DECEMBER 2001 NEWS FROM THE RESEARCH COUNCIL OF NORWAY

The ResearchCouncil of Norway

The rocky roadfrom deep sea todeep space

Page 26

Bright, beautiful and medievalPage 6

Picturesque Arctic pollution

Page 24

Promising future,thanks to bio-gold

Page 14

Plumbing the depthsPage 10

CONTENTS

6The colourful middle ages

10Plumbing the depths

14The quest for bio-gold

18Life in the pre-Viking landscape

21Ski for enlightenment

22An object-oriented view

of the world

24An arctic environmental

laboratory

26Rocky Road

28Them bones, them bones,

them brittle bones

31Calculating safety at sea

The ResearchCouncil of Norway

Picture on cover:Anne Tveit Winterthun/NIKU

Small pictures from top to bottom:Husmo/megapix.no,

Samfoto,Akvaplan-niva,

Department of Geology/University of Bergen.

Bergen

Stavanger

HaltdalenRøros

LusterVang

Biri

OdalenKjeller

Trondheim

SjåkLom

Vågå

Tromsø

Lofoten

Moskenes

Glomfjord

Tjeldbergodden

Tjeldsund

Oslo Ås

Svalbard78 0 N 17 0 E

The map shows the location of places referred to in this issue of Tell’Us

NORWAY

Finnmark County

No

rw

eg

i an

Se

a

N o r t hS e a

Bjørnøya

North Cape

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Can we increase thegeneral public’sawareness of sci-ence? If so, how?

These crucial questionsare being explored byseveral European coun-

tries at the moment. In fact, this is the maintopic of conferences almost every month.The EU Commission has put the topic highon its agenda, and many individual coun-tries, whether they belong to the EU or not,are addressing the issue. The ResearchCouncil’s “Research Week”, special themeweeks and other activities are organised totry to give the general public insight into theworld of research and researchers, and to de-mystify research. Nonetheless, the goal isstill a long way off, inherent as it is in a farhigher level of cognition and a far higherlevel of knowledge about research. It is im-portant that the populace understands, andnot least accepts, research as a buildingblock, that is, a cornerstone of modernsociety.

What can a tiny country like Norway hopeto accomplish? It is indeed a tiny country inthe context of research, so we have identi-fied a few fields in which Norway stands achance of making worthwhile contributionsto the international pool of knowledge. Weare focusing our resources on those fields.The Storting (Norway’s parliament) hasselected 4 thematic target areas (marineresearch, medical and healthcare research,information and communications technolo-gy (ICT) and the interface between energyand the environment), as well as basicresearch, as the fields in which Norway will

strive to excel in the years ahead. Over andabove these fields, petroleum technologyand biotechnology will obviously deservespecial attention in the years ahead.

The articles in this publication focus on theabove-mentioned target areas in particular,in addition to giving readers a glimpse ortwo of Norway’s national cultural and socialscience research.

Those who master a Scandinavian languagewill find many more examples when ournew website “forskning.no” goes online inearly 2002. Initiatives such as this type ofnet-based information, in addition to publi-cations like Tell’Us, are among the ResearchCouncil of Norway’s ways of telling theworld around us what we do, and how farNorwegian research has progressed. Thewebsite will not be exhaustive, but it ishoped that the brief teasers will give ourreaders a taste of what a tiny country likeNorway can do when it targets its efforts onspecific fields of research.

Happy reading!

Paal AlmeExecutive Director The Research Council of Norway

The public’s awareness of science

EDITORIALSApropos

Reporting on research and strivingto ensure research-related topics aplace on the public agenda arelargely a question of consolidating thelegitimacy and credibility of research.The mass media seem prone to focus on‘negatives’, e.g. problems, disadvantages,scandals, etc. Things that work well are

hardly considered newsworthy on an average day. But it ispossible to make such items into headlines.

The Research Council is about to establish a National Com-mittee for the Prevention of Scientific Dishonesty to pro-mote and ensure honesty in research. Given the fact that theworld has to deal with cloning, prion disease, nuclear powerand other fields that engender considerable public scepti-cism, it was important for the Research Council to be able toreassure the general public that quality assurance is constantand pro-active when it comes to research.

Indeed, the new National Committee did make the head-lines, and they were exactly as expected: “cheating inresearch”. In other words, the fact that Norway had decidedto establish a national committee for the prevention of sci-entific dishonesty was turned into a cheap shot, characteris-ing researchers as capricious individuals who need to bemonitored by a special committee. That was the price to bepaid for drawing attention to the National Committee.

Of course, this might also be interpreted to mean thatreporters can be rather capricious individuals of question-able moral integrity. Naturally, however, neither researchersnor reporters have more or less integrity than other people.Quality assurance and the efforts to promote ethical stan-dards are a continuous process in both occupations. In thisissue of Tell’Us, the reporters have been critical and creativein their presentations of researchers’ hustle and bustle.Meanwhile, the researchers have also had an opportunity tocheck the quality of the reports about their specialities.

Together, they are dynamite, at least in our opinion ...

Mona Gravningen RyghEditor

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There are a myriad of myths about old maids. They are described andridiculed as being plain, dried up, often bitter and definitely asexual.“Nothing could be further from the truth”, comments the ethnologist ToneHellesund of the University of Bergen.

Hellesund is researching the Old Maid phenomenon by taking a closerlook at the lives of single women from 1900 to 1960-70.

“Single men and women are perceived very differently. While, in theo-ry, single men are seen as bachelors and happy-go-lucky men about town,single women have far more often been called upon to defend their civilstatus from the compassion of do-gooders and the ridicule of others”,observes Hellesund. She is of the opinion that this is because society cre-ated a stereotype of Old Maids a century ago when women who did notfollow the well-trodden path to conjugal bliss had to make their own wayin life, but had no well-defined role models to follow.

“The old maid represented the very epitome of Victorianism. She wasmoral, asexual and somehow noble. Many old maids found it most conven-ient to move about mainly in women’s circles. There, they were able to cul-tivate their freedom and independence and, in many ways, they had the cul-tural latitude they needed to study and challenge the concept of femininity”,explains Hellesund.

According to the researcher, female asexuality was legitimate and rela-tively generally accepted at the advent of the 20th century. However, thatbegan to change in the 1920s and -30s, when asexuality was seen asunhealthy and abnormal. The male-female relationship changed drastical-ly in the 1950s and -60s when the cultivation of homosociality became cul-turally unacceptable, and all attention was focused on the male-femaledichotomy.

Hellesund believes the situation is different today. Even though it ismore acceptable to be a single woman in certain circles, it is more difficultfor modern women to “opt to be an old maid” than it was a century ago.Back then, the options were usually either to have children or a career.“Today, women are expected to have a career, but also to be a mistress anda successful mother”, continues Hellesund. Choosing one option does notnecessarily eliminate the other.

“Old maids have been mocked and derided, but it is important to bearin mind that being single afforded many of them a type of independenceand an opportunity for self fulfilment through education and careers thatfew marriages could”, concludes Hellesund.

Anita K.L. Thorolvsen

The Renaissance of the Old Maid

2000-year-old shipwreck found At a depth of 60 metres in the waters off Ithaca in the Ionian Sea, Norwegian andGreek marine archaeologists have discovered a 2000-year-old shipwreck. It wascarrying a cargo of several thousand amphoras from Roman times when it wentdown.

The find is a result of a large-scale search for cultural artefacts in Greekwaters, using a remote-operated vehicle (ROV) and sonar equipment. Excite-ment ran high as the Norwegian ROV-designer Tor Olav Sperre remotely operat-ed the ROV towards a mountain-like structure on the ocean floor and the camerascaptured the first images of this fabulous find and the graceful lines of theamphoras.

The discovery of the shipwreck is a result of a pioneering co-operative ven-ture between the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) andthe Greek Ministry of Culture. The venture was initiated at the request of theGreek Ministry of Culture, more specifically, the Greek Department of Under-water Antiquities, and is currently headed by Katerina Delaporta. The head ofarchaeological part of the NTNU group is Marek Jasinski of the Department ofArchaeology and Cultural History, while the technical aspects are being headedby Norwegian Dr. Fredrik Søreide of the Department of Marine System Design.The project is thrilling, given Greece’s rich cultural heritage and the classicGreek civilisation’s pervasive influence on European cultural development.These waters are rife with cultural artefacts, but most of them have not beenregistered, least of all those in deepwater areas.

The project is scheduled to run for three years, and has already brought out-standing results. Several ancient wrecks have been located in the Aegean Sea andamong the islands in the northern Sporades; and, in recent weeks, also betweenthe islands of Cephalonia and the legendary Ithaca. The latter is well-known asthe home of Ulysses, the hero who conceived of the idea to fill a Trojan horsewith warriors, which eventually led to the fall of Troy.

The local waters are teeming with yachts, many named after the gods andheroes of antiquity. Holiday-makers amuse themselves along one of antiquity’sbusiest maritime routes to the Aegean Sea, the Black Sea and the easternMediterranean. The mainland and islands of Greece were provinces of theRoman Empire when the merchant vessel carrying the amphoras went down inthe waters near Ithaca.

The wreck found by the scientists is believed to be from the Roman Era inancient Greek history, making it some 2000 years old. Greek archaeologists havesuggested this preliminary dating, based on the amphoras’ shape, which oftenexhibits local, time-specific characteristics.

