the questions

Scientists are convinced that nanotechnology will enable us to monitor and control our own bodies in entirely new ways in the future. What will we be able to do ten years from now? Fifty years from now?  Read more

Joy, grief, gnawing anxiety... We have a rich spectrum of emotions which we often see as opposites to our ability to be rational. Why has evolution provided us with these apparently irrational 'disturbances'? What's the point of feelings?  Read more

Plants lack consciousness. They cannot "know", in our sense of the word, that it's time to bloom. A Swedish researcher has found the precise gene that controls plants' flowering, thus solving a mystery that has been baffling biologists ever since the time of Carl Linnaeus. So exactly what is it that makes flowers open?  Read more

Is man an image of God or is God a human invention? Leaving aside whether you're a believer or not, it's interesting to ask why so many people believe in God. Can we learn anything from biology?  Read more

Imagine you're out in space and scanning our solar system with your eyes. There's Eve, down on planet Earth, with an apple in her hand. Obviously you can't see her or the apple. Or can you? Nano scientists face the same astonishing size differences. The difference in size between the Earth and the apple is the same as the difference between the apple and a carbon atom in its peel!  Read more

Stem cells are a medical raw material. They are as important for future medical science as forests have been for the paper industry. Without paper we wouldn't have any books. Without stem cells, we'd perhaps have to go on classifying numerous diseases as incurable.  Read more

Asked "what is a human being?" a biologist will answer "99% ape and 1% unknown". Only one single percent of our genetic material differentiates us from our nearest relative in the animal world, the chimpanzee. The latest research shows that this vital little one percent has to do with the brain...  Read more

As scientists successively reveal the genetic makeup of plants, they are also creating sharper tools for altering parts of the genetic code. What implications does this have? Advances are taking us further and further from what is 'natural'. Can we keep up?  Read more

Children laugh on average 400 times a day, adults 25 times. Why do we stop laughing? And why do we stop playing – most of us anyway? Is play simply a form of learning, a preparation for the future?  Read more

Nanotechnology is sometimes called atomic carpentry. As if it were just as easy to assemble a new molecule as it is to nail together a box with a few pieces of wood. When these pieces of wood are only millionths of a millimetre in size you realise that it can't be that easy!  Read more

Wetlands are much more important than we used to think. They deserve a much better reputation! In the west, more than half of some kinds of wetland were destroyed in the 20th century, and countless species have died out. Who really cares about the swamps?  Read more

Jumpers that never smell of sweat, windows that never get dirty, transparent concrete, carpets that change colour and act as indoor air cleaners, scratchproof car paint – with nanotechnology we'll soon be able to manufacture the most spectacular materials. But what materials are we actually going to need in the years to come?  Read more

How's our planet doing actually? To find out, the Earth has been subjected to a thorough health examination of a kind never undertaken before. The first results arrived a couple of years ago.  Read more

In the movies, smart robots at our beck and call are a commonplace. So why is it taking so long to get there in reality? When will it be just as natural to have a pet robot as to have a pet animal? And what can we learn about biological life when we design artificial life?  Read more

Carl Linnaeus was driven by a boundless curiosity. Where does our characteristic thirst for knowledge originate? Is it inherited or spurred on by culture? Undoubtedly there is a mixture of the two. But in that case, which came first? A classic chicken and egg conundrum.  Read more

Trees have always been immensely important to humans. They've given us fire, they've given us shelter. Maybe in our high-tech age it's been tempting to believe that their importance has waned. Far from it! Exciting new insights into what makes trees grow are opening a whole new future for forestry.  Read more

It's easy to be overwhelmed by a feeling of impotence. But even when we see that many important graphs are pointing in horribly wrong directions, there are still some bright spots. What must we do to help the Earth take a turn for the better?  Read more

Scientists have a new box of toys. With new 'spectacles' and precision instruments they can not only see into the smallest of things but can also alter what they see. They can build molecules that didn't exist before, change ones that need improving. What does design at molecular level – nanotechnology – actually imply?  Read more

