Tuesday, August 5, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

Scandinavia’s largest insect factory opened

Published 19 January 2024
– By Editorial Staff
Larvae produced for human consumption in South Korea.
2 minute read

What is expected to be the largest insect factory in the Nordic region is about to open in Norway. The aim is to produce up to 15 tons of larvae per week.

Norwegian company NorInsect, based in Stordal in Sunnmøre, has been researching for a decade to develop the optimal larvae factory. Now the opening of the 3,500 square meter facility is imminent. From August, the 14 employees plan to harvest between 10 and 15 tons of caterpillars per week. CEO Harald Larsen Espeland predicts that the market for insects is “insatiable”.

– It is very exciting. In the ten years we have been here, there has been a lot of excitement, joy and frustration. There are things that you think are going to work that turn out not to work. But now we are looking forward to getting the factory up and running, he told Norwegian national broadcaster NRK.

Initially, the factory will produce feed for salmon, chickens and pigs from larvae. Its size is expected to make it one of the largest of its kind in the Nordic region, possibly the largest. If successful, NorInsect plans to build more insect factories across Europe.

“Huge market”

– We have a huge market to serve, so there will certainly be room for a large number of insect producers in the future. Then I think things will stabilize over time with a few big ones in Europe. We want to be one of them, says the CEO.

Insects for human consumption are considered “novel foods”, meaning they are foods that were not widely consumed in the EU before May 15, 1997. There are currently four insect species approved for human consumption in the EU. NorInsect believes that it will be “ready” to sell insects for human consumption, but that the majority of consumers are not yet ready.

– When they are ready, we will be ready, says Larsen Espeland.

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OpenAI opens data center in Norway

The future of AI

Published 3 August 2025
– By Editorial Staff
In Norway, OpenAI is planning to establish one of Europe's largest AI data centers as part of the global Stargate project.
2 minute read

In Norway, OpenAI plans to establish one of Europe’s largest AI data centers as part of the global Stargate project. The facility will be built in the northern parts of the country and operated entirely on renewable energy.

Stargate was launched earlier this year as a comprehensive AI initiative with the goal of strengthening the US dominance in artificial intelligence. The project is a collaboration between American OpenAI and Oracle, along with Japanese SoftBank, with the ambition to build a global AI infrastructure at a cost of up to $500 billion over the next four years. This makes Stargate one of the largest technology investments in history.

First in Europe

On Thursday, OpenAI announced that the company plans to open a Stargate-branded data center in Norway. It will be the company’s first European facility of this kind.

The data center will be located in Kvandal, outside Narvik in northern Norway, and built in collaboration with British company Nscale and Norwegian Aker. OpenAI will function as a so-called “off-taker”, meaning the company will purchase capacity from the facility to power its AI services.

Part of the purpose of this project is to partner with OpenAI and leverage European sovereign compute to release additional services and features to the European continent, says Josh Payne, CEO of Nscale, in an interview with CNBC.

Powered by hydroelectric energy

The data center, planned to be completed in 2026, will house up to 100,000 NVIDIA GPUs and have a capacity of 230 megawatts – making it one of the largest AI facilities in Europe. The facility will be operated entirely on so-called “green energy”, made possible by the region’s access to hydroelectric power.

The first phase of the project involves an investment of approximately $2 billion. Nscale and Aker have committed to contributing $1 billion each. The initial capacity is estimated at 20 megawatts, with ambitions to expand significantly in the coming years.

Swedish home care warns: More elderly drinking excessively

Published 2 August 2025
– By Editorial Staff
2 minute read

An increasing number of home care recipients over 65 have alcohol problems, according to a new report from Sweden’s National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen). The trend is causing concern among staff who are raising alarms about increased risks and problems linked to substance abuse.

In Sweden, alcohol consumption has decreased over the past 20 years across all age groups, except for people over 65 who are instead drinking more. The problem is particularly evident in home care services, where alcohol abuse among people in this age group has increased by 73 percent over the past ten years.

This only applies to people who have been identified through specialized healthcare, which means it’s likely an underestimate and suggests there could also be a significant number of unreported cases, says Isabella Björling, investigator at the National Board of Health and Welfare, in a press release.

Home care staff are also raising alarms about increased substance abuse and the problems that arise. Among other things, the risk of fall injuries increases while there is generally a greater need for care for a person with substance abuse. It also creates a more unpredictable work situation for staff.

– It’s quite common that we have to come in when the situation has become dire. Many times they have been hospitalized, says nursing assistant and safety representative Sofia Andersson to Sweden’s public radio SR.

Difficult to do anything about

The National Board of Health and Welfare believes that competence development is needed within home care services, but also that new working methods need to be developed to handle the growing group of elderly substance abusers.