“The cargo appears exceptionally well preserved. This was a huge merchantvessel in its time, but its location made it inaccessible to amateur divers and itwas not in the way of fishing gear”, muses the Greek marine archaeologist Chris-tos Agouridis contentedly.

Helge Sandvig

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A rose by any other name is still a roseVastly disparate research traditions have resulted in different nations definingplant species differently and in varying ideas about the classification of plantspecies in the Arctic. A group of botanists from the northernmost countries ofthe world are now working together to agree on uniform definitions of speciesat the Centre for Advanced Studies (SHS). Their results will be compiled into auniversal Arctic flora.

According to the SHS group’s supervisors Reidar Elven and Inger Nordal,both professors of botany at the University of Oslo, this type of research waspreviously conducted behind closed doors, so different traditions evolved forclassifying and naming species in the former Soviet Union, western Europe andNorth America.

“What makes the Arctic so special, is that the distribution of species is gen-erally broader than in temperate zones. Another special feature is that there arevirtually no insects in the Arctic, meaning the plants have to self-pollinate orclone to propagate. This constitutes an extreme form of inbreeding, which, bythe way, is quite common in the plant kingdom. It has probably contributed toa great deal of variation between populations within the species”, recountsNordal. One example of this is a member of the rose family, the Dryasoctopetala, commonly known as the dryad flower or mountain avens, which thegroup has chosen as its logo. Nordal is of the opinion that there is just onespecies of Dryas octopetala on Svalbard, while one of her Russian colleaguesinsists that there are three.

Ellen Stokland

BEAUTIFUL, BUT CONFUSING. The Dryas octopetala is found in calcium-rich soil in mountainous areas of the far north. However, it is not clear whetherSvalbard is home to one species of the plant or several. (Photo: Samfoto)

The Norwegian geneticist Odd Arne Olsen is put-ting together cereal grains in new ways. He is con-vinced that genetically manipulated foods are vitalif we are to feed more mouths.

Professor Olsen occupies a key internationalposition when it comes to research on foods withenhanced nutritional content. “In 50 years, the worldmight have as many as four billion new mouths tofeed. That fact is, in itself, a strong case for usinggene technology to produce food”, asserts ProfessorOlsen with great conviction.

Each year, 150 million children go blind due tovitamin A deficiency. Now a new breed of vitaminA fortified rice has been developed. Efforts arebeing made to make the rice available to interestedcountries. “This is just one example of the potentialinherent in this technology if it is exploited prudent-ly”, states Olsen.

The professor heads research on geneticallymanipulated cereal grains at the US company Pio-neer Hi-Bread/DuPont of Des Moines, Iowa, USA.As a geneticist at the Norwegian Agricultural Uni-versity at Ås, Dr. Olsen was funded by the US com-pany and the Research Council for five years as hesought to determine how genes govern plants. The

research has attracted considerable internationalattention, not least because the path from basicresearch to practical applications is exceptionallyshort. “We are investigating the cereal endosperm,i.e. the starchy part used for food, animal feeds andindustrial raw materials. This is humankind’s mostimportant source of energy. Using gene technology,we have managed to re-engineer cereals to increasetheir fat content, paving the way for enhancing theirnutritional content”, explains Olsen.

The plant physiologists at Ås are the first in theworld to determine the cell fate of the endosperm.An endosperm has a simple biological structureconsisting of just four cell types. The main aim ofthe researchers has been to monitor the formation ofaleurone cells, as they are the ones that produce thefat content in cereals. Researchers recently man-aged to isolate the gene that controls the aleuronecells in corn. In actual practice, this means that it ispossible, for example, to increase the oil content incorn by increasing the number of aleurone cells,and thus to get more oil out of each individual grainof corn.

Siw Ellen Jakobsen

Cereal polygamy

POTENTIAL: Scientists have developed a speciesof rice that contains more Vitamin A. Perhapsthis rice can help save the vision of some of the150 million children who lose their sight due toVitamin A deficiency each year?(Photo: Scanpix)

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Colourful middle agesIn collaboration with skilled artisans, Norwegian researchers

have designed a replica of a Norwegian stave church and its

altar ornamentation down to the finest detail. The work has

added considerably to contemporary understanding of medieval

building techniques and artisanship.

BY PAUL TORVIK NILSEN

PHOTOS: BIRGER LINDSTAD AND ANNE TVEIT WINTERTHUN,NORWEGIAN INSTITUTE FOR CULTURAL HERITAGE RESEARCH (NIKU)

CHURCH ON A VOLCANIC ISLAND:Although the replica of the Haltdalen StaveChurch stands on a weather-beaten outpostat the approach to Heimaøy in the Vestman-na archipelago on Iceland, it is well protect-ed from the raging wind and waves by awall of hardened lava. To be on the safeside, a gallery was added to reinforce theoutside perimeter of the church.

REPLICA: St. OlavFrontal from the MiddleAges (left), with its patinashowing the ravages oftime, and the colourfulreplica from 2000.

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Colourful mid dle ages

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Astave church now stands at the entrance tothe harbour of the volcanic island of Heima-øy, in the Vestmanna archipelago.The build-ing, a replica of the Haltdalen Stave Church in Trøn-delag County, was a gift to Iceland from Norway incommemoration of the 1000th anniversary of Ice-land’s conversion to Christianity. The church has aspectacular location, situated against a wall of newlava from a volcanic eruption on Heimaøy in 1973that buried large parts of the island.

The researchers and artisans who built thechurch knew from the outset that they were goingto be re-creating a complex construction. Notwith-standing, they were surprised at how sophisticatedthe original actually proved to be. The reconstruc-tion also disclosed that stave church interiors mayhave been ornamented in a striking array of colours.

One major task, in addition to building thechurch proper, was to reconstruct the St. OlavFrontal, one of the surviving examples of the works

of art that decorated the front of the altars in manya stave church in the Middle Ages.

“The work on the stave church and altarpiecehas helped refute some of our preconceived notionsabout the dark Middle Ages”, remarks ElisabethSeip,head of research at the Norwegian Institute forCultural Heritage Research (NIKU) and supervisorof the replication of the stave church.

NATIONAL ROMANTICISMPeople have only taken an interest in preserving andprotecting the Norwegian stave churches for aboutthe past 150 years.The painter J.C. Dahl was one ofthose who spearheaded the movement to instil anational awareness of the value of this aspect ofNorway’s cultural heritage.

“He personally helped ensure that the stavechurch at Vang in Valdres was salvaged and later re-erected in eastern Prussia, now part of Poland,where it still stands.The architects of the time sub-

sequently studied Vang Stave Church,measuring thebuilding and generating growing interest in conser-vation through their own personal commitment.Thus began the efforts to preserve these previoustreasures that embody Norway’s cultural heritage ”,continues Seip.

But how did the stave churches survive for morethan 700 years prior to national romanticism?Although only a few of the once more than 1000churches have survived to the present day, this typeof building has shown remarkable durability.

“The stave churches are located in a country thathad been on the periphery of Europe for hundreds ofyears.They were located a long way from the majorcultural centres. The fact that they have been pre-served is not mainly because Norwegians have beenparticularly concerned about preserving old things,but because the country was poor for long periods oftime, so the people had to make do with what theyhad. Of at least equal importance is the fact that oldNorwegian building customs were of excellent quali-ty in terms of both materials and design. Conse-quently, the best of our building traditions have beenretained, absorbing new styles from the Continent.”

No new stave churches were built subsequent tothe Black Plague, that is, after 1350. Nor was thereany need for new buildings, since the population hadbeen so drastically reduced.There were not enoughpeople even to fill the houses of worship that alreadyexisted, and poverty can translate into good conser-vation. This was one of the main reasons why thestave churches were not torn down and replaced bynew, less heavily ornamented church buildings.

UNIQUE ALTARPIECEOne key element in the stave churches, and a key tounderstanding religious life and everyday life in medi-eval Norway, involves the so-called frontals. Resear-chers are currently aware of the existence of 29 fron-tals or fragments of frontals.These ornaments do notrest on the altar proper, but in front of the altar.Thebest-known is the St. Olav Frontal, made in the HighMiddle Ages, probably in about 1320.

A reconstruction of this work of art was madefor the newly erected replica of the Haltdalen StaveChurch.The reconstruction shows how the originalmay have looked when first created in the MiddleAges.

“The result is sensational. The St. Olav Frontalwas a rainbow of bright colours. Contrary to theoriginal’s repressed expression, ascribable to naturalageing, the reconstruction is distinguished by intensecolouring. The powerful coloration and the livelydepictions must have brightened up a semi-dark

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COLOURFUL: It may be no more than a myth,but there are indications that the well-preservedSt. Olav Frontal from approximately 1320 mayhave been located in the Haltdalen Stave Church.Accordingly, a copy of the restored frontal wasmade for the new church on Iceland.

Stave church to Iceland“The Norwegian people’s gift to Iceland” was astave church for the Land of the Sagas, to com-memorate the 1000th anniversary of Iceland’sconversion to Christianity.The gift is a replica ofthe Haltdalen Stave Church, now located at theTrøndelag Cultural Heritage Museum in Trond-heim.

The project, including preliminary investigations,research and building, began in 1998 and tookthree years.The church was consecrated on theVestmanna Islands in the summer of 2000.TheStorting (Norway’s parliament), allocated MNOK5.5 for the project.

CONSECRATION: The residents of Heimaøythronged to the consecration of the stave church.

