A team of scientists led by Marc Lessard of the University of New Hampshire Space Science Center launched an instrument-laden, four-stage sounding rocket from Norway’s Andøya Space Center about 280 miles above Earth to study how particles move in a region near the North Pole where Earth’s magnetic field is directly connected to the solar wind. The launch occurred Sunday, Dec. 13, at 2:34 a.m. EST.Funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the second iteration of the Rocket Experiment for Neutral Upwelling, or RENU 2, was designed to measure the complex, underlying physics behind the northern lights and heating of the very high altitude thermosphere – a process known as “upwelling” that contributes to the phenomena of “satellite drag.”
The thermosphere begins some 56 miles above Earth and the process of upwelling, which involves neutral atoms that carry no electrical charge and are denser than charged particles, has been known to exist since the earliest days of the space program when observers noted increased drag on Earth-orbiting satellites during periods of increased solar activity. The drag intensifies when the dense neutral atoms create “speed bumps” that slow satellites down and can eventually make them fall back into Earth’s atmosphere.

At the time, the effect was largely attributed to large-scale motion in the ionosphere, which begins at 37 miles above Earth, heating the thermosphere from below. However, more recent observations have shown that neutral thermospheric upwelling can also occur on much smaller scales and can be more localized in what’s known as the cusp region – two “funnels” of magnetic field lines that allow a small amount of solar wind to reach the top of the atmosphere and produce the auroral glow.
Lessard and colleagues launched the first RENU rocket in 2010 from the Norwegian launch site. The RENU 2 instrument payload was designed to take an array of additional measurements. The mission is attempting to test, measure, and quantify “electron precipitation” that brings energetic particles down from high above the Earth and delivers energy into the upper atmosphere via Earth’s magnetic field lines.

The new data acquired during the flight will provide information essential for the advancement of understanding the process. The launch location in the far northern polar region was chosen so that the experiment could take place in total darkness at noontime.

Although the effect of satellite drag can negatively impact a spacecraft’s orbit over time, which is a concern for certain low-orbit, strategic satellites, Lessard stresses this was not the primary motivation for the experiment.

“From NASA’s point of view this is a mission of pure science, we’re trying to understand the processes behind neutral upwelling and how it is associated with visible aurora phenomena,” says Lessard, associate professor at the UNH Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space (EOS) and department of physics.

“This is the first time anyone has tried to measure these neutral particle enhancements at these altitudes and with this combination of instruments,” Lessard says. He adds that it appears the team was successful in getting the rocket to transit a region of neutral density enhancement but because so much data is gathered during rocket launches (unlike satellites, vast amounts of data can be transmitted quickly back to Earth) it could take months to analyze the results.

The team of investigators also includes colleagues from the Aerospace Corporation, Dartmouth College, Cornell University, and other collaborators, including those at the University of Oslo, the Kjell Henriksen Observatory (KHO, operated by the University Center of Svalbard), the EISCAT Svalbard Radar, and SuperDARN radar
An array of ground-based instrumentation located at KHO in the northernmost part of Norway complemented the rocket measurements. The data will be used to quantify neutral density enhancement, or regions of higher neutral atom density, and will also be used by theorists on the team to run mathematical models to gain insight into the heating and precipitation processes. Notes Lessard, “the instrumentation and science support provided from our colleagues at KHO has been invaluable.”

Norwegian air navigation service provider Avinor and Kongsberg Defense Systems entered into an NOK 400 million ($48 million) agreement for the provision of “remote tower” services at multiple airports from one location. The parties described the agreement as the most comprehensive yet for remote tower systems. Avinor had earlier decided to introduce remote tower services at up to 15 airports from one tower center in Bodø in northern Norway.In 2012, the ATC provider signed a contract with Sweden’s Saab to demonstrate remote tower service from that location. The latest agreement with Kongsberg may cover more airports, Avinor said.
The parties announced the agreement on August 25, adding to a string of remote-tower developments in Europe. In June, Germany’s DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung signed a contract with Austrian supplier Frequentis to install remote tower technology at Saarbrücken Airport in southwestern Germany. The Irish Aviation Authority announced a contract with Saab to install a remote tower center at Dublin Airport in a demonstration co-funded by the Single European Sky ATM Research effort.

In April, Sweden’s LFV laid claim to being the world’s first air navigation service provider to manage an airport remotely when it started remote tower services using Saab technology at Örnsköldsvik Airport.