The cells in your body that are dying right now have to be replaced with new ones. This is going on all the time in all living organisms – the dying cells are replaced with new ones of the same kind. This is where adult stem cells come in.  Read more

Were our planet a doctor's patient, the diagnosis wouldn't be comforting: change your lifestyle or else! We've been mistreating the Earth for centuries now − how can we make amends? Maybe by strengthening her resilience? One thing's for certain: only we humans can help our planet.  Read more

To celebrate Carl Linnaeus' actual birthday, 23 May, what can be more natural than to pose a question about plants, Linnaeus' true passion in life?  Read more

The finest source of inspiration for the pharmaceuticals industry is neither costly chemistry laboratories nor scientific journals. It's actually Nature herself, in particular the wealth of species in the tropics, that gives scientists ideas for medicines and treatments.  Read more

What is it that makes you resemble your parents? How does the bear know when it's time to hibernate? What makes flowers of the same species bloom at the same time? Modern evolutionary biology is an exciting research field which will eventually help us answer many of the questions that puzzle us.  Read more

If a well-functioning wetland is important for a region, can you calculate its value? If a virgin forest is insurance for the future, how does it appear in the country's GDP? If our planet is to survive, economists and biologists will have to collaborate in developing a whole new kind of balance sheet.  Read more

For a long time people thought that graphite and diamond were the only stable forms in which pure carbon could occur. Then fullerenes, carbon balls, rolled into the arena, and nothing's been quite the same since. Absolutely nothing comes stronger than a carbon nanotube!  Read more

Swedish scientist Carl Linnaeus shocked his time with his sexual classification system for plants. Botany was no longer a suitable subject for young ladies! Three centuries later, a complex global reputation evolved around Swedish attitudes to sex. What subject could be more appropriate as we celebrate Midsummer, the ancient ritual that is all about fertility - or sex, to put it more bluntly.  Read more

There are no simple answers to questions about the meaning of life. We are – but we know not why. The issue has always fascinated us, and the answers you get depend entirely on who you ask. Why are we so eager to find meaning? Why is it so hard for us just to take life for what it is?  Read more

All living things are related – some more closely than others. You are actually closer to the mushrooms on your plate than to the lettuce! You can see this if you study the amount of difference and similarity in our genes. Just now, biologists are mapping a common family tree for all life on Earth.  Read more

Damaged body organs replaced with new, healthy ones grown from the patient's own stem cells? Can this be the health care of the future – cultivating new organs in laboratories? What are the limits to the possibilities of stem-cell research?  Read more

A simple saliva test at home in the morning and you can decide for yourself whether you need antibiotics. An implanted sensor that keeps a check on your blood sugar and fats. One day we'll be amazed at how little we used to know about what goes on inside us.  Read more

What did the late Pope John Paul II have in common with former world boxing champion Mohammed Ali and actor Michel J Fox? Answer: Parkinson's disease. New stem cell research is giving the sufferers hope – but when will they get a treatment that works?  Read more

We are human beings. We breathe, we grow, laugh and cry. Biologically we are animals, as Linnaeus realized back in his time. But unlike all other animal species, we can reflect on why we are here. So what exactly is a human being?  Read more

The nano clock – sounds like science fiction? In fact, both you and I have always been controlled by nano clocks. The world's smallest clock is actually also the world's oldest. All organisms that depend on sunlight also need something to measure time...  Read more

An incredibly small electrical switch, a nano relay, has been built in Göteborg, Sweden. It's a million times thinner than an ordinary switch. But how can we use this new technology when we have no chance to see what's happening?  Read more

"Life is a flame as long as the oil lasts" said Carl Linnaeus. The quotation seems more relevant than ever today, especially if you read life as 'all life on Earth'. We are living beyond our means and oil isn't the only thing that's running out...  Read more

Which jumper would you prefer today – one treated with nano particles so it never gets dirty or smelly, so it glows in the dark, changes colour according to your mood – or a traditional woollen one like grandma used to knit?  Read more