A DETAIL: Hand-cut,tarred shingles of the finestquality are required to stand upto the rain and wind on theVestmanna Islands.

church interior and had a strong impact on the peo-ple who lived back then”, explains conservator TerjeNorsted of NIKU. He headed the work aimed atteasing the secrets out of the old wooden altarpiece.

The painting was grounded on a layer of chalkmixed with animal glue.The motifs were drawn onthe grounding before the painting began, as wasdone on the original frontal. To make the recon-struction, researchers had to make their own paints,just as the original artisans did in the Middle Ages.“We used the same pigments as in the original.Many of the colours had not been used for ages”,Norsted points out.

EXCELLENT ARTISANSThe forerunners of the stave churches were polechurches, made with poles buried straight into theground to provide the requisite stability. Underseveral of the stave churches still standing today,researchers have found holes that bear witness tothe fact that there were once poles there to supportearlier churches that had stood on the same site,but the substructures have rotted away. In stavechurches, the wooden construction is lifted off theground and onto stone foundations, significantlyincreasing the life span of the buildings.

Throughout this project, researchers from manydisciplines made in-depth studies of artefacts from theMiddle Ages in Norway. Botanists, archaeologists,architects,conservators and historians all contributed.

Yet without the skilled artisans who have safe-

guarded the old traditions of building in wood, theproject would never have been possible.The materi-als for the ‘new-old’ church were brought fromRøros and construction took place in the highlandvillage of Lom, an area in which such traditionsremain strong.

“The artisans have worked in fields that our fore-fathers managed to elevate from artisanship to art.During planning and reconstruction, we constantlyhad to ask ourselves how the individual details and ele-ments could best be constructed.In many places,Nor-way’s climate has been favourable for the preservationof wooden buildings,and the stave churches were builtof materials and with methods that made the build-ings the contemporary art of the times.They were thebest of the best. That is why the churches are stillstanding. The construction methods representedstate-of-the-art technology back then”, reports Seip.

KEEPING SECRETSThese tiny wooden churches from medieval timesare especially interesting because they have yet todisclose many of their medieval secrets.

“The stave church inspired the production ofnew knowledge. With the Haltdalen Stave Church,we have made extensive investigations to allow us tounderstand and protect more of this Europeanbuilding heritage.This work has taught us a bit moreabout the efforts involved in erecting these build-ings, allowing us to solve a new piece in this particu-lar puzzle of cultural history.

HALTDALEN STAVE CHURCH: The originalbuilding is at the Trøndelag Cultural HeritageMuseum in Trondheim.

COMPLEX DESIGN:Researchers, architects and arti-sans quickly realised how sophisti-cated the stave churches’ designsare, meaning that recreating theoriginal was no mean feat. Motiffrom the construction at Lom.

READY FOR THE CONSE-CRATION: “All of Norway” wasbehind the project: Logs fromRøros, shingles from Odalen, tarfrom Skjåk, wrought iron fromVågå, doorstep from Holtålen, builtin Lom – the list goes on and on.

PRECISION: Precision was amust every step of the way. Thebaptismal font was squeezed intothe church.

NEARLY 900 YEARS OLD: Urnes Stave Church in Lus-ter in Sogn, dated to the 1130s, is one of the country’s oldestand most precious cultural treasures from the Middle Ages. Itis on Unesco’s World Heritage List, where one of criteria isthe preservation of the monument’s original characteristics.

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The Norwegian oil industry plans to pro-duce oil and gas at ever greater depthsusing compact, intelligent drilling andproduction units designed to stand on the oceanbed and be remotely controlled from land. Thisnew technology will change the face of coastalNorway, and may even signal a new era of glo-bal technological progress.

THINKING NEWThe most visible result of producing oil and gasat great ocean depths is that the leviathan oilplatforms that have dominated the North Sea forthe past 30 years will disappear. But the most

important result, on the other hand, is that sub-sea development will generate a huge volume ofnew knowledge and technology. Norway’spetroleum research communities have alreadycome a long way in this process.

“Political aspirations regarding reducingemissions of greenhouse gases, as well as the oilindustry’s focus on production at ever greaterdepths and from smaller, less accessible reser-voirs, call for new types of production facilitiesand better means of transportation”, commentsProduct Manager Morten Dalsmo of ABB AS,part of the international technology corporation,the ABB Group. Dalsmo is facing the new chal-

Plumbingthe depths CORROSION. ResearchersJon Kvarekvål (l.) and EgilGulbrandsen have producednew knowledge about how toinhibit corrosion in oil and gaspipelines. (Photo: Bjarne Røsjø)As oil and gas production moves to greater

ocean depths, the Norwegian oil industry

will be remotely controlling the process

from land. The industry is currently devis-

ing technology hitherto unseen in the world,

and it will change the face of coastal Nor-

way.

BY BJARNE RØSJØ

THE DINOSAURS OF THE NORTH SEA: Thegigantic oil and gas platforms are on their way toextinction, giving way to new, more compact sub-sea production solutions. (Photo: Husmo/megapix.no)

– 13 –– 12 –

The oil companies Shell and Exxon-

Mobil are approximately equally inter-

national and powerful, but they pursue

vastly different climate strategies.

The most important reason for this difference ap-pears to be different political conditions in the oilcompanies’ home countries. The oil companies areinfluenced by disparate economic and politicalassessments, according to researchers Tora Skod-vin and Jon Birger Skjærseth.

MORE POWERFUL THAN NATION STATES“Many people take it for granted that global playersin same industry have similar interests. Our surveyindicates, however, that similar companies with tre-mendous power have opted to pursue diametricallyopposed strategies. It is extremely important tostudy these gigantic multi-nationals and find outwhy such differences exist, since such companiescan wield considerably more power than manynation states”, remarks Tora Skodvin of the CiceroCenter for International Climate and Environmen-tal Research, as Jon Birger Skjærseth of the FridtjofNansen Institute nods his agreement.

In the international climate debate, ExxonMobilcarved out a reputation as an important source ofsupport for US President George W. Bush in hisstruggle against the Kyoto agreement, while com-petitor Shell takes a friendly view of renewableenergy and has got rid of its entire coal division.

POLITICS AT THE ROOT OF IT“There is a tremendous difference in how Shell andExxonMobil would like to be perceived, eventhough their operations are relatively similar. Initi-ally, we postulated two different types of explan-

ations: Either the companies are quite simply verydifferent, or the differences stemmed from the poli-tical context within which each company op-erates.We found, rather surprisingly, that it is the politicalcontext that best explains the differences”, statesSkjærseth.

“Shell is a British-Netherlands company thatsupports the Kyoto Protocol, largely because thecompany’s management is sensitive to pressurefrom the European authorities and public opinion.By way of comparison, ExxonMobil, the world’slargest oil company and the world’s most profitablecompany to boot, is American and has been strong-ly involved in the Global Climate Coalition (GCC)that represents a broad cross-section of Americanbusiness interests that are fighting against theKyoto agreement. GCC won a major victory whenGeorge W. Bush was elected president of the US”,observes Skodvin.

DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSED. Environmentalresearchers Tora Skodvin and Jon Birger Skjærsethhave sought an explanation for why the oil compa-nies Shell and ExxonMobil have adopted such dif-ferent strategies on climate issues. (Photo: Bjarne Røsjø)

lenges by establishing broad-based collaborationwith the oil company Norsk Hydro and five depart-ments at the Norwegian University of Science andTechnology (NTNU). The partners are absorbed indeveloping a new discipline, petronics, with finan-cial support from the Research Council of Norway.

“Petronics is a new, interdisciplinary disciplinein the global context. The project is being used tocreate new links between disciplines. This isabsolutely essential if we are going to solve theproblems we face when producing oil and gas atgreat ocean depths. Petronics involves linkingtogether knowledge from petroleum technology,multi-phase technology, engineering cyberneticsand systems technology”, continues Dalsmo.

COMPUTER CRUNCHINGThe recently established enterprise Magtech AS isfacing another of the challenges posed by extremeocean depths: Computers and other equipment arereliant on semi-conductors (substances that con-duct electricity better than insulators, but morepoorly than conductors). The best-known semi-conductors are germanium and silicon, but they arenot suitable for placement at great ocean depths. Aglass-like material, silicon would quite simply becrushed if subjected to excessive pressure. Conse-quently, it is not possible to use computers or othersemi-conductor equipment on the ocean bottomwithout encapsulating them in compression tanks.However, at depths of 3000 to 4000 metres, thepressure is so strong that the tanks would have toweigh as much as 50-60 tonnes more than theequipment they are intended to protect.

“The oil companies need huge pump motors thatcan be placed on the ocean bed. Modern-daymotors for such purposes can only be controlledusing frequency converters and they depend on

semi-conductor technology. To solve the problem,we designed a frequency converter that can be con-trolled magnetically”, reports Managing DirectorEspen Haugs of Magtech. The design has alreadycreated quite a sensation, not least because it canalso be used to reduce the power losses suffered inconnection with terrestrial transmission of electri-cal energy.

THE OIL AGE IS STILL GOING STRONGMagtech is a prime example of how technologicaldevelopment in one industry can have a major impacton other sectors. “By continuing and expanding ourefforts to exploit the tremendous potential inherentin petroleum activities, we will also promote thedevelopment of other industries such as the ITindustry”, states Jan-Erik Nordtvedt, Chairman ofthe Board in the research programme, Petroforsk.

“The oil and gas industry will offer plenty ofopportunities for adding value for many years tocome. There are several reasons for this. First, wehave only recovered about 20 per cent of the knownpetroleum resources, and second, the opportunitiesfor technological development in the North Sea canbe exploited much more effectively in future”, headds.