Under the agreement with Avinor, Kongsberg will employ technology from defense projects, integrated with partner Indra Navia’s tower management systems. The technology includes rugged and “innovative” sensors, redundant secure networks, real-time data transmission and data-storage systems. Indra Navia will supply integrated visualization systems based on its Nova Tower line of products, used at London Heathrow, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Dubai, Beijing and other airports.

“The companies have proven their ability to deliver the best solution for Avinor, in a fierce competition with other international suppliers,” said Anders Kirsebom, Avinor managing director of air navigation services. “Now the work begins to fully establish a remote tower center and to introduce future tower services.”

The world’s first electrically powered fishing boat will be presented this August in Trondheim, Norway. But more time and development is needed before it can run completely without diesel. “We hope to pass Vestfjorden fossil-free on 23 August. We will exhibit the week before at the Aqua Nor/ Nor Fishing Trade Fair,” says Erik Ianssen.Ianssen is the general manager of Selfa Arctic. This boat-building outfit has spent the last seven years working on a hybrid version of small fishing boat, a type known in Norway as a sjark – in English, a small smack.
Over 70 percent renewable
“These are known components which have been configured in a novel way,” he explains.

“We have built small smacks since the 1970s. Things we’ve always taken for granted need to be seen in a completely new light with an electric motor.”

“The basic demand is for the electricity to cover a day of fishing, from morning to evening. But the generator might have to be fired up if the boat needs to go further out to sea, or the weather is rough or the boat catches more fish than expected. But at least 70 percent of the expended energy should be renewable,” says Erik Ianssen.

Not yet profitable
This is easier said than done and it will be a long time before fishermen can operate fully without diesel:

“Right now it’s unprofitable because the batteries are just far too dear. We figure that within about five years they will get cheaper and more commercially viable,” says Roar Pedersen.

He heads up a department concerned with vessel technology at FHF – the Norwegian Seafood Research Fund.

32,000 tonnes CO2
The research company Sintef, headquartered in Trondheim, has analysed the energy consumption of a small smack and arrived at the battery capacity one needs to run electrically in the fishing grounds.

The batteries also need to last 25 years – as long as a normal diesel engine. If all the small commercial fishing boats were to run on batteries, Norway’s annual carbon dioxide emissions would be reduced by 80,000 tonnes. As hybrids, using diesel motors to assist in getting back and forth to fishing grounds, the reduction would be 32,000 tonnes. Another advantage is that fishermen would gain a better work environment with less fumes and noise.

Coastal fleet
“The boats would be capable of generating electricity with the help of diesel motors on the way to and from the fishing grounds,” says Pedersen. As for ocean fishing, where vessels are out to sea for days on end, he doesn’t think electric power is a solution. But natural gas or biogas could be a greener alternative than diesel.

Electrical power is a real option for the coastal fishing fleet:

“We have hydroelectric power and very good conditions for expanding the use of wind power. We can produce as much green energy as we want to in this country,” points out Pedersen. The technology used by the electric fishing boats could also be used by service vessels which the aquaculture industry uses between shore and the fish farm facilities out in the fjords and coastal waters.

“We are witnessing the developments in the auto industry and big numbers of EVs that are being sold here in Norway. Sales have skyrocketed. And battery technology is developing rapidly.”

Difficult to find hard-cost money

Why hasn’t there been an E-small smack before now, when electric vehicles have become so popular? Erik Ianssen at Selfa Arctic is critical of the way research funds are prioritised in Norway:

“We have had the concept. But it is very expensive. The framework conditions in Norway are a real problem, as you have to do the funding out of pocket. Soft-cost allocations flow freely for researchers sit around and scratch their heads with, but it’s pretty difficult to get hard-cost funds for real things,” he says.

“We received NOK 7 million [about $1 million] for a research project about how such a boat would handle. It’s easier to attract such funding. But getting anything to build the boat to experiment with is nearly impossible.”

Not in denial
Roar Pedersen at FHF thinks this criticism is justified:

“It’s true. It’s harder to get risk relief. FHF is prepared to give support to technology providers who develop new technology. But these are often soft costs too, and don’t go toward construction outlays,” he says.

“We can give some support if a fisherman wants to invest in something like this and feels there is a risk involved. The way it works is the fisherman is given some relief to lower risks, which makes it easier for the supplier to sell the product,” says Pedersen.

