An important goal of PoreLab is to communicate its research and findings, as well as to increase the appreciation and understanding of science in general. Our aim is to reach both Norwegian and international audiences. Bringing scientific culture and research closer to pre-university educational levels and promoting research vocation is of great importance to PoreLab.
The members of PoreLab are accessible to media, and are encouraged to contribute their comments on issues to public concern whenever their expertise is applicable.
You find in the list below a few examples for outreach.
Alex Hansen presents the Enigma machine during a movie night at the Faculty of Natural Sciences, NTNU
16 November 2023
The “Imitation game“, a movie from 2014 that honors Alan Turing’s work at Bletchley in cracking the ‘Enigma’ code, was presented by the Faculty of Natural Sciences during a movie night on November 16th. Enigma was a cipher device used by Germany’s military command to encode strategic messages before and during World War II. The audience could see an Enigma machine owned by NTNU. Alex Hansen held a presentation before the movie projection by providing insight into Enigma’s function and history.
PoreLab at the Pink Ribbon Run 2023
1 October 2023
For the fourth consecutive year, PoreLab took part in the Pink Ribbon Run in Trondheim. Thanks to all participants!
PoreLab at Researcher’s nights, NTNU
30 September 2022
PoreLab participated in Researcher’s night 2022 with Caroline Einen, Hyejeong Cheon, Sebastian Price and Tage Maltby, PhD candidates, together with Professor Erika Eiser. They presented concepts relevant to porous media research by showing various experimental demonstrations and simulation results.
More information on the event here
School visit at PoreLab UiO
25 November 2022
A first-year high school class from Hartvig Nissen came for a visit during what they call “fagdag”. We had a discussion and brief presentation of PoreLabs activities, followed by experimental demonstrations and a lab tour.
PoreLab at the Pink Ribbon Run 2022
2 October 2022
For the third consecutive year, PoreLab took part in the Pink Ribbon Run in Trondheim. The Pink Ribbon is an international symbol of breast cancer awareness, and the Pink Ribbon Run helps increase awareness of early detection for breast cancer. Why a PoreLab team at the Pink Ribbon Run? Also because at PoreLab we work on optimizing focused ultrasound for improved drug delivery by nanoparticles to the tumor interstitium.
Opening of the SCI-ART center in Timisoara, Romania
19 May 2022
Researcher Marcel Moura participated to the opening of the SCI-ART center in Timisoara, Romania, as part of the project “POROUS MATTER. Void fractions in materials, ideas and society”.
More information on the event here
PoreLab was invited to the podcast 63° North
2 March 2022
Marie-Laure Olivier, administrative leader for PoreLab was invited to the podcast 63° North, hosted by NTNU. The topic was about gender equality. The topic was about gender equality. Read More here
Do not leave your soda drinks in your vehicle when it is very cold outside, especially over night!
6 December 2021
Professor emerita Signe Kjelstrup was interviewed by trd.by following the video of an accident featuring pepsi cans! A young lady from Trondheim purchased 48 cans of pepsi sodas and left them at the back of her car overnight while it was freezing outside. The video of the exploded cans and the sticky mess in the car’s trunk went viral on the social medias
Alex Hansen participates to a Frontiers forum with former US Vice president, Al Gore, on the climate crisis
29 November 2021
In his September 29 talk at the Frontiers Forum, the Former US Vice president Gore outlined encouraging progress on the sustainability revolution – and why we can be optimistic about our future. The session was attended by nearly 6 000 representatives from science, policy and business across the world. https://forum.frontiersin.org/
Titan article with Tom Vincent-Dospital
29 November 2021
Tom Vincent-Dospital is a postdoctoral researcher at the department of Physics from the University of Oslo. His research focuses on the dynamics of fracture and friction such as cracks in the earth’s crusts during earthquakes. In this popular science article from Titan, Tom turned instead to skin damage and explains how his experiments with pig skin can provide new insight into how we perceive pain. His goal is to check if the rupture of biological tissues can create enough heat to trigger our nervous system.
Royals meet PoreLab
10 November 2021
Their Majesties King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands together with The Crown Prince Haakon met PoreLab members during the state visit from the Netherlands in Trondheim.