Nordtvedt’s hobby horse is that both the oilindustry and Norwegian suppliers must see them-selves as global players to a far greater extent.“Technology enterprises can generate new exportsfor themselves and for the oil companies if wefocus more on making them into global knowledgeenterprises. Thus far, Norwegian technology enter-prises have piggybacked on the oil companies toventure out into the world, but the technologyenterprises have a tremendous potential as inde-pendent door openers”, asserts Nordtvedt.

A LOCOMOTIVE FOR OTHERS Also Information Director Maiken Ims of the Nor-wegian Oil Industry Association is convinced thatthe Norwegian petroleum industry stands poised onthe threshold of a new and fascinating future. “Inactual practice, the oil industry is Norway’s largestIT industry when it comes to applications. Theindustry inevitably uses the latest and best technolo-gy available in all fields of technology. There aregreat opportunities for knock-on effects throughinnovation and spin-offs. No other industry in Nor-way has the same ability to bring about knock-oneffects simply by requesting knowledge, researchand expertise from related industries”, she observes.

The Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) atKjeller outside Oslo is part of this new develop-ment. Iron, steel and saltwater do not mix well, andIFE has invested considerable research efforts inreducing corrosion in the pipelines used to transportoil and gas in the North Sea. This new knowledgealready saves the oil companies many millions ofNorwegian kroner each year. A prime example is theTroll field, where the pipelines to the processingfacility on land actually suffered very little corro-sion. “But a tiny bit of corrosion goes a long way! Ina 70-km long pipeline, it turned out to be a hugeproblem since no less than 70 kg of dissolved ironreached the processing facility every single day. Theiron was the source of untenable operational disrup-tions and maintenance problems”, reports SeniorResearcher Egil Gulbrandsen at IFE.

TAMING CORROSIONIn 2000, Gulbrandsen and his colleague Jon Kvare-kvål completed a research project designed to studywhich factors are most important when it comes toenhancing the effect of the anti-corrosives used inthe pipelines. Kvarekvål explains that IFE had two

FAST-TRACK CORROSION This picture shows CO2 corro-sion. Corrosion on the inside of pipelines can occur exceptionallyquickly if not inhibited somehow, and the deposits can eat througha pipeline wall in just a few years. (Photo: Institute for Energy Technology)

Powerful oil companies make different choices

SUBSEA TO BEACH: Tomorrowstechnology will allow seabed pro-cessing and separation of gas andoil, and transportation by pipelinesto onshore plants. Subsea production facilities andpipelines to transport wellstreamsto land will reduce CO2 emissions.(Drawing: DEMO 2000)

TRANSFORMER SANS SEMI-CONDUCTORS. Espen Haugs (l.)and Frank Strand of Magtech AS testing an early demo system. Com-puter technology is not suitable for the ocean bottom, so the enter-prise has designed a frequency converter without semi-conductors. (Photo: Bjarne Røsjø)

main objectives for the project. “The one was todetermine which factors are critical for anti-corro-sives, and the other was to develop testing methodsto help the oil companies make more informedchoices of anti-corrosives for each individual pipe-line”, he explains.

“The project has shown that the content of solidparticles in the transported matter plays an impor-tant part, and this was a completely new discovery.The oil and gas streams also contain water andsome solid particles of substances such as sand,clay and limestone. These solids can often be fine-ly distributed, meaning they have a large surfacearea. We found that the anti-corrosives largelywork by attaching themselves to these surfaces,reducing the particles’ effect on the surface of thepipelines”, continues Gulbrandsen.

The problems with the iron deposits in the Trollpipeline were ultimately solved by adding causticsoda. “The Elf oil company came up with the ideaof adding organic bases to increase the pH value ofthe wellstream. But the bases were hazardous forthe environment, so we experimented with othersubstances instead. Finally, we ascertained thatcommon caustic soda was well suited for the job,reducing corrosion by no less than 90 to 95 percent. The operator, Statoil, reports that they savedseveral hundred million NOK by solving the theproblem that way”, smiles Gulbrandsen.

▲▲ ▲

Nearly 200 years have passed since the Nor-wegian marine biologist Michael Sars dis-covered the presence of living organisms atocean depths greater than what was commonly be-lieved possible in the early 1800s.

There are still several million unidentifiedorganisms in the ocean, waiting to be scientificallydescribed, understood and exploited.

Valuable substances are found in nearly allmarine life, from algae and invertebrates to crus-taceans, fish and mammals. Anti-bacterial sub-stances (antibiotics) have been found in molluscs,toad crabs, Northern pink shrimp, hermit crabs,king crabs, sea urchins and starfish, as well as inkelp and seaweed.

Gene research, biotechnology and bioinforma-tics can be used to enhance genetic characteristics,and to search for useful ‘new’ molecules, genes andenzymes in micro-organisms. The latter is calledbio-prospecting. Analogous to the word prospect-ing in its traditional sense, bio-prospecting is thesearch for biological gold.

BREAKING NEW GROUNDThe ocean is home to species ranging from thosethat live in sub-zero temperatures to others thattempt fate in habitats with temperatures that exceedthe boiling point. The oceans contain aerobic andanaerobic species, species that require high and lowsalinity levels, and species that require very little orextremely much light. In other words, the oceanscontain the full range of organisms, including spe-cies balanced on the extreme edge of existence.

The waters off the Norwegian coast, particularlyin the Arctic, are considered a genetic gold mine,and may prove to be even more important than therain forests.

“Organisms adapted to cold water have uniquecharacteristics, and Arctic waters contain a widerange of such little-studied organisms”, commentsTrond Jørgensen, professor of biotechnology at theNorwegian College of Fisheries Science in Tromsø,

– 15 –

Norwegian researchers are on a quest

for new substances that kill bacteria,

inhibit virus and fungus and regulate

cell growth. They are finding them in

simple, primordial organisms both on

land and at sea, as well as by screening

synthetic compounds that mimic natu-

ral substances. These compounds seem

to be especially abundant in the icy cold

waters of the Arctic. This discovery

could have a major impact on the food

and medicine industries.

BY SIW ELLEN JAKOBSEN, PAUL TORVIK NILSEN AND BJARNE RØSJØ

The quest forbio -gold

LIQUID GOLD: The contents of this bottlewere extracted from 4000 litres of thaw waterfrom shrimp, leaving a biochemical worthNOK 1 million per gram. (Photo: Biotec)

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to constitute an industry. The genes for the sub-stances Biotec is looking for have also been isolat-ed, facilitating production of the substances bygenetic engineering.

“If we isolate the gene that codes the enzyme,we can implant it into a micro-organism. Once thatis done, the micro-organism will produce moreenzyme whenever we want”, says head of Biotec’sresearch department, Dag-Rune Gjellesvik.

HOLY COW?Yet another example: The pharmaceutical industrymakes capsules for pills out of pigskin or the sinewsand bones of cattle. A group of researchers at theNorwegian University of Science and Technology(NTNU) in Trondheim claims these cap-sules canbe made of fish gelatine, possibly in combinationwith another marine biopolymer (see explanation inthe fact box).

“I frequently receive queries from businesses inthe US that are interested in the status of this researchin Norway”, reports Olav Smidsrød, a professor ofbiopolymer chemistry and head of the NorwegianBiopolymer Laboratory (NOBIPOL) at NTNU. Itused to be considered impossible to make capsules offish gelatine because its melting point was too low.

“We are trying to exploit synergies with othergel-forming marine biopolymers (see box) or to addenzymes that can upgrade the gelatine and imbue itwith the right properties”, continues Smidsrød.

NOBIPOL’s research has long been closely asso-ciated with industry. Professor Smidsrød attributesmuch of NOBIPOL’s success to this co-operation.

PROMISING HIV MEDICINEBased on a group of scientists under the commandof Professor Kjetil Taskén at the Department ofMedical Biochemistry at the University of Oslo, theenterprise Lauras a.s. has entered the race to deve-lop an effective drug to combat HIV and AIDS. All

today’s drugs are designed to attack the virus per se.Lauras is trying to find ways to strengthen the body-’s immune system, allowing the body itself to fightthe deadly virus.

HIV-infected patients have an elevated level ofthe signal substance cyclic AMP (adenosine mono-phosphate) in the type of white blood cells known asT-cells. This substance tells T-cells when to turndown the immune response, making the cells lessable to attack viruses and bacteria. An elevated levelof cAMP leads to the production of more HIV virus.Thus begins a vicious circle. Lauras’ idea is to breakthe vicious circle by adding a chemical compoundthat prevents the production of excessive amounts ofcAMP.

TAILOR-MADE DNAIn future, specially designed DNA molecules willbe used to treat and prevent diseases. Thus far, it hasbeen difficult to introduce DNA into the cells of thebody effectively. Now, the biotechnology companyInovio as of Oslo has patented a technique that canhelp solve the problem.

In future, DNA therapy can be used as a vaccine,not merely against HIV, but also, for example, againstmalaria, and for new treatments for cancer and a num-ber of diseases ascribable to the body’s failure to pro-duce important hormones or other proteins by normalmeans. The US patent authorities have grantedInovio’s application to patent a method to introduceDNA molecules into body cells using electrical simu-lation (electrophoresis). Inovio as has inter alia triedto inject DNA from tuberculosis bacilli.

