news from the lab 2016

Media releases, information for representatives of the media Media Relations (E) The Mars Camera CaSSIS on the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter captured its first images of the Red Planet this week.

14. Scientists at EPFL have found a way to starve liver cancer cells by blocking a protein that is required for their metabolism - while leaving normal cells intact. The discovery opens new ways to treat liver cancer. Primary liver cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, with current treatments being very limited.

14. An international team of scientists at EPFL and the US have discovered a material that can clear out radioactive waste from nuclear plants more efficiently, cheaply, and safely than current methods. Figure: The crystal structure of SBMOF-1 (green = Ca, yellow = S, red = O, gray = C, white = H). The light blue surface is a visualization of the one-dimensional channel that SBMOF-1 creates for the gas molecules to move through.

The soil is still under threat from urban sprawl. Small municipalities with little planning capacity and more easily accessible conurbations in particular are doing little to counter the issue. Researchers from the National Research Programme "Sustainable Use of Soil as a Resource" (NRP 68) have analysed the reasons for this by surveying Swiss municipalities.

14. Scientists from EPFL and ETHZ have developed a powerful tool for exploring and determining the inherent biological differences between individuals, which overcomes a major hurdle for personalized medicine. One of the biggest obstacles in successfully treating metabolic disorders such as diabetes, obesity, fatty liver etc, is the variation in the way patients respond to medication.

13. One of the major obstacles with treating cancer is that tumors can conscript the body's immune cells and make them work for them. Researchers at EPFL have now found a way to reclaim the corrupted immune cells, turn them into signals for the immune system to attack the tumor, and even prevent metastasis.

10. EPFL researchers have developed a website that calculates the likely winners of Euro 2016 soccer games, using a more complex and accurate model than conventional statistical methods.

An international consortium led by researchers at the University of Basel has developed a method to precisely alter the quantum mechanical states of electrons within an array of quantum boxes. The method can be used to investigate the interactions between various types of atoms and electrons, which is essential for future quantum technologies, as the group reports in the journal Small.

Media releases, information for representatives of the media Media Relations (E) Colonies of the Eastern honey bee, the original host of parasitic Varroa destructor mites, survive infestations that are fatal to Western honey bees.

08. Light, wireless probes the size of a large pen have been developed to identify cancer cells and suspicious lymph nodes during surgery.

As part of the "LightChEC" research project at the University of Zurich, Empa scientists are working with other researchers on a novel method of artificial photosynthesis - photocatalysis, which uses a purely chemical process to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Unlike other methods, it does not involve the electrolysis of water.

03. Thymio, the teaching robot designed by EPFL and widely used in French-speaking Switzerland, is now making inroads elsewhere in Europe.

01. A new software program reduces the time needed to identify weak points in large structures like cranes, bridges and mining equipment from several days to several minutes.

Media releases, information for representatives of the media Media Relations (E) In colorectal cancer, the presence of invasive tumor cells at the advancing edge of the tumor can provide valuable information on prognosis.

Media releases, information for representatives of the media Media Relations (E) Ingredients crucial for the origin of life on Earth, including the simple amino acid glycine and phosphorus, key components of DNA and cell membranes, have been discovered at Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The possibility that water and organic molecules were brought to the early Earth through impacts of objects like asteroids and comets have long been the subject of important debate.

25. An EPFL team is working on a smart visor that, combined with a thermal imaging camera, will help firefighters see what's around them in real time, even at night and in smoke.

24. For the first time, EPFL researchers have used mobile phone records to reconstruct the spread of a cholera epidemic. While cholera has hardly changed over the past centuries, the tools used to study it have not ceased to evolve. Using mobile phone records of 150,000 users, an EPFL-led study has shown to what extent human mobility patterns contributed to the spread of a cholera epidemic in Senegal in 2005.

In the 2015 federal elections, the FDP consolidated its position as the leading economic party. The SVP made gains thanks to its solid ground-level support and the widespread concerns about migration. On the other hand, the GLP and BDP could rely only on a small number of core voters, and in 2015 the electorate didn't identify them with specific issues or solutions.

Media releases, information for representatives of the media Media Relations (E) When consumers deliberately attack a brand with the objective of causing harm to it, this is known as «consumer brand sabotage». Marketing researchers at the University of Bern have examined this phenomenon in more detail, identified backgrounds and motives of brand sabotage and present initial countermeasures.

19. A consortium of European researchers is pursuing a new and unexpected lead in Alzheimer's research. They are examining the intestinal microbiome and its effect on neurodegeneration. EPFL is coordinating the consortium, which is part of the pan-European Horizon 2020 initiative. Why are some people predisposed to Alzheimer's? A consortium of researchers has recently identified some unexpected and promising leads in the quest to understand the relationship between our intestinal bacteria and Alzheimer's.