Read more about the event here
NTNU’s webinar “Science Conversations @NTNU” with Alex Hansen
4 November 2021
In this webinar, Alex Hansen answers the questions of Pernille Feilberg, Head of communication at the Faculty of Natural Sciences, NTNU, on open access of data and publications. Alex explains especially what Open Access is, why science must be made public with today’s technology and talks about quality in publication channels. Read more about this event here
https://www.ntnu.edu/science-conversations/ethics-open-access
PoreLab goes pink … again!
3 October 2021
On October 3rd, 2021, PoreLab participated for the second time to the Pink Ribbon Run in Trondheim with a group of 20 PoreLab members. In 2020 due to the pandemic, the Pink Ribbon Run was organized “virtually”, but in 2021 we could participate in person. Congratulations to Ailo Aasen who arrived 10th on the finishing line! Read more on the event here
Titan article with Marcel Moura: All coffee brewing methods are flow in porous media experiments in disguise!
19 July 2021
Whether you prefer the sweet complexity of a filtered coffee or the nice intensity punch of an espresso, you are always performing a flow in porous media experiment when you make coffee at home. In this popular science article from Titan, Marcel Moura, researcher at the physics department at the University of Oslo, was interviewed about the interesting connections between porous media physics and the process of coffee brewing. He also had the chance to meet Charlotte Sletten Bjorå, a botanist working at the Botanical Garden in Oslo and learn more about the coffee tree and some truly fascinating aspects of coffee growing. Marcel also visited a coffee roaster right during roasting hour and learned how roasting profiles have to be adapted to get the best flavors out of the different types of coffee beans. https://titan.uio.no/fysikk-biologi/2021/slik-lager-du-bedre-kaffe-med-litt-fysikk-og-litt-botanikk
The PoreLab Art Exhibition exposed during 2 weeks next to the city hall in Oslo
7 to 21 July 2021
Over the years, we have collected at PoreLab beautiful images from experiments and simulations. Due to the pandemic, a virtual porous media art gallery was set up with those images in 2020 (see pages 60 and 61 of the annual report 2020). With the slow reopening of the society, we decided to take the gallery out in the streets of Oslo. The PoreLab Art exhibition was exposed during 2 weeks next to the city hall in Oslo. We are planning to expose our art in other arenas both in Oslo and Trondheim in the future.
Read more about the event here
PoreLab goes pink!
10 October 2020
PoreLab participated to the virtual Pink Ribbon Run 2020 both in Trondheim and Oslo. The Pink Ribbon is an international symbol of breast cancer awareness. More info on the event here
Vilde Bråten, PhD candidate at PoreLab, presented nanothermodynamics on national television
26 September 2020
Vilde was placed second in the national finale in the Norwegian Research Grand Prix, where researchers from universities all over the country presented their research in a way where it becomes possible to understand for the general population.
Read more about the event here
Titan article on the “Art of Porous Media”
25 September 2020
Read an article in Titan about PoreLab exhibition “The Art of Porous Media” here
PoreLab is studying ‘Oumumua
‘Oumuamua is the first known interstellar object detected passing through the solar system. Since its observation in 2017, ‘Oumuamua’s origin remains a subject of much debate. Eirik G. Flekkøy and Renaud Toussaint from PoreLab, and astronomer Jane Luu, developed a theory to explain how ‘Oumuamua could have a porous structure that makes it so light that even sunbeams can push it around. PoreLab coined the nickname “cosmic dust bunny” for this unidentified object. The studies by Flekkøy et al. have so far been reported in around 100 popular science journals, both in Norway and around the globe, including Pour la Science, Aftenposten, Scientific American, Titan, Forskersonen, Popular Science, Interesting engineering, NewsHub and the Norwegian magazine Fra fysikkens verden.
PoreLab researcher Marcel Moura on live TV in Brazil
18 May 2020
It was a special program about the anniversary of Marcel’s hometown Caruaru. Marcel talked about PoreLab’s activities and showed a video of the flying chain experiment. He explained as well why air flow through a facemask is indeed a problem of flow in porous medium.