The world’s first electrically powered car and passenger ferry, named Ampere, started service in Norway earlier this year. The ferry, operated by Norled, makes 34 fjord-crossings a day, powered by two electric motors.Each motor is powered by lithium-ion batteries, which are recharged whilst cars and passengers board the ferry at each pier. The ferry only uses 150kWh per route, which corresponds to three days use of electricity of a standard Norwegian household. Conventional ferries in comparison, use approximately one million litres of diesel fuel, and cost up to 60% more to operate. They also emit 2,680 tons of carbon dioxide and 37 tons of nitrogen oxide over the same distance each year.

The electric motors are low-noise and emission-free, running on electricity generated by local hydroelectric plants. The ferry’s hull also incorporates new forms of design to reduce embedded carbon and increase energy efficiency. The hull is made exclusively of aluminium rather than steel, which reduces its weight by half. The aluminium is also resistant to rust, and therefore requires less maintenance and reduced operating costs. This technology has been jointly developed by Siemens and the Norwegian shipyard, Fjellstrand.

(thefuturescentre)

C-RAD secured a large order including two Catalyst HD™ systems and a Sentinel 4DCT™ system for Gjövik Hospital in Norway, about 120 km north of Oslo. As part of a comprehensive tender the hospital is now upgrading its radiation oncology department with the high-end solution for patient positioning and monitoring from C-RAD.The Catalyst HD will be delivered with the complete software configuration containing modules for Respiratory Gating, Patient Setup and Positioning, and Motion Monitoring, as well as interfaces to a Toshiba CT and the linear accelerators. The customer also decided on the unique audio-visual couching functionality that supports an interactive gating mode.
In the Nordic countries C-RAD also distributes products that complement its portfolio in the field of patient positioning and quality assurance, and in this case Gjövik Hospital has selected a configuration of immobilization devices for stereotactic treatments.

The delivery and installation of the first two systems is expected to take place in Q3 2015 and the third system in the beginning of 2016.

The Catalyst™ and Sentinel™ systems offer the required technology to perform high-end treatment techniques within radiation therapy. With this solution C-RAD supports the whole 4D treatment chain from imaging to treatment delivery. Respiratory gated treatments are frequently used when the target volume is close to cardiac tissue or for special treatments in which the tumor position depends on the respiratory cycle.

“It is very gratifying to see the positive resonance the Catalyst HD has generated in the market,” says Tim Thurn, CEO of C-RAD. “While this system has been opening the doors for significant sales in North America, we are now seeing an increasing number of European customers selecting the Catalyst HD. The system was developed specifically for the fast-growing segment of Stereotactic Radiation Therapy (SBRT) and Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS), but at the same time Catalyst HD provides the proven advantages of the Catalyst system for the treatment of breast cancer patients, as well as other indications.”

(globenewswire)

It’s always good to hear further information about upcoming devices, and readers may have heard some initial murmurings about the BlackBerry Oslo smartphone from Mobile World Congress. Although it was first thought that this handset would only release in China, in fact it will be available for global markets. Read on for more on the BlackBerry Oslo with unofficial details of specs and release date.The new information also comes with an image that is purported to be the first of the BlackBerry Oslo, and you can see that below. The handset shown has a squarish design with rounded corners to the bottom, and you can see it also has a physical QWERTY keyboard. Although nothing has been confirmed from BlackBerry about a release date, it’s being tipped for June 30, so we’re likely to see a few more leaks over the coming few weeks.
Specs are tipped to be very much like those of the BlackBerry Passport and include a Snapdragon 800 processor, LCD display with resolution of 1440 x 1440, a 13-megapixel rear camera, 2-megapixel front-facing snapper, and a 3450 mAh battery. It will launch running the BlackBerry 10.3.2 operating system, although the source of this information says that these specs are subject to further changes and improvements.

It’s good to hear that the Oslo is now tipped for a global release rather than being confined to China, although we should point out that we must treat all of the above as unconfirmed at the moment. Does the BlackBerry Leap sound like a smartphone that you might purchase? Let us know with your comments.

Source: BlackBerryCentral

A newborn baby had his foreskin surgically removed at a hospital in Southern Norway on March 9. It was the first such ritual circumcision performed at a hospital since the country’s new circumcision law was passed by the parliament last year. “They [the Muslim parents] were very happy,” Ole Tysland, head of surgery at Sørlandet Hospital in Kristiansand, was quoted as saying by local media. “Most people are glad that we now have the possibility to do this in the hospital.”
According to Tysland, the hospital does not allow parents or religious officials to be present in the operating room during the circumcision. “They stand outside the door and they take the child when we come out with it, and I don’t think it’s a problem. They accept this way of doing it.”