The muscle fibres absorbed the DNA and beganto produce a protein normally produced by tubercu-losis bacilli. In turn, the protein triggered animmune reaction in the mice. This indicates that themethod can be further developed into a new type ofvaccination against tuberculosis, according to thetwo founders, Professor Terje Lømo and Dr. philos.

Iacob Mathiesen, of the Department of Basic Med-ical Sciences at the University of Oslo.

“Provided we prove the technique can be usedagainst tuberculosis, for which there is no genuine-ly good vaccine today, it can probably also be usedto make other DNA vaccines”, states Mathiesen.

The patented electrophoresis technique is basedon introducing a simple DNA plasmid (a ring-shapedmolecule) into a cell using electrical simulation. Acompeting method involves introducing DNA into acell using a virus, but the method is fraught with con-siderable disadvantages and hazards.

– 17 –

a Norwegian pioneer in the field of modern marinebio-prospecting.

“First, researchers examine molecules, genes andothers mechanisms in the cells. Then they purify andculture them, re-arranging DNA into new combina-tions and habitats in bacteria cultures, for example.This allows us to observe the processes that are ini-tiated, and tell whether they involve biological spe-cialities that can be studied and exploited.

“Simple marine organisms lack immune systemswith white blood cells. Nonetheless, they produceanti-bacterial substances, or more correctly, anti-biotic molecules, in response to infections. Findingout how they manage to do this is of great import-ance. Yet we have barely begun to understand evena tiny part of the complex biological processes, andwe are moving through previously unexplored terri-tory”, Jørgensen emphasises.

“Eventually, we hope to be able to tailor mole-cules to particular objectives. This is now possiblebecause we can identify the entire DNA genome(see box) in a cell. Once we have mapped thegenome, we can make identical new cells, or mole-cules in a cell, allowing us to produce artificial bio-chemicals in laboratories”, says Jørgensen.

A CHILLING IDEAA prime example is the enzyme contained in thewater left when we thaw shrimp. The Tromsø-based

enterprise Biotec ASA sells an enzyme extractedfrom the water left from thawing frozen shrimp forNOK 1 million per gram on the world market.According to Biotec, this is without a doubt thehighest (per unit) priced Norwegian export productcurrently on the market.

The water left from thawing contains tinyamounts of the sought-after enzyme. Following aweek of constant processing, 4000 litres of waterleft from thawing are reduced to about 40 litres ofconcentrate, from which pure enzyme is extractedin an adjacent laboratory. In other words, it takes4000 litres of water to make less than one gram ofthe enzyme, which is an ultrapure “bio-catalyst” forbiochemical processes. The product’s strongest sell-ing point is that it consists of an enzyme that isadapted to the cold, since the shrimp live in Arcticwaters. Enzymes adapted to the cold are easier torender inactive by applying heat, an advantage forthose who will be using the enzyme.

The enzyme is useful for researchers and labor-atories engaged in DNA-sequencing, molecularbiology research, and diagnostics, including themapping of genes and forensic medicine.

However, fisheries by-products are not enough

HOCUS POCUS: By concentrating the thaw waterfrom shrimp and passing it through such columns,it is possible to ”wash away” extraneous proteins,purifying the enzyme. Performed in several steps,this enhances the purity of the enzyme from 0.1%to 100%. (Photo: Biotec )VACCINE: A research project in Bergen can

lead to the development of edible vaccine, whichwould be a major step forward. (Photo: Samfoto)

– 16 –

Researchers are in the process of identifying allthe genes in a bacterium that can live on met-hane and make proteins that can be used for ani-mal and fish feed. Now they believe the bacte-rium can also be used for vaccine. ProfessorJohan Lillehaug of the Department of MolecularBiology at the University of Bergen heads theresearch project. "First we are mapping the enti-re genome of the bacterium, known as M. capsu-latus.After that, we will learn more about howthe genes can be exploited and which characte-ristics they are coded for.

The bacterium is already under production.The enterprise Norferm DA’s factory on Tjeld-bergodden will be “fed” methane from an oilfield in the North Sea.The produced bacteriaare a rich source of proteins that can be addedto fish and animal feed and it is guaranteed freeof infection.

Lillehaug believes the bacterium will proba-bly lend itself to numerous other interestingapplications. It is completely innocuous and canbe eaten by animals and human beings alike.Consequently, researchers maintain that itshould be possible to use the bacterium foredible vaccines, especially in the fish-farming andagricultural industries. In the long run, humanvaccines should also be feasible. Getting vaccinesinto edible capsules would be a huge step for-ward, especially in the Third World where tropi-cal heat and dirty needles are major obstaclesfor vaccination programmes.

“To make an oral vaccine, we must alter thebacterium so that it makes an antigen on theoutside of it.An antigen is a molecule that sti-mulates the production of antibodies. The bac-terium can then be dried and added to feeds.Animals that eat this feed will be exposed to the

antigen and react by making antibodies.Thisway, the antigen-carrying bacteria will act as avaccine”, explains Lillehaug.

The researchers in Bergen co-operate withthe Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) onthe mapping of the bacterium’s genes.The Ame-ricans found this work so interesting that it onlytook them three weeks to get the US Depart-ment of Energy to allocated USD 1 million tothe project.The director of TIGR, Claire Fraser,who, by the way, was awarded an honorary doc-torate by the University of Bergen last year,remarked in an interview that the professionalco-operation she and her colleagues at TIGRhave with the Department of Molecular Biology,is one of the most fruitful relationships they haveever had.

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Edible vaccine

▲

Archaeologist Ole Grimsrud of the Depart-ment of Archaeology at the University ofOslo provides us with a glimpse into theeveryday lives of Norsemen some 2000 years ago,about 800 years before infamous hordes of Vikingsdescended on Great Britain, Ireland and France.Seemingly appearing out of nowhere, the Vikingsquickly carved out a most violent place for them-selves in European history. Yet the Vikings too hadpredecessors. Norwegian and Nordic archaeolo-gists are now learning more about the people wholived in the high north prior to the Viking Era.

Thanks not least to the Icelandic saga writerSnorre, we know quite a bit about the Vikings ofNorway, including the names of their rulers and howthey lived. That being said, the history of Norway inpre-Viking times was largely a blank until recently.

A SMALL VILLAGEIron Age Norsemen lived on the periphery of theRoman Empire, which also put them on the peri-phery of the major waves of European migration.Recent archaeological digs and, not least, new re-search techniques have resulted in the unearthing ofa steady stream of knowledge about who these peo-ple of the north, the Norsemen, really were.

For several thousand years after the Ice Age, thetopography along the east side of the Oslo Fjordand further south along the Swedish coast consistedof beautiful skerries and islands, offering StoneAge Scandinavians protection from the weather aswell as an abundance of food from land and sea. Bythe time iron, and thereby the Iron Age, reached thepeople here roughly 2500 years ago, the ground hadrisen significantly, transforming the island land-scape into rolling ridges and fertile plains.

Three years ago, the Ås Municipal Councildecided to build new senior citizen housing on agentle hillside overlooking the local farmlands. Itwas here, on the south side of one of the majormoraine ridges, where a number of historical dis-coveries had been made, that archaeologists had tomake investigations before construction equipmentwas allowed on site.

It came as no great surprise when several findswere made almost immediately. Over the three pastsummers, archaeologists have excavated jewellery,ceramics and traces of 18 houses. Most of the findscan be dated back to between 0 and 400 AD, but thearea has also revealed traces from the NorwegianBronze Age (1700 to 500 BC)

IRON AGE FARMIn the summer of 2000, head of the digs, OleGrimsrud and his colleagues found three long-houses of the type commonly foundaround the entire North Sea back inthose days. The longhouses wereoften shared, with cows and sheepoccupying one end and people livingon the other. The walls of the housesconsisted of birch saplings, closelywoven, then stuffed with clay for insulation. Theroofs were held up by columns and probably co-vered with turf.

The people on this farm may have been relative-

– 18 –

Life in the pre-Viking landscape “Iron Age Norsemen lived in an agrarian society where people cultivated barley to

make porridge, bake flatbread and brew beer, and they grew flax to make linen for

clothes. The farmers probably had thralls, that is, bonded servants. Women gener-

ally bore their first babies at the age of 14 or 15, and few people lived past the age

of 40," explains Ole Grimsrud.

BY BÅRD AMUNDSEN

IRON AGE FARM:Outside Stavanger you

can visit this farm, builton the spot where

archaeologists havefound remnants of

houses from the IronAge. (Photo: Museum

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– 19 –

– 20 –

ly well-to-do. They probably made their own ironfrom ore extracted from nearby bogs. Severalgraveyards have been found to the north, west andsouth of the farm. The most sensational find is awoman’s grave that contained a 14-year-old girlwho died in about 300 AD. She was buried with alead spinning wheel and a spindle bearing theremains of textiles, which was very surprisingindeed. In addition, the archaeologists found anamber bead, a gold-foiled glass bead, a dragonbuckle and an earthen vessel.

“The Ås excavation, site of a large farm withgraves from the Iron Age, represents yet anotherimportant contribution to our knowledge aboutthis era”, Grimsrud points out.