Titan article on the PoreLab 3D-scanner
8 May 2020
Prof. Knut Jørgen Måløy and PhD candidate Joachim Falck Brodin talk about the new 3D scanner, a tool that can reveal secrets about water in water reservoir, oil in oil reservoir and CO2 under the seabed. Read about the article here
Exit-Strategy
7 May 2020
Kristian S. Olsen and Gaute Linga, PhD candidate and postdoctoral fellow at PoreLab, published an article in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, “Vejen til Frihed” (“The Road to Freedom”), about possible strategies for Denmark to handle reopening of the community after the first lockdown. Article here
Titan article with Marcel Moura
23 April 2020
Watch the tea bag experiment and learn more about two-phase flow in porous media.
Read the Titan article from Marcel Moura here (in Norwegian):
https://titan.uio.no/naturvitenskap-fysikk/2020/ta-en-kopp-te-og-tenk-pa-jordskjelv
It is based on the recent publication: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphy.2019.00217/full
PoreLab at VIVO 2020
20 February 2020
VIVO is a career day for students in chemistry, biology, and biotechnology at NTNU. PoreLab was represented by PhD candidate Kim Kristiansen and Master student Peder Holmqvist. “Our purpose there was primarily to have the thermodynamics group visible as a possible choice for doing a master or a PhD with us. With our new direction towards biological systems through the biophysics department, I argue that PoreLab also becomes more relevant in the future for microbiologists and medicinal chemists”, says Kim Kristiansen.
PoreLab researcher Marcel Moura at the Brazilian radio “Cultura”
29 October 2019
PoreLab researcher Marcel Moura was a special guest at the Brazilian radio “Cultura”. He was interviewed in relation with recent oil spills along the Brazilian coasts. More Information here
PoreLab article on concrete in Gemini
23 September 2019
Alex Hansen, Jonas Kjellstadli and Srutashi Pradhan talks about concrete in Gemini.
Alex Hansen on NRK radio for youth
19 June 2019
Alex Hansen was invited to NRK radio for youth on June 19 after his talk at the NTNU festival “The Big Challenge”. The program was about “NTNU-forsker lærer oss noe nytt“.
Listen to him here. Click on «NTNU-forsker lærer oss noe nytt». (in Norwegian)
Alex Hansen speaks about Open Science at the Frontiers Forum
11 May 2019
Watch him here
The Frontiers Forum brings together 400+ top global scientists and other thought leaders. It provides a valuable opportunity for the Frontiers community to see and discuss the latest in Open Science – and the Science Unlimited event showcases inspiring developments powering our world of tomorrow, from world leading experts on health, longevity, sustainability and more.
PoreLab article in Gemini on the prediction of mudslides
3 May 2019
Olav Galteland, Dick Bedeaux, Signe Kjelstrup, Bjørn Hafskjold and Alex Hansen explain how the activities at PoreLab could help with the prediction of mudslides. Read the article (in Norwegian) here
Eirik Flekkøy invited to the Norwegian TV program, “Brille” on TV Norge
23 April 2019
Professor Eirik Grude Flekkøy was invited on April 23rd, 2019 to participate to the famous Norwegian TV program, “Brille”, on TV Norge. “Brille” is a studio-based quiz program combining humor and science and presented by Harald Eia. The experience with the flying chain fountain was performed on stage and Eirik explained the mechanism of this phenomenon as well as to other physical phenomena: a ping-pong ball flying in the stream of a hair-dryer and the tide phenomenon
More information here
YouTube video and Titan article with the Flying Chain by Marcel Moura
23 November 2018
When a chain is released by one end from a container, it forms a striking arch extending well above the container. Watch the astonishing video with Marcel Moura, Post-Doctoral researcher at PoreLab.
Titan article here
PoreLab at the UiO – Faglig-Pedagogisk Dag
1 November 2018
PoreLab was present at the “Faglig-pedagogisk dag”, the year’s largest educational day for school teachers at the University of Oslo. Marcel Moura, post-doctoral fellow at the Physics department, showed a set of inspiring experiments using only simple kitchen materials such as cinnamon, sugar, coffee and soap. The experiments can be easily performed for the students in class to teach basic physical concepts, such as surface tension and spontaneous granular stratification.
Alex Hansen speaks about Plan S
31 October 2018
Professor og leder for SFF ’en Porelab, Alex Hansen, gir Plan S sin fulle tilslutning. Forslaget om at all offentlig finansiert forskning skal publiseres i tidsskrifter med åpen tilgang er eneste riktige, slår han fast.