The country’s new legislation stipulates that a doctor must be present during a circumcision and that hospitals can start offering the operation to Jewish and Muslim parents.

(neurope)

Norway’s new healthcare reform is all about FREE choice treatment. Unveiling the reforms, the country’s health minister, Bent Høie, said the aim is to help reduce waiting time for patients and increase treatment options. “Many people are on sick leave for longer than what is necessary. This is painful for the patients and expensive for society,” he was quoted as saying by Norwegian media.The new rules will come into effect later this year. They will first be implemented by mental health professionals and at drug rehabilitation centres.

“FREE choice of treatment will reduce wait times and stimulate public hospitals to become better and more effective,” said Høie, explaining how the government will buy more services from private health institutions, and public hospitals will gain more freedom.

(N.Sethu)

Exelis’ latest command management information system has successfully completed sea acceptance testing aboard A Norwegian Coast Guard ship. The test was part of a modernization program for the KV Senga that includes the integration of the vessel’s tactical data link, upgrading its computer and displays and navigational system. The CMIS system by Exelis, which can be extended to support new sensor packages such as electronic support measures or advanced sonar, is being deployed on at least two other Norwegian ships over the next two years.”Throughout our longstanding relationship with the Norwegian Coast Guard, we have seen how they operate in a particularly dangerous environment,” said Jim Brunelle, senior director of the Exelis undersea systems business. “The Exelis technology enables them to safely control their ships and helicopters in the high seas and challenging weather conditions of the North Atlantic.”

The Norwegian Coast Guard and Navy have been provided CMIS and data link solutions by Exelis for more than 20 years, the company said.

(upi)

The Norwegian research programme for Global Health and Vaccination Research (GLOBVAC) has on behalf of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs contributed financially to an international trial for EBOLA-vaccine. Evaluation of Ebola vaccines in Guineawill be conducted by the World Health Organisation, Doctors Without Borders, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and others.Given the exceptional nature of the spread of Ebola in West Africa, The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) asked the Research Council of Norway (RCN) to conduct a speedy decision concerning financing this project. The project has its origin from a broad workgroup which has assessed alternative strategies for vaccine trials in Guinea. The RCN will contribute with approximately 3 million dollars to the study.

The project will start already in December 2014, and will assess efficacy, effectiveness and safety of an EBOLA-vaccine. The researchers will perform clinical trials on groups with high risk of transmission, for instance fieldworkers and health personnel. In addition the vaccine will be evaluated in the context of ring vaccination of the population in communities where the Ebola-virus is active.

‘Pioneer,’ from Norwegian director Erik Skjoldbjærg, tells such a complex and convoluted story, you’d think it had to be adhering to true-life events. In reality, the film is “loosely based” on events in the early 1980s in the North Sea, when Norway had just discovered the possibility of harvesting rich deposits of petroleum deep in the seabed. Given the lack of engineering technology available even thirty years ago, this task represented an enormous challenge and a significant danger to the participants.Though the country has a rich history of daring exploration and pioneering, (see: Roald Amundsen and his team’s incredible Antarctic exploration that made them the first to reach the South Pole) they would require the help of an American company, called Deep Sea Diving in the film, to help prepare them for the project. And in a shocking twist of events, the greedy Americans might not have the best interests of the Norwegian divers at heart.
Aksel Hennie (‘Headhunters’) plays Petter, an experienced Norwegian commercial diver who, along with his brother Knut (André Eriksen), joins the crew to prepare for the deepest dives in Norwegian history. They are accompanied by the American crew made up of fellow diver Mike, played by ‘The Hunger Games’ Wes Bentley, crew chief Ferris (Stephen Lang of ‘Avatar’), and physician/scientist Ronald, played by Jonathan LaPaglia, who is responsible for the experimental gas mixture that allows the divers to survive at depths of 300 to 500 meters. Thought it may be set at the beginning of the 1980s, ‘Pioneer’ is a ‘70s conspiracy thriller through and through, clearly and confidently an homage to films like ‘Three Days of the Condor’ and ‘The Parallax View’ that writer-director Skjoldbjærg must have grown up on. And as such, it pits the protagonist in Hennie against shadowy opponents all around, strung up by corporate interests and political ambition. Thankfully, Hennie, who proved himself more than capable of carrying a film on his own for stretches of time in ‘Headhunters’ (an excellent thriller that became the highest-grossing Norwegian film of all time, and whose producers joined on for ‘Pioneer’) is a charismatic center, bringing the requisite daring and emotional investment to the character.