FAMILY AND COMMUNITYThe first centuries after the birth of Christ markeda burgeoning age of innovation in the Nordiccountries. The iron axe, the iron sickle and thehorse opened new vistas. Most of Denmark wasput under the plough, and Sweden and southernNorway offered huge new tracts of arable land.Pioneering farmers cleared forests and pickedrock. A number of finds from this period tell ofextensive imports of products crafted by Romanartisans. Archaeologists have found bronze pansand glass goblets, but people clearly also longedfor more ‘up-market’ items such as silver goblets,

Roman swords and gold jewellery. Locally-madejewellery with mythological motifs appears tohave been inspired by Roman art, at the same timeas it bears witness to a rich, very characteristicNordic ornamentation. The pieces also show thatthe Iron Age was a time of changing styles and fa-shions, just as we see in our own time. The peoplemust have been in close contact with their neigh-bours to the south. Many Norseman probably visitedthe Roman Empire, carrying trade goods such asfurs, hides and walrus tusks. Some may also haveserved as mercenaries. As early as 2000 years ago,sea routes and sturdy seaworthy vessels linkedNorway to the rest of Europe.

Archaeologists in Norway and other placesused to be dedicated to finding artefacts and burialgrounds. Today, archaeology is to a greater extenta field in which researchers strive to learn moreabout how people lived in times past. At Ås and onother sites, it is the houses, the traces of cookingand other routine activities that really generateinterest. Meanwhile, archaeologists are increas-ingly seeking help from experts in other disci-plines, including biology, religion and linguistics.

“As a result, we now know a great deal moreabout the family and society of 2000 years agotoday than we did just a few years ago. This hashelped make our field even more exciting”, con-cludes Ole Grimsrud.

A glacial landscapeÅs is a small town about 30 km south of Oslo. From there

and further south down the west coast of Sweden, archaeolo-

gical treasures are far from uncommon.Among the most

famous are the many Bronze Age rock carvings that have

been found. One of them, at Tanum just across the Swedish

border, is on UNESCO’s world heritage list.The area is also

well known for its Viking Age finds, including the Tune Ship,

found in a burial mound and now on display at the Viking Ship

Museum in Oslo.

The gargantuan glaciers of the Ice Age largely determined

Norway’s current topography.The name Ås means ‘ridge’ in

English, and it is no wonder someone gave that name to an

ancient farm located here some 2000 years ago.The glaciers

created far more than the deep fjords and steep-sided moun-

tains for which Norway is famous.The tremendous force of

the glaciers also moved huge amounts of sand, soil and rock,

forming the 1000 km-long moraine ridges that dissect south-

ern Scandinavia today.The unfathomable weight of the ice

masses also forced the ground down, meaning that most of

the land in Scandinavia with an elevation of less than 150 to

200 metres today was once seabed. Soil that has been sub-

merged is rife with nutrients, and the glaciers created a fertile

belt along the coastal lowlands south of Oslo.The very best

soil is often on the south side of moraine ridges, a fact which

did not delude the Iron Age Norsemen.

The glaciers disappeared about 10,000 years ago. Not

long after, the first people arrived to live in this place where

the coastal waters offered an abundance of fish and seals, and

huge flocks of reindeer grazed right down to the seaside.The

oldest human artefacts in Norway were found near the North

Cape, about as far north as it is possible to get in Europe. But

why? For a long time, researchers believed the first Norwe-

gians must have come from the east. However, new examina-

tions of the archaeological traces they left behind tend to

point in the direction of Stone Age finds around the North

Sea.This probably means that Norway, as we know it today,

was populated from south to north, all the way to the Arctic

Ocean, just a few short centuries after the end of the Ice Age.

IRON AGE COOKING: Archaeologist Ole Grims-rud beside two large, exceptionally well preservedcooking pits located side by side. Only half theholes have been excavated in order to reveal across-section. (Photo: Cato Guhnfeldt/Scanpix)

▲ JEWELLERY: This isa buckle of gilded silver

from the Early Iron Age(0-500 AD). (Drawing: C.

F. Lindberg, from the book“Norske Oldsager” (“Norse

Antiquities”), Oluf Rygh, TapirForlag Christiania, 1885).

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World champion cross-country

skiers have contributed to the

development of new knowledge

about sliding friction. Now sci-

entists are eager to transfer this

knowledge to research in other

fields.

BY SIW ELLEN JAKOBSEN

Aresearch project that addressedthe optimisation of snow and ski-ing conditions has helped nu-merous cross-country skiers improvetheir ‘track times’. Tests have shown thatcertain skiers have boosted their speedby as much as 10 per cent when the struc-ture of their ski soles is optimally ad-justed to the prevailing snow conditions.

“Despite the fact that large parts ofour planet are covered with ice and snow,little research has been done on slidingfriction. The ski manufacturer Madshus,the Norwegian Olympic skiers andNTNU have now developed fundamentalknowledge about sliding friction whichcan be transferred to a number of othersports as well as to areas outside the

world of sports”, says Sveinung Løset,professor of Arctic Technology at theNorwegian University of Science andTechnology (NTNU) in Trondheim.

“For example, the friction that arisesbetween tyres and the road surface is cru-cial to safety on roads and runwaysalike”, explains Løset.

Moreover, research on products de-signed to enhance sliding friction paidoff during the summer Olympics in Syd-ney last year, for example, when theywere tested on the Norwegian team’sboats in the kayak and canoe events,bringing excellent results.

WALKING ON WATERThe Norwegian research has revolvedaround how to minimise friction betweensnow and skis.

“A ‘watery film’ forms between thesnow and the skis”, says Gunnar Bjert-næs, technical director at the Madshusski factory. “The friction is lowest whenthe watery film is suitably thin. Whenweather conditions are too cold, it is hardto produce this film so you need to havea structure on the skis that promotes itsproduction. The structure is the patternmade on the sole of the ski to reduce thefriction between snow and ski. If thetemperature is above freezing, the filmbecomes overly watery, causing suction

rather than friction. Then the skis have tobe structured with a pattern that drainsthe water away. Given this knowledge, itis possible to manufacture skis with opti-mal sliding properties by adapting thedepth and type of sole structure to differ-ent snow conditions.”

HI-TECH SKIING“These days, making skis is a high-techprocess, thanks to the R&D we have per-formed in connection with this project.We no longer sell just skis, but alsoexpert knowledge about the skis”, saysBjertnæs. Thomas Alsgaard of Norway,Christian Zorzi of Italy, René Sommer-feldt of Germany, Pirjo Manninen of Fin-land and the other competition skierswho use Madshus skis benefit from thisknowledge.

“Your average cross-country skierwill also benefit from the way we ensurethe quality of our products these days”,concludes Bjertnæs.

CROSSING THE FINISH LINE: Lit-tle research has been done on slidingfriction, yet such research can be deci-sive for far more than getting ThomasAlsgaard across the finish line. It couldmake life safer for the general public.(Photo: Ole C.H. Thomassen)

Ski for enlightenment

The world’s oldest ski factory The research performed by the

Madshus ski factory (founded in

1906) has put more than just ski-

ers on track. From producing

50 000 pair of skis a year at the

factory in the tiny inland village

of Biri in the early 1990s, in

2000, Madshus sold 175 000 pair

in 23 different countries.This

bodes well for the tradition-rich

ski factory on the threshold of its

first centenary in 2006.

“When competitors using skis

made in Biri step up to the ros-

trum to accept their prizes, the

average skier takes note of the

brand name and wants to buy the

same kind”, states Technical Direc-

tor Gunnar Bjertnæs.The ski fac-

tory was bought out by K2 of the

US in 1988, and has for the most

part produced downhill skis since

then. However, the downhill mar-

ket has declined significantly.The

factory had to adjust accordingly,

and it was decided to focus on

Nordic skis.Today, the plant is the

world’s best in this area.

▲

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“Prior to the development of object-orien-ted computer programming languages,in principle, all computer programsconsisted of a long line of commands. Computerswere instruct-ed to add one number to another byone instruction, then multiply two other numbersby the next, etc. The programs operated on a sort ofsingle, long assembly line principle, with smallincremental variations leading from one particularpoint of departure to a particular conclusion. Bycomparison, object-oriented computer languageshave many more dimensions and possibilities. Welike to think of them as organising the programexecution not so much as a single assembly line,but more like in a workshop, with an assortment ofcomponents standing ready to accept differenttypes of assignments which are prescribed by aspecific program”, explains Kristen Nygaard.

Nygaard and Dahl presented the world’s firstobject-oriented programming language Simula in1965, followed by the sequel, Simula 67, twoyears later. Yet the real story began long beforethat, when Nygaard was stationed as a conscriptat the Norwegian Defence Research Establish-ment (FFI) at Kjeller outside Oslo in 1948. Hisfirst assignment was to calculate the correctdiameter of the uranium rods to be used in Nor-way’s first (and Europe’s first civilian) nuclearreactor. As the Americans were not especiallyforthcoming with the answer, FFI’s chief beancounter Jan V. Garwick had to find a mathemati-cal solution for how to calculate the answer.

It was of the utmost importance to calculate acorrect diameter for the uranium rods: If theanswer was inaccurate, there were two possibili-ties. Either there would be the disappointment ofno chain reaction being initiated among the neu-trons in the uranium, or there would be excessiveradioactivity which, at the very least, wouldmake the Kjeller area a very uncomfortable placeto be.

THE NEUTRON GAMENygaard was put in charge of the calculationswhich were being carried out at that time by handand using electromechanical calculators. Despitethe fact that he enlisted the help of many others,the very complexity of the process resulted inextremely slow progress. Then he and Garwickgot a bright idea from a new report from theUSA: It should be possible to imitate or simulatethe neutron paths in the reactor by constructing agame with the same structure (following thesame rules) as the physical phenomenon. Theyalready knew the rules, that is, the probabilitydistribution of how far a neutron will move be-fore it collides with another nucleus, and theyalso knew the probability of the collision causinga fission, releasing other neutrons.

