news from the lab 2017

The disappearance of a large part of the terrestrial megafauna such as saber-toothed cat and the mammoth during the ice age is well known. Now, researchers at the University of Zurich and the Naturkunde Museum in Berlin have shown that a similar extinction event had taken place earlier, in the oceans.

EPFL scientists show how some pathogenic bacteria - such as the mycobacteria that cause tuberculosis - use a previously unknown mechanism to coordinate their division. The discovery could help develop new ways to fight them. Most rod-shaped bacteria divide by splitting into two around the middle after their DNA has replicated safely and segregated to opposite ends of the cell.

Stem cells are considered biological allrounders because they have the potential to develop into the various body cell types.

EPFL researchers have found a way around what was considered a fundamental limitation of physics for over 100 years. They were able to conceive resonant systems that can store electromagnetic waves over a long period of time while maintaining a broad bandwidth. At EPFL, researchers challenge a fundamental law and discover that more electromagnetic energy can be stored in wave-guiding systems than previously thought.

As fundamental building blocks of matter, protons are a part of all things that surround us. At the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, however, they step out of their usual role and are deployed to generate other particles, namely neutrons and muons, which are subsequently used to study materials.

Hydrogen is regarded as the energy source of the future: It is produced with solar power and can be used to generate heat and electricity in fuel cells.

How can we organize energy supply in the post-fossil era? How can energy be stored efficiently? And how can we organize distribution as economically and conveniently as possible? Empa's research platform 'ehub? is searching for answers to these questions.

Stem cells persist in the adult mammalian brain and generate new neurons throughout life.

Flexible electronic parts could significantly improve medical implants. However, electroconductive gold atoms usually hardly bind to silicones.

Media releases, information for representatives of the media Media Relations (E) The hole in the ozone layer above Antarctica has more far-reaching consequences than previously assumed. A study by Bernese climate researchers has now shown that it even affects precipitation in the tropical regions of the Pacific, 10,000 kilometres away.

Liquid lithium-ion rechargeable batteries are dangerous. They can leak or ignite rapidly if they become overheated.

Over a period of three years, a group of astrophysicists from the University of Zurich has developed and optimised a revolutionary code to describe with unprecedented accuracy the dynamics of dark matter and the formation of large-scale structures in the Universe.

An EPFL study has for the first time measured the impact of climate change on alpine streams, and the results are quite worrying: after a low-snow winter, these streams release more carbon dioxide than they absorb. Numerous researchers are looking at the impact of climate change on the Alps. And one of the most obvious effects is the low snowfall observed in recent years.

Researchers from EPFL and Karlsruhe Institute of Technologyâ?use a soliton frequency combs from optical microresonators to transmit data at speeds of more than 50 terabits per second.

Media releases, information for representatives of the media Media Relations (E) The difficult yet successful measurement of several isotopes of the noble gas xenon on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko using the Bernese instrument ROSINA on the Rosetta probe shows that materials arrived on Earth due to comet impacts.

Cancer affects only very few children. Nonetheless, malignant tumours can develop above all in the muscles, bones and nerve tissue of the very young.

EPFL researchers propose a new approach of performing in vitro tests on nanoparticles that could enhance a correlation to in vivo results. This involves reproducing in the lab the dynamic and fluidic variations that these particles experience in the human body. Before new nanoparticles or other nanomedicines can be injected into the human body, a whole series of tests must be conducted in the laboratory, then in living cells, and in the end on humans.

Cancer is one of the most frequent diseases not only in people, but in pets as well. Like people, dogs can also suffer from cancer of the mammary glands (mammary tumors). Dog mammary tumors are very similar to breast carcinoma in humans, and much more so than those of rats or mice, for example. For this reason, research on canine mammary tumors is important for human medicine as well.

EPFL scientists have built the first Earth-abundant and low-cost catalytic system for splitting CO2into CO and oxygen, an important step towards achieving the conversion of renewable energy into hydrocarbon fuels.

EPFL, in association with the School of Engineering and Architecture of Fribourg, the Geneva School of Art and Design and the University of Fribourg, is taking part in the 2017 international Solar Decathlon competition.