news

Scientists at EPFL unveil DiffPALM, an innovative AI method that enhances the prediction of protein interactions and our understanding of biological processes potentially relevant to medical applications. Proteins are the building blocks of life, involved in virtually every biological process. Understanding how proteins interact with each other is crucial for deciphering the complexities of cellular functions, and has significant implications for drug development and the treatment of diseases.

A team of Swiss and Greek archaeologists has completed the fourth season of excavations on the wreck of Antikythera, uncovering part of the ship's hull. The 2024 expedition to the Antikythera wreck, carried out from 17 May to 20 June 2024, has led to a breakthrough in the 2021-2025 research program orchestrated by the Swiss School of Archaeology in Greece (ESAG) and supervised by the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports.

Researchers from the Universities of Zurich, Vienna and Utrecht have uncovered significant flaws in current climate risk assessment techniques that could lead to a severe underestimation of climate-related financial losses for businesses and investors. A study by Stefano Battiston of the Department of Finance at the University of Zurich and his co-authors has identified critical shortcomings in the way climate-related risks to corporate assets are currently assessed.

By deciphering the neural response to a possible reward in people suffering from schizophrenia, a team from the University of Geneva and HUG explains the origin of the lack of motivation, one of the symptoms of the illness. Schizophrenia, which affects up to 1% of the population, is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by multiple symptoms.

Whether sustainably produced hydrogen needs to be 100 percent green is currently under debate. Using the production of ammonia and artificial fertiliser as examples, researchers have calculated that "nearly sustainable" hydrogen would be better in the end. There's a role for sustainably produced hydrogen in the energy transition, and not only as an energy storage medium or as fuel for lorries.

Oncologists use biopsy and imaging techniques to diagnose and monitor tumor diseases and assess treatment success. UZH and USZ researchers have now further developed an advanced method to analyze liquid biopsies of DNA fragments in the blood. It is fast and practical, without putting much of a strain on patients.

Cancer treatments often cause nerve damage that can lead to long-lasting symptoms. Medication has proven ineffective in these cases. A sports scientist at the University of Basel, together with an interdisciplinary team from Germany, has now shown that simple exercises can prevent nerve damage. Cancer therapies have improved over the years.

Researchers at EPFL have discovered that by shining different wavelengths of light on a material called magnetite, they can change its state, making it more or less conducive to electricity. This could lead to the development of innovative materials for electronics. Magnetite is the oldest and strongest natural magnet.

An international team of researchers combine orbital imagery with seismological data from NASA's Mars InSight lander to derive a new impact rate for meteorite strikes on Mars. Seismology also offers a new tool for determining the density of Mars' craters and the age of different regions of a planet.

An international team has shown the existence of two distinct populations of sub-Neptunes, resolving a debate in the scientific community. The majority of stars in our galaxy are home to planets. The most abundant are the sub-Neptunes, planets between the size of Earth and Neptune. Calculating their density poses a problem for scientists: depending on the method used to measure their mass, two populations are highlighted, the dense and the less dense.

Why do civilians take the law into their own hands? Using Mexico as an example, ETH researcher Enzo Nussio shows how it's a combination of a weak state and strong local communities. In late March 2024, an eight-year-old girl went missing in Taxco, a small Mexican town two-and-a-half hours' drive south of Mexico City.

In many cases of malignant melanoma, the effect of targeted treatment is lost over time. A research team from UZH and USZ has now discovered that a factor secreted by tumor cells is responsible for the resistance. These findings could pave the way for more effective therapies. Malignant melanoma is one of the most aggressive types of cancer.

Surgery carries the risk of infection at the surgical site. Proper skin disinfection before the incision minimizes this risk. Two disinfectants are used worldwide for this purpose, one of which was previously considered to be better. A joint study by Inselspital, Bern University Hospital and the University of Bern in collaboration with the University Hospitals of Basel and Zurich now shows that both agents are equally effective.

Scientists have discovered that in indoor spaces, droplets containing the flu virus will remain infectious for longer when they also contain certain types of bacteria found in our respiratory tract. This finding provides important insight into how respiratory infections are transmitted and can enhance estimates of exposure risk.

By analysing 56-million-year-old sediments, a team from the University of Geneva has measured the increase in soil erosion caused by global warming, synonymous with major flooding. 56 million years ago, the Earth experienced a major and rapid climate warming due to greenhouse gas emissions, probably due to volcanic eruptions.

Researchers have succeeded in directing floating objects around an aquatic obstacle course using only soundwaves. Their novel, optics-inspired method holds great promise for biomedical applications such as noninvasive targeted drug delivery. In 2018, Arthur Ashkin won the Nobel Prize in Physics for inventing optical tweezers : laser beams that can be used to manipulate microscopic particles.

Using a special wafer-thin gold membrane, researchers have made it significantly easier to study surfaces. The membrane makes it possible to measure properties of surfaces that are inaccessible to conventional methods. "Surfaces were invented by the devil" - this quote is attributed to the theoretical physicist Wolfgang Pauli, who taught at ETH Zurich for many years and in 1945 received the Nobel Prize in physics for his contributions to quantum mechanics.

Scientists from the University of Geneva and the Icahn School of Medicine have shown how a specific region of our brain is activated to prioritise our activities. How does our brain distinguish between urgent and less urgent goals? Researchers at the University of Geneva and the Icahn School of Medicine in New York have explored how our brain remembers and adjusts the goals we set ourselves on a daily basis.

Scientists at EPFL have developed advanced atom-thin graphene membranes with pyridinic-nitrogen at pore edges, showing unprecedented performance in CO2 capture. It marks a significant stride toward more efficient carbon capture technologies. As the world battles climate change, the need for efficient and cost-effective carbon capture technologies is more urgent than ever.

Behavioral analysis can provide a lot of information about the health status or motivations of a living being. A new technology developed at EPFL makes it possible for a single deep learning model to detect animal motion across many species and environments. This -foundational model-, called SuperAnimal, can be used for animal conservation, biomedicine, and neuroscience research.