“It was possible to observe the result of play-ing the entire ‘neutron game’ for a few thousandneutrons. In actual practice, the work was doneby six or seven soldiers who spent two monthsdoing the necessary arithmetic by hand. And the

reactor worked just as it should when it cameonline in 1951”, recounts Nygaard.

The neutron game was Kristen Nygaard’s firstexperience with simulation. From the mid-1950s,his work focused mainly on strategic and tacticalstudies related to military technology, frequentlyusing simulation as a tool. By that time, earlyelectronic computers were available, but thewriting of simulation programs turned out to bevery difficult because of the complex interactionpatterns inherent in such simulations. In 1960, hemoved to, and soon became director of researchat, the Norwegian Computing Centre, where hewas once again called upon to perform assign-ments which required simulation to analyse tasksto facilitate planning for private businesses andthe public administration.

Nygaard’s experience was that the use of sim-ulation entailed two main tasks, both difficult: 1)the system at hand had to be properly understoodand described, and 2) the system description hadto be able to produce an error-free computer sim-ulation program.

At that point, Nygaard decided to devise alanguage that was suitable for people who need-ed to produce precise descriptions of even themost complex systems; descriptions that werecomprehensible and useful in human communi-cation, but which also made it possible for a com-piler program to automatically produce computersimulation programs of the described systems:the computer could use a description to simulate

object-oriented view of the worldAnthe system described. The language was to benamed SIMULA – an abbreviation for “simulationlanguage”.

In 1962, Nygaard recruited his friend and FFIcolleague Ole-Johan Dahl to join the team, and therest is history.

“At that time, I hadn’t followed the developmentof programming languages for a number of years.But Dahl had the expertise I lacked. The first ver-sion of Simula was completed in 1965, and it isimpossible to tell where Ole-Johan’s efforts endedand mine began. Simula is genuinely a joint effort”,comments Nygaard 36 years later.

Object-oriented programming languages domi-nate the field today. Simula was quickly used invery large simulation tasks, for example, in thedesign of microchips, but also as a general pro-gramming language for mastering highly complexprogramming tasks. From 1976 to 1980, the Simu-la ideas were introduced into programming toolsfor work stations from MIT, Stanford and XeroxParc. 1984 marked the introduction of the AppleMacintosh, the first personal computer based onobject-oriented design principles, and eventuallyMicrosoft followed Apple by presenting its ownobject-oriented operating system, Windows. In the1990s, Sun Microsystems developed the languageJava, which features all the basic object-orientedelements from SIMULA plus important new fea-tures related to the Internet.

SHAPING OUR LIVESBoth Kristen Nygaard and Ole-Johan Dahl arehighly respected in international professional cir-cles. In Norway, it is Nygaard who is best known –for his political commitment. Among other things,he was leader of the “No to the EU” organisationduring Norway’s most recent debate on EU mem-bership, and he certainly did his part to ensure thatthe majority of Norway’s voters rejected Norwe-gian membership of the EU in two national referen-da.

In 1968, Ole-Johan Dahl was appointed to thefirst chair in informatics at the University of Oslo,building up the new Department of Informatics.Nygaard later left the Norwegian Computing Cen-ter and joined the same department.

In the autumn of 2000, both men were awardedthe Commander degree of the coveted Order of St.Olav for their contributions to the development ofcomputer technology. In December, they werereceived at the Royal Palace in Oslo, having beengranted an audience to thank King Harald for theaward in person, in accordance with Norwegian tra-dition. “As we cut, paste, copy and save our com-puter files today, we owe a huge debt of gratitude toDahl and Nygaard”, it states in the grounds for whythe two professors were awarded the Order of St.Olav.

It is hard to tell what today’s computers would have been like, had it not been

for Norwegian researchers Kristen Nygaard and Ole Johan Dahl, who devel-

oped the world’s first object-oriented computer language in the 1960s. In this

day and age, all computer users live in an object-oriented world. But what does

the term ‘object oriented’ actually mean?

BY BJARNE RØSJØ

RECOGNISED FOR THEIRCONTRIBUTIONS: Kristen Nygaard andOle-Johan Dahl were recently awarded theprestigious John von Neumann Medal for2002. The prize is awarded by the Instituteof Electrical and Electronics Engineers(IEEE), and considered one of the highestdistinctions computer scientists canachieve. Last year Nygaard and Dahl werenamed Commanders of the Order ofSt.Olav, and had an audience at the RoyalPalace to thank King Harald for theaward. (Photo: Department of Informatics)

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ArcticTOXIC BEAUTY: The pristine Lake Ellasjøen on Bjørnøya(Bear Island) contains extremely high levels of environmentalcontaminants. The extensive research being done on theisland is aimed at finding out why the contaminants end uphere. (Photo: G. Christensen/Akvaplan-niva)

SEABIRDS: One theory is thatseabirds, and there are huge numbersof them around Lake Ellasjøen, mayincrease the levels of environmentalcontaminants through their excre-ment. (Photo: G. Christensen/Akva-plan-niva)

Some of the highest levels of environmental contaminants

ever recorded in untouched wilderness areas were record-

ed in Lake Ellasjøen on the Arctic island of Bjørnøya, the

southernmost island in the Svalbard archipelago.

BY SIW ELLEN JAKOBSEN

can use in international negotiations toreduce the use and emissions of organo-chlorine compounds”, Skotvold pointsout.

SOMETHING FISHY ABOUT ARCTIC CHARSkotvold was among the first to be-come aware of the unusually highaccumulation of environmental conta-minants on Bjørnøya. Strangely, thefacts were revealed as the result of anaccident. In the summer of 1992, fishsamples were collected in Lake Ella-sjøen on Bjørnøya, then preparationswere made to analyse them for mercu-ry and organic environmental conta-minants. In addition to the officialsamples, Skotvold fished an Arcticchar intended for his own family’s

dinner table. He took the fish homewith him and put it in his deep freezerin Tromsø to await a suitable occasion.However, there was a mix-up at thelaboratory, and the samples were ana-lysed for mercury only. Suddenly, thelone fish in the freezer was the onlyremaining untested material from theoriginal sample. With a heavy heart,the scientist sent his magnificent Arc-tic char off to the Norwegian Institutefor Air Research (NILU) to have itchecked for organic environmentalcontaminants. The readings were rightoff the scales; the char contained ex-tremely high levels of DDT and PCBs.

As a result of the discovery, Akva-plan-niva performed a number of sur-veys on lakes on Svalbard andBjørnøya from 1992 to 1998. The sur-veys of freshwater sediments and fishindicate that Lake Ellasjøen is totallyunique. It has the highest PCB andDDT readings ever recorded in

untouched Arctic freshwater environ-ments. Other lakes on Bjørnøya or innorthern Norway have nowhere nearthe same high levels.

HAZARDOUS BREEZESResearchers are now trying to figureout why Lake Ellasjøen differs somuch from the other lakes. They be-lieve that various meteorological con-ditions, combined with the prevailingtopographical conditions, may be theanswer. “Lake Ellasjøen is locatedright beside a mountain, meaning moreprecipitation is deposited there. Thusthe deposit of airborne componentsmay also be greater than in lakes situa-ted in flat terrain”, explains Skotvold.

Another theory is that seabirds,and there are huge numbers of themaround Lake Ellasjøen, may increasethe levels of environmental contami-nants through their excrement. Thereare strong indications that the envi-

ronmental contaminants found in thisarea are transported from the distantsouth. Special climatic conditionscause the contaminants to be trans-ported by air and deposited in adelimited area of the Arctic. Accord-ingly, researchers are collecting sam-ples of rain, snow and fog, then collo-cating them with wind currents todetermine their origins.

DDT and PCBs are substanceswith very long half lives. These days,they are banned in the West, but stillused in some developing countries,and probably also in Russia. DDT isused to fight malaria and as a pesti-cide in agriculture. PCBs have beenused inter alia in transformer andhydraulics oils, as well as in electricheat exchangers. Researchers current-ly know very little about the effects ofthe toxic concentrations on Bjørnøya,so further research needs to be doneon the question.

An

Extensive research is currentlyunderway on the island todetermine where the environ-mental contaminants come from, whythey end up on Bjørnøya and whetherthe island is representative of otherparts of the Arctic. “Bjørnøya is a uni-que laboratory for studying the long-range transport of environmental con-taminants, particularly since we canrule out that local sources have causedthe pollution”, comments Trond Skot-

vold, a researcher at Akvaplan-niva inTromsø. Along with the NorwegianPolar Institute, the Weather Fore-casting Service in Northern Norway,the Research Department of the Nor-wegian Meteorological Institute andthe Norwegian Institute for Air Rese-arch (NILU), Akvaplan-niva is invol-ved in identifying the sources andtransport mechanisms behind the pol-lution on the island. “It is important toproduce knowledge that the authorities

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environmental laboratory

– 27 –– 26 –

Deep water or deep space? Scientists

hope that volcanic rock-eating subsea

bacteria can help us solve some of the

mysteries of outer space.

BY PAUL TORVIK NILSEN

PHOTOS: THE DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY,UNIVERSITY OF BERGEN

Geologists and microbiologists at the Uni-versity of Bergen have shown that there aremicro-organisms living in cracks in vol-canic rock several hundred metres beneath theearth’s crust under the seabed. They found theirevidence in samples from volcanically active areas(spreading ridges) in the North Atlantic betweenNorway, Svalbard and Greenland, and in the Pacif-ic off the coast of Costa Rica.

