herring-weight-affecting-future-baltic.html Plants & Animals Sat, 20 Jun 2026 13:30:01 EDT news700835027 Researchers from the University of Helsinki, Natural Resources Institute Finland, Tamkang University and National Taiwan University investigated how the Green View Index (GVI) relates to the richness and diversity of bacteria in the Taipei metropolitan area in Taiwan. The more vegetation in the area, the richer its microbial community. The Green View Index measures visible greenery from the pedestrian perspective. The work is published in the journal Landscape and Urban Planning. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-green-view-index-scores-urban.html Environment Wed, 17 Jun 2026 20:40:03 EDT news700914594 Rare earth elements (REEs) are essential for everyday technologies such as smartphones, LED lights, wind turbines and many medical applications. At the same time, supply chains are under pressure because of the geographic concentration of production, and electronic waste is growing worldwide. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-hybrid-materials-rare-earths-harsh.html Biochemistry Mon, 15 Jun 2026 14:20:06 EDT news700739925 The time-development of species communities cannot be understood solely through ecological interactions or environmental factors, as evolution can also alter community dynamics. This observation helps to understand, among other things, the consequences of antibiotic resistance. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-mutation-rewired-species-bacterial-community.html Evolution Tue, 09 Jun 2026 18:40:01 EDT news700242481 The Finnish Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities estimates that between 600 and 3,000 children are born in Finland each year with permanent developmental damage caused by maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Many children remain without a diagnosis and the support they need. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-kids-exposed-prenatal-alcohol-lack.html Tue, 26 May 2026 15:40:01 EDT news699021122 Horses were being ridden, worked, and traded long before anyone thought it possible. New research pushes back the accepted timeline of human use of horses by centuries, showing that humans used horses in organized ways as early as the 4th millennium BCE, if not earlier. The research is published in the journal Science Advances. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-domesticated-horses-years-complex-story.html Archaeology Wed, 13 May 2026 15:26:02 EDT news697904274 A new study shows that a single radioactive cloud was responsible for a large share of the nuclear fallout during the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster on 11 March 2011. The work is published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-radioactive-cloud-fukushima-particle-contamination.html Environment Tue, 12 May 2026 18:00:06 EDT news697816141