Sweden is at the forefront of stem cell research. The results are successful, but the ethics of embryonic stem cell research in particular are surrounded by controversy. Can we defend the use of surplus embryos in research that may lead to finding the cure for serious illnesses?  Read more

The evolution of wild animals into tame domestic ones shows how man has controlled animal biology and our own culture down the ages. No domestic animals can in fact be called 'natural' – and we may wonder how far this development can go. Which animals will be the pets of the future?  Read more

If everyone lived the way the author of this text does, 3.5 Earths would be needed to support the planet's population. Unsettling facts like this spread a sense of guilt... Have you ever really stopped to consider how your lifestyle is affecting the global ecosystem?  Read more

If oil belonged to the 20th century, it looks as if wood could be the raw material of the 21st century – as indeed it was in earlier times. Good news for a country that's more than half covered by forest. To get back to nature and replace plastics with paper and other wood-based materials we need a whole new kind of engineering. No wonder that protein engineering is a hot research field in a country like Sweden.  Read more

The elephant is the largest land animal, as we all learned in school. But who tops the size league if we include all land organisms, not only animals? Biologists are not entirely sure, but it could be a deciduous tree, the unassuming poplar.  Read more

Botany was Carl Linnaeus's most important source of inspiration and knowledge as a physician. In sharp contrast, the pharmaceuticals industry of our own age relies more on the laboratory than on the field trip. However, a growing interest in natural products has led to something of a renaissance for the subject of pharmacognosy, the study of medicines from natural sources.  Read more

This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to three scientists behind the development of the genetically-modified mice which have revolutionised biomedical research and the drugs industry. These mice are today a vital tool in the never-ending quest to cure illness and to understand how the human body works.  Read more

Ever more space on our hard disks, search engines giving us rapid access to endless amounts of information – these are things we take for granted nowadays. This year's Nobel Prize for Physics spotlights the technology behind what is now considered everyday fare but which just a few years ago would have been regarded as pure science fiction.  Read more

Automobile catalysts turn toxic carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide – a reaction that has been studied in minute detail by the winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. This year, the focus is on chemical processes on solid surfaces. Catalyst technology is one area of application, others are fuel cells and fertilisers.  Read more

A marathon 20-year project is underway in Sweden. It's goal? To describe all the multi-celled living organisms in the country. Every last creepy-crawly and weed is to be tracked down, scientifically investigated and then described and illustrated in a gigantic reference work for the general public. Carl Linnaeus would be rubbing his hands with glee!  Read more

Building an elevator to space has long been a dream among science-fiction authors. If this becomes possible one day it will be thanks to the incredibly strong and incredibly small nanotube – a structure that nano scientists foresee a revolutionising future for.  Read more

Is there any point in trying to preserve all the Earth's biological species? Or are some more valuable than others? How can we decide? Modern molecular biology is a big help.  Read more

The 18th century was characterised by its utility approach to scientific research, with Linnaeus himself in the vanguard. Botany yielded benefits in medicine and for public health, new underground machinery was designed to streamline the mining industry... How do things look today? How acceptable is it to adopt a user perspective in research?  Read more

In September 1864, the Nobel factory in Stockholm exploded. Five people lost their lives, among them Alfred Nobel's brother, Emil. How this affected Alfred, we can only guess. But just three years later, he applied for a patent for an explosive substance that was much safer to handle - dynamite. And without being aware of it, he used nanostructures from diatom fossils that were tens of millions of years old.  Read more

It is a fact that women cannot bear children after the menopause. However, new research shows that men's sex cells also have a best-by date. And the number of mutations in the genetic material is actually larger in men than in women. What do these findings mean?  Read more

Conifers are the oldest of all the plants that spread by seed. Pine and spruce have been around on Earth much longer than fruit like redcurrants and blackberries. These ancient inhabitants of the planet may well take on a whole new significance in the future. Forest genetics are today becoming a hotter subject than ever before.  Read more