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Research lab

Greenland Institute of Natural Resources

Greenlandic research institute studying Arctic wildlife, marine ecosystems, and natural resources, including narwhal and whale biology in Greenland's waters.

Known aliases

  • Pinngortitaleriffik

Current stories

scienceOne report1 publisher

Six tagged narwhals returned more than 2,000 readings from fjords ships rarely reach

Between 2017 and 2020 a Greenland Institute of Natural Resources team let tagged narwhals profile East Greenland, and the whales found Atlantic-origin water reaching in beneath the glaciers of Scoresby Sound.

Publishers:phys.org

Reality

Evidence66
Adoption28
Hype gap+24
Incentives58
Confidence57
scienceOne report1 publisher

X-ray scans find two opposing spirals inside the narwhal's arrow-straight tusk

The tusk stays straight, the authors say, because its inner and outer tissues twist in opposite directions. A leading tusk specialist accepts that anatomy and rejects what the same paper says the tooth is for.

Publishers:phys.org

Reality

Evidence58
Adoption
Not scored
Hype gap+18
Incentives42
Confidence52
scienceConfirmed3 publishers

Instrumented narwhals put a number on the warm water reaching East Greenland's inner glaciers

Six whales carrying temperature and salinity tags returned profiles from basins where research ships turn back, roughly matching everything previously archived for Scoresby Sound and giving melt models a measured input where they had estimates.

Perspective Coverage

3 publishers
Builder
Builder 44%
Operator
Operator 32%
Investor
Investor 24%

Reality

Evidence74
Adoption56
Hype gap+14
Incentives55
Confidence71
scienceConfirmed3 publishers

Narwhal tusks hide two spirals twisting against each other, and the mismatch is the point

3D X-ray work at three synchrotrons shows the tusk's outer layer coils left while its core coils right, the two meeting at the dentin-cementum boundary. The stiffness gain is still an inference.

Perspective Coverage

3 publishers
Builder
Builder 47%
Operator
Operator 31%
Investor
Investor 22%

Reality

Evidence62
Adoption14
Hype gap+24
Incentives55
Confidence63