The first act of the film is relatively straightforward and engaging — narrative setup showing our divers in the early stages, followed by the precipitating event, the accidental death of one of the divers. And as prescribed, this is when things go haywire. Petter emerges from the depths seething, demanding to know what went wrong. But because of the dangers of decompression sickness, he must wait two weeks before he can even exit the pressure chamber. It’s a fascinating moment in the story, and one that seems woefully underused. ‘Pioneer’ spends a good deal of time focused on the effects of deep sea pressure on the human body, but often fails to explore the effects on the psyche. Having spent two weeks trapped in a tiny, pressurized compartment under careful monitor, in what is essentially a state of shellshock, Petter emerges a man on a mission, determined to put the main plot in motion.

It’s hard to pinpoint where exactly the story loses its way. As a conspiracy surrounding a complicated experimental government project with untold millions of dollars at stake, the plot is necessarily complex. Allegiances and betrayals seem to be proliferating at an obscene rate at the peripheries of our story, and at no point is it really clear what any of the ancillary characters are after, apart from a piece of the pie. Perhaps this is the bluntness of Skjoldbjærg’s version of events, but if so, it makes for a rather unsatisfying thriller. Petter is the only character with any distinct motivation, and fortunately his emotional through line is what keeps things from spiraling too far out of control. Having boldly made a name for himself internationally in 1997 with his debut, ‘Insomnia’ (which inspired the 2002 remake from Christopher Nolan), it’s no wonder Skjoldbjærg chose this story. The deep sea sequences are beautifully shot by cinematographer Jallo Faber, and the director certainly nails the ‘70s aesthetic on the head. But with such compelling subject material, it’s a shame the film can’t quite find its way.

(bestmoviesevernews)

In addition to BMW, which reportedly agreed to purchase a total of 57,000 Windows Phones, Microsoft is about to score another important win for its mobile platform, this time in Norway, where a newly built hospital is looking at its devices for better patient care. A report coming from local publication Tek (Google Translate link) reveals that the so-called Ostfold Hospital will be almost entirely equipped with products developed by Microsoft, including not only Windows Phone devices, but also Kinect sensors.The idea is as easy as it could be. Kinect and Windows Phone can help doctors and nurses provide better care to patients by receiving information on medication wherever they are, including the type of drugs they need to administer and the correct amounts.
At the same time, Kinect sensors can also be used to monitor patient rooms and help during a wide array of recovery processes, while also lending a hand to nurses when it comes to patients with needs for extra care. For example, the sensor can help patients ask for help by simply raising their hands and can alert the nurses when someone moves in their bed.

Obviously, there’s a lot of potential in implementing Microsoft products in a hospital, and Windows Phone and Kinect are just two of the solutions that can help provide better patient care. The name of the Windows Phone device that will be used by the hospital hasn’t been disclosed until now, but expect it to be an affordable model such as the Lumia 630.

(softpedia)

NORWAY – Chicken red mites bring both financial and animal welfare problems for the poultry industry but a new academic collaboration has been formed to tackle these challenges. Last week saw the start of a new academic collaboration on chicken mites, which kicked-off in Brussels. The academic collaboration, involving the Veterinary Institute of Norway (NVI), will last for four years. Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) is a European scientific and technological cooperation that aims to promote academic cooperation and networking between researchers in 36 countries, among them Norway.COST actions can give money to interdisciplinary workshops, conferences, short research stays, publications and other activities associated with the network.
COST action on chicken mites (‘A1404-Improving current understanding and research for sustainable control of the poultry red mite, Dermanyssus gallinae’, (COREMI)) is chaired by Professor Olivier Sparagano (UK), and the programme currently has members from more than 17 European countries.

NVI is represented on the steering committee with Øivind Øines and is, together with Magne Hansen (Animalia) the two Norwegian members of management committee for action.

COST action will be an important networking platform to encourage European cooperation in research on chicken mites.