THE MYSTERIES OF SPACE“Today, many researchers believe that life beganunder the ocean floor, deep in the earth’s crust.Accordingly, micro-organisms from volcanic rockat great depths may possibly tell us somethingabout the origin of life. The mere fact that there islife far below the Earth’s surface is also a crucialpoint when we set our sights on learning moreabout planets other than our own”, remarks Resear-cher Ingunn Thorseth, Department of Geology,University of Bergen, where she is a specialist inthe field of geomicrobiology. Along with geologyprofessor Harald Furnes and researcher Terje Tors-vik at the Department of Microbiology, Thorseth isa pioneer in this field of research.

The first signs of microbial life in volcanic rockwere discovered in 1991. In 1995, researchers man-aged to prove that lava found several hundredmetres under the ocean floor contained microbes.

Many of the methods used by the geologists andmicrobiologists are the same as space researchers usewhen searching for possible life on Mars and otherplanets. Scientists are now better able to recognisesigns of life – or something that might once havebeen life – also on other planets. They are also alwaystrying to find new ways to search for such life.

“First of all, space researchers can look for tracesof life, alive or petrified (fossils), in species of rockon planets and moons where we believe there mayhave been or is water. This applies to Mars, in par-ticular, but also to Europa, one of the planetJupiter’s moons. Both may have or have had wateror ice on the surface”, Ingunn Thorseth points out.

DNA FINDSWhen volcanoes erupt, they spew out red-hot,

liquid magma and lava, i.e. melted stone from theearth’s core. Researchers use scraping tools, as wellas manned and unmanned submarines, to pick upvolcanic rock from the uppermost layer, on the sur-face of the ocean floor. Thanks to the Ocean Dril-ling Programme (ODP), they also have equipmentto take drill cores at depths of several hundredmetres, from the older, underlying strata of suchvolcanic rock.

Two such cores (504B and 896A) have beendrilled off the coast of Costa Rica; the one all theway down to roughly 2000 metres. The rock thereis six million years old, and it was in samples fromthese drill cores that researchers first found tracesof micro-organisms under the seabed.

When molten basalt gushes out into the icy coldseawater, it hardens quickly, forming pillow-like

structures or pillow lava, as it is often called. Thecooling is so abrupt that the lava in the outermost lay-ers does not have time to crystallise, but hardensinstantly into a dark glassy material. This glassyfringe is usually heavily fractured. In contact withseawater, the glass along the cracks gradually deteri-orates and breaks down. Researchers study thebiodegradation process under electron microscopes.In so doing, they have discovered that the glass is fullof minuscule dissolved canals and so-called spheri-cal vacuoles, the size and shape of micro-organisms.

“The discovery is difficult to explain based onpurely organic biodegradation processes. Usingspecial coloration techniques, we have managed toshow that such dissolved canals and vacuoles con-tain DNA. The DNA finds prove that micro-organ-isms live in the lava, and they have left behindtraces in the glass through small ‘biosignature’ pitsand thin canals”, reports Thorseth.

In 1999, researchers in Bergen began investigat-ing lava flows from volcanic spreading ridges thatextend across the ocean depths stretching from Ice-land, between Svalbard and Greenland, to the Arc-tic Sea. These studies are part of the SUBMAR Pro-gramme funded by the Research Council of Nor-way, an interdisciplinary survey of the Arcticspreading ridges.

Researcher Terje Torsvik of the Department ofMicrobiology confirms how sensational these findsreally are: “This means that rock is not biodegradedsolely by ice and water, but also by microbialprocesses. It was previously assumed that life hasbeen limited to a thin layer outermost on the earth’scrust. These finds demonstrate that the biospherecontinues for several hundred metres under theseabed, ”, explains Torsvik.

GLASS-EATERSThe volcanic rock has dissolved in the areas wheremicro-organisms have taken up residence. Resear-chers contend that bacteria actually eat the rock,taking nourishment from the surface of the glass.

“By investigating young lava flows from theArctic volcanic ridges in the Atlantic, researcherscan perform tests to determine which types ofmicrobes live in the pillow lava. We have observedseveral different cell shapes: spherical (coccus),rods and cells with long, thin branching stems. Thecells become gradually covered by metal precipi-tates. Even long after the cells are dead, it is possi-ble to recognise them from the metal cap that takesthe shape of a fossilised cell”, continues Thorseth.

“The bacteria live without sunlight (photosyn-thesis), and have little access to organic material.By extracting DNA from the basalts and culturingthe microbes in the laboratory, we can identify themicrobes and find out what they live on”, remarksTorsvik. “One possibility is that the bacteria gettheir energy from hydrogen or methane, which maybe pre-sent in dissolved gas in the pore water.

Another possibility is that they get energy from oxi-dising reduced iron, manganese or sulphur com-pounds in the rock. Some of the bacteria are anaer-obic, while others are aerobic. All exist without sun-light. Many of them may build their cells out of car-bon from carbon dioxide dissolved in the water, justas plants do”, explains Torsvik.

A WHOLE NEW WORLDFinding organisms in the rock under the seabed isconsidered a major scientific discovery. Resear-chers have barely ‘scratched the surface’ in theirinvestigations of this life, but the new century lookshighly promising when it comes to learning more.

MOONSCAPE: When piecesof lava from the mountain rangesoff Costa Rica are placed underthe microscope, we see structuresand shapes the size of micro-organisms. The pictures (1–6)show volcanic glass, includingthe biodegradation and conver-sion of the glass along the inter-nal fractures (1 and 2). All thepictures expose canals, struc-tures and formations containingDNA. The visible DNA is in thedissolved canals inside the glass(1 and 2).

ROCKY ROAD: Researcher Ingunn Thorseth ofthe Department of Geology, University of Bergen,places lava samples under an electron microscopethat magnifies them thousands of times. Images ofthe rocks appear on-screen, allowing her to studywhat is inside them.(Photo: Paul Torvik Nilsen)

Facts about ODPThe Ocean Drilling Programme (ODP) is a co-operative international project being conductedby research institutions that target the explora-tion of the Earth’s structure and the develop-ment of deep-sea drilling. The programme isfunded by 20 nations. ODP gives researchersaccess to the drilling vessel JOIDES Resolution,which makes six cruises each year. The vesselcan handle depths in excess of 9000 metresusing a drilling string that makes it possible totake core samples from most of the Earth’s sea-bed. The Joides Resolution is equipped withmodern laboratories, including a new microbio-logy laboratory recently set up onboard as aresult of the discovery of a deep bio-sphereunder the seabed. As from 2003, plans will bemade for a new phase of the programme calledthe Integrated Ocean Drilling Programme(IODP), and a new drilling vessel is currentlyunder construction in Japan.The exploration ofthe Earth’s deep biosphere will be a centraltheme for ODP and IODP in the years ahead.

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ROCK AND ROLL: Researchers attempt to col-lect samples from the seabed in the North Atlanticusing the ROV Aglantha.

Rocky R oadLAVA PILLOWS: This is a sample of volcanic rock recovered

from a depth of >2000 metres on Mohn’s Ridge. The sample is frompillow lava, and it is in the outermost layer where traces of lifehave been found.

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1)

2) 3) 4) 5) 6)

One of three Norwegian women and one of 10Norwegian men develop osteoporosis atsome point in their lives, making the diseaseone of Norway’s most serious medical problems. Ofa population of approximately 4.7 million people,some 250,000 women over the age of 50 are brittleboned. Sooner or later, most will break an arm or aleg – or two. The most serious fractures are those ofthe hip, as evidenced by the fact that about 1100 Nor-wegian women die following hip fractures each year.

The number of Norwegians suffering fromosteoporosis is increasing explosively, leading inturn to a 500 per cent increase in the number of hipfractures over the past 40 years. Experts talk of aNorwegian “epidemic” of osteoporosis and frac-tures, fearing the incidence may re-double over thecoming decade or two.

MASS DESTRUCTION?Osteoporosis is diagnosed on the basis of bonemass density. People with less than a certain

amount are defined as having osteoporosis. Frac-tures can occur even as a result of light strains, andserious fractures can result in chronic pain, or evenin death, as mentioned above.

Bone mass, i.e. the skeleton, is built up duringchildhood and adolescence. At some point in a per-son’s 20s or 30s, the body completes the job, atwhich time the process of ‘mass destruction’ beginsslowly but surely, continuing for the remainder ofan individual’s life. Osteoporosis is more prevalentamong women as they reach menopause around theage of 50 and their bodies gradually stop producingsuch large quantities of oestrogen, the hormonewhich plays a major role in bone mass retention.

The pace of the brittle-bone boom has increasedeven more rapidly among men than women inrecent years, and researchers predict that osteo-porosis will affect one in 10 Norwegian men. Their“Achilles heel” seems to be their vertebrae.

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Them bones, them bones, them…brittle bones

Osteoporosis is a growing problem

throughout the western world, but

Norway tops the charts. Why? Scien-

tists are still searching for the answer,

and some of the most exciting efforts

to solve the mystery are being made

in Norway. Perhaps the answer lies in

Norwegians’ genetic make-up.

BY BÅRD AMUNDSEN

BRITTLE BONES: Norwegians are the most brit-tle-boned people in the world. One of three Nor-wegian women and one of 10 Norwegian mendevelop osteoporosis. Norwegian researchersbelieve the cause is genetic. (Phot