Our researchers in the media, 19 June – 1 September 2025
Babies crying, queer identities in ancient Egypt and mysterious runestones in Canada – over the summer our researchers have talked about a wide range of topics in the media.
Selection from the media 19 June – 1 September 2025.
Note that no links to material behind a paywall are provided. Instead, please use Retriever Research at the University Library (see Fact box below).
Why babies cry
Baby research became world news when Charlotte Viktorsson and Terje Falck-Ytter, Researcher and Professor respectively at the Department of Psychology, released a study showing that it is mainly genes that determine how much a baby cries. The study has generated extremely high interest (over 200 articles in Sweden and internationally), which is exciting as it is the researchers’ first publication on a large dataset in which they follow 1,000 Swedish twin children for three years.
Charlotte Viktorsson on the Canadian radio programme Mornings with Simi
Sexual corruption is not like other forms of corruption
Sexual corruption is the abuse of power for personal gain in the form of sex. Elin Bjarnegård, Professor of Political Science, has written an opinion piece in Dagens Nyheter and has attracted attention in several media outlets for her research on sexual corruption. She leads the research centre UU-RESC – Uppsala University Research Environment on Sexual Corruption, which started in early 2025.
What is sexual corruption? (SR)
History of ice cream
Alexandra Borg, Associate Professor at the Department of Nordic Languages, wrote several essays in Dagens Nyheter’s “Idé och kritik” (“Ideas and criticism”) section during the summer. In the text “How ice cream went from upper class luxury to a sugar rush for children”, she tells the story of the history and development of ice cream from a gourmet delicacy to an everyday food for children.
“How ice cream went from upper class luxury to a sugar rush for children” (Dagens Nyheter)
Queer life in ancient Egypt
Queer identities and sexualities have existed throughout history. Luigi Prada, an Egyptologist at the Department of Archaeology, Ancient History and Conservation, has studied queer life in ancient Egypt. During the summer, he talked about his research in SVT Uppsala, SVT national television, the magazine QX and Radio P4 Uppland.
Proposing a homosexual threesome – on papyrus: “Queer history” (SVT Uppsala)
Runestone in Canada required Uppsala expertise
Henrik Williams, Professor of Runology at Uppsala University, solved the mystery of the incomprehensible text on a newly discovered runestone in Canada. The runic inscription itself turns out to be much more modern than previously thought. The news was widely reported internationally and in all Swedish media.
Mysterious rune find – Swedish expert unravelled the mystery (Aftonbladet)
Number of civilians killed in Gaza
At the end of August, the Guardian interviewed Therese Pettersson, Senior Analyst at the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP), in response to leaked figures from the IDF showing that over 80 per cent of those killed in Gaza are civilians. The news was widely reported around the world.
Sandra Gunnarsson
Material behind a paywall
Some material in the media is only published for subscribers behind a paywall which is why there are no links to this material above. But as an employee of Uppsala University, you can access the article via Retriever Research in the University Library.
Copy the title of any unlinked article you are interested in and perform a search in Retriever Research using the filter “The headline only”.