Chicken mites are common and found in most European countries, with a prevalence 80 per cent or more.

The parasite brings financial problems for the industry and also adversely impacts bird welfare on infected farms.

This action aims to promote research on chicken mites, to increase the biological understanding of the parasite and to develop new methods of treatment and control.

(the poultry site)

Norway’s first Ebola patient is to receive the world’s last available dose of the experimental drug ZMapp. The Norwegian Medical Agency’s medical director confirmed the treatment – which was also given to Briton William Pooley – was being sent from Canada to Oslo University Hospital.

ZMapp has not been approved in Norway but Steinar Madsen told newspaper Dagens Medicin the agency would allow experimental drugs to be imported where there is an “acute need”.The Norwegian woman contracted Ebola while working for Doctors Without Borders in Sierra Leone.

A Norwegian working for Doctors Without Borders in Sierra Leone has been flown home for treatment after contracting the Ebola virus. The worker developed a fever at the weekend and was placed in isolation. Tests have now confirmed she is infected.

The woman is the first person from Norway to become a victim of the disease. She will be treated in isolation at the Oslo University Hospital. The Norwegian foreign ministry has confirmed it will be contributing up to an extra $28m to help fight the Ebola outbreak.Military cargo plans are set to take medical workers and equipment to infected areas in West Africa where the current crisis began.

Doctors Without Borders confirms that one of our organization’s Norwegian field workers in Sierra Leone has tested positive and has been diagnosed with bleeding fever ebola, confirms Anne Cecilie Kalteborn in MSF’s Norway branch to Norwegian media VG. The Norwegian health worker is tonight being flown with an ambulance flight from the capital Sierra Leone. She will probably land in Norway Monday night or Tuesday night.- We are working to transport our colleague home as soon as possible, says Kaltebotn.
The woman, who has been working for MSF in Sierra Leone’s second city Bo, has according to VG’s sources been feeling increasingly ill during the weekend.

When the symptoms of Ebola, fever and sickness, were felt, she was put in isolation and lab-tests proved she was infected.

– This is a situation we take very seriously, says the Norwegian Foreign Department.

The woman will be flown to Oslo’s main hospital, Ullevål, were a full team of doctor’s are ready to receive her.

Bo is a district in Sierra Leone that is badly hit by the epidemic: 227 suspected cases are reported in the area were the Norwegian woman was infected.

(VG)

Children of divorced parents may be at higher risk of being overweight or obese than those whose parents are married, a Norwegian study said Thursday. The tendency was higher among boys than girls, said the report, which nevertheless cautioned it was too early to draw a direct, causal link, as other factors may be to blame. Researchers used height, weight and waist circumference data from more than 3,000 pupils attending 127 schools across Norway, which they compared to their parents’ marital status — married, never-married, co-habiting, single, separated or divorced.About one in five children overall were overweight, which is generally considered to mean a height-to-weight ratio or BMI of 25 or over, and one in 10 obese with a BMI of 30 and up, they reported in the online medical journal BMJ Open.
Children of divorced parents “were 54 percent more likely to be overweight/obese and 89 percent more likely to be obese,” when compared to children whose parents were still married, the researchers said a press statement.

“Children whose parents had never married had a similar prevalence of overweight and obesity to those with married parents.”
Sons of divorced parents were 63 percent more likely to be overweight and 104 percent more likely to be obese than other boys, while the difference was much less significant among girls.

The researchers had factored in possible influential factors like the mother’s educational background, ethic origin and area of residence, but not others like the child’s diet and exercise regime.

They also did not known how long parents had been divorced.

The team speculated that a shift to unhealthier and cheaper take-aways or stress-eating may explain the trend.

In a comment, Kevin McConway, an applied statistics professor at The Open University in England, said the findings may not hold true for societies outside Norway.

The study, he said, “really does little more than point at possible further questions for further research.”

(capitalfm)

Health authorities in Norway say two pregnant women have tested positive for the zika virus after traveling in Latin America. The Norwegian Institute of Public Health on has recently tested dozens of people for the virus, mostly pregnant women.
Jon Arne Roettingen told reporters Thursday that so far three tests came back positive. He said two of them were pregnant women and one was a man. All had visited areas affected by the virus in Latin America.
Roettingen could not say whether the virus had affected the pregnancies of the infected women in any way but said they were being closely monitored by health care personnel.

Health officials are investigating whether the mosquito-borne virus is linked to