There is also a need for increased collaboration between healthcare providers as both care needs and the work environment are affected by substance abuse problems.

Despite home care staff seeing the risks, it’s difficult to do anything about substance abuse, according to Andersson.

– We have to, quite bluntly, order alcohol for them. Of course we go in and try to talk about the situation, but if they want us to shop for them, that’s their right, she says.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson reported to police for child trafficking

Published 1 August 2025
– By Editorial Staff
The report, which concerns suspicions of human trafficking and serious document forgery, has been submitted by criminologist and former criminal investigator Jenny Rogneby.
2 minute read

The Swedish Prime Minister is accused of human trafficking and aggravated document forgery linked to his previous role as chairman of Adoptionscentrum (Swedish adoption agency). Jenny Rogneby, who is herself adopted from Ethiopia, has filed the report and argues that extensive misconduct has been overlooked for decades.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson of the Moderate Party has been reported to police for his involvement in Sweden’s international adoption operations. The report, which includes suspicions of human trafficking and aggravated document forgery, has been filed by criminologist and former criminal investigator Jenny Rogneby.

Rogneby, who is herself adopted from Ethiopia, points to Kristersson’s role as chairman of Adoptionscentrum between 2003 and 2005. During this period, the number of adoptions from China doubled, while warning signals about misconduct had already begun to emerge.

This is about child trafficking, forgeries, official misconduct and other serious crimes where many have been affected – but where no one has yet been held accountable, Jenny Rogneby tells Dagens ETC.

Several actors reported to police

The police report targets multiple actors within the adoption sector, not only the Prime Minister. Among those reported are Adoptionscentrum’s management, the Swedish Authority for Family Law and Parental Support (MFoF), the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and private adoption agencies.

The background to the report is the state adoption commission’s investigation, which showed that Swedish actors had knowledge of serious misconduct within adoption operations for several decades. Despite this, the operations were allowed to continue without intervention, according to Rogneby.

Serious allegations of child trafficking

In an Instagram post, Rogneby describes the scope of the alleged misconduct: “Children have been declared dead despite being alive, kidnapped, registered as abandoned and sold – and subsequently adopted to Sweden under false premises.”

She claims that the state investigation contains extensive documentation showing how false documents were used, how consent was lacking or obtained under misleading circumstances, and that financial incentives played a decisive role in adoption processes in several cases.

“These are very serious circumstances that, in my assessment, should be examined legally,” she writes to Dagens ETC.

The adoption commission’s report has previously led Sweden to halt international adoptions from several countries and tighten control of adoption operations.

Homeschooling increases in Finland

Published 1 August 2025
– By Editorial Staff
2 minute read

More and more children are receiving homeschooling in Finland – a trend that gained momentum during the coronavirus crisis and has continued to grow since then. Lack of support in schools and increased awareness are cited as reasons, while authorities warn of knowledge risks.

During the coronavirus crisis, more and more people began working from home in Finland, as in other countries. More children were also taught remotely, especially during spring 2020 when all schools except preschools were closed for about two months. Since then, homeschooling has increased in the country, even after the end of the coronavirus crisis.

In 2020, 585 children received homeschooling, which was then an increase of a quarter from the year before. Last year, the figure had increased to 881 children.

Unlike in Sweden, where compulsory schooling is stricter and it is therefore more difficult to get permission for homeschooling, it is significantly easier in Finland. No special permit is required to homeschool children.

In Sweden, it has become more common to move to Åland (an autonomous Finnish territory) to escape Sweden’s compulsory schooling laws, where, like in Finland, it is easier to homeschool children. In 2024, 95 percent of all homeschooled children in Åland were Swedes, according to tax-funded SVT (Swedish public television).

Awareness has increased

Marjukka Saarnisto, vice chairman of the homeschool association Suomen kotikouluyhdistys, sees several reasons why more parents choose to homeschool their children.

Awareness has increased while problems in elementary school have increased. Nowadays parents dare to make courageous decisions regarding the child’s best interests, she tells Finnish public broadcaster Yle.

It can also involve issues such as bullying or lack of support for the student that leads parents to choose homeschooling. A common phenomenon is that many believe that homeschooled children are isolated from society, a myth that Saarnisto says is not true.

Children who are taught at home also have friends. They have hobbies and even have more time and energy for them than children in elementary school.

A challenge

Education counselor Riia Palmqvist from the Finnish National Agency for Education believes the increase is due to the fact that remote work increased during the coronavirus crisis and that many Finns still work remotely. Since there is no remote alternative for elementary school, parents instead choose homeschooling.

However, Palmqvist emphasizes that homeschooling is demanding and that there is a risk that the child will not gain sufficient competence to continue studying.

It can be difficult to get into upper secondary school or vocational school if you don’t have proof of your competence, she says.

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