– Det er klart at i en overgangsperiode hvor det meste er nytt vil du se en del uheldige utslag, med hva man kaller røvertidsskrifter og tilsvarende. Men når markedsmekanismene har fått lov til å virke en stund vil dette gå seg til, mener Alex Hansen
Read more under UA here
Greveskogen High School visits PoreLab
12 October 2018
27 students from the natural sciences program at the Greveskogen high school from Vestfold Fylkekommune visited PoreLab facilities, spending half a day at PoreLab, visiting e.g. the laboratory of the Geosciences and Petroleum department where they could participate to the demonstration of experiments. Read more about the event here
PoreLab to the Researcher’s night
28 September 2018
PoreLab participated for the first time, September 2018, in Researcher’s night. The Researchers’ Night was launched at the European level under the initiative “Researchers in Europe 2005”. It is meant to boost public awareness of the positive role of research in society, and especially among young people.
Jonas Kjellstadli, Astrid Gunnarshaug and Kim Roger Kristiansen, PhD candidates at PoreLab, presented concepts relevant to porous media research. Examples of thermoelectric effects, converting temperature differences into electricity and vice versa were shown. Also demonstrated was an example of dilatancy in granular materials, highlighting the counter-intuitive effect this has on an interstitial fluid.
Marcel Moura invited at the “Radio Cultura do Nordeste” in Brazil
3 June 2018
Marcel Moura, postdoctoral researcher at PoreLab, gave a radio interview at “Radio Cultura do Nordeste” (Brazil) about energy, technology and environmental challenges in Brazil and Norway and the importance of basic science in this context.
PoreLab deltar til VIVO 2018
4 Februar 2018
Karrieredagen VIVO arrangeres hvert år av linjeforeningen for biologi, kjemi og bioteknologi, Volvox & Alkymisten, og er skreddersydd for studenter innenfor disse fagfeltene. Her kommer mange bedrifter som skal stå på stand, og noen som skal holde presentasjoner. Les mer om VIVO 2018 her
The Sound of Science
New pieces of music inspired by the life and work of scientists.
Composition by Maja S.K. Ratjke based on the work from Signe Kjelstrup, Professor in Chemistry
Watch the video here
PoreLab article in Titan on motion of fluids
11 October 2017
Marcel Moura, Post-Doctoral researcher at PoreLab, explains the experiments that allow him to verify 30 years old prediction on motion of fluids. His article was accepted for publication in the prestigious journal Physical Review Letters (PRL).
-By using synthetic porous samples and modern image analysis techniques, we have been able to finally verify the predictions, explain Marcel Moura (left) and professor Knut Jørgen Måløy.
Two prestigious awards for research on interfaces for Øivind Wilhelmsen
12 June 2017
Two international professional organizations recognize PhD research that could improve everything from weather forecasts to the prediction of volcanic eruptions. Øivind Wilhelmsen currently works as research scientist at SINTEF Energy Research. He is as well adjunct Professor at the Department of Energy and Process Engineering at NTNU and member of PoreLab.
Read the article in Gemini here
Kunnskap om olje skal gi verden rent vann
10 Mars 2017
Takket være oljeindustrien er norske forskere ved UiO og NTNU verdensledende i et forskningsfelt med enormt potensial. Nå har de fått finansiering og status som Senter for fremragende forskning.
Les artikkel i Titan her
The magical reindeer nose
15 December 2016
Reindeer live in some of the harshest climates known to humankind. The secret to their survival may actually lie partly in their nose.
Read more under Norwegian SciTech News here
Ny kunnskap om propper i rør viktig for industrien
18 juli 2016
Sand og vann kan være forbløffende komplisert. En ny studie viser hvordan propper dannes i rør. Denne kunnskapen er viktig for oljeutvinning, spredning av forurensing og transport av blod i kroppen.
Eirik Grude Flekkøy mener eksperimentering i laben gir mindre prøv og feil i industrien
Les Titan artikkel her
Understanding tiny droplets can make for better weather forecasts
4 May 2016
Øivind Wilhelmsen, a research scientist at SINTEF Energy Research and Professor at PoreLab, explains that the study of tiny water droplets could result in more precise weather forecasts and climate models.
Read more under Norwegian SciTech News here
