news from the lab 2017

EPFL scientists have built a low-cost and ultra-stable perovskite solar cell that has been running at 11.2% efficiency for over a year, without loss in performance.

The mastication halters indicate that horses fragment their food with the same rhythmic chewing movements as ruminants do during rumination (Image: UZH).

Mühleberg is the first Swiss nuclear power plant slated for decommissioning in 2019. EPFL researchers have shown that its shutdown will lower water temperatures in the Aar River and Lake Biel, and could affect waterways as far away as Germany. When the Mühleberg nuclear power station goes offline in 2019, the waters of the Aar River and Lake Biel will cool down.

Roughly 2-3 percent of all people suffering from cancer have kidney cancer. The most common form of this disease is called clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). In roughly half of all patients with this disease, the tumor develops metastases and generally cannot be cured. New Mouse Model for Investigating Kidney Cancer The research of different types of cancer and the testing of new treatments depends on accurate mouse models.

Empa researchers have succeeded in developing an environmentally friendly ink for 3D printing based on cellulose nanocrystals.

Transport proteins in the cells of our body protect us from particular toxins. Researchers at ETH Zurich and the University of Basel have now determined the high-resolution three-dimensional structure of a major human transport protein.

An EPFL researcher has created a system that scans Wikipedia for important articles that are missing in other languages. This project could help expand the online encyclopedia's coverage in minority languages, such as Romansh. With 40 million articles in 293 languages, Wikipedia is the largest encyclopedia ever made.

The feeling of constantly being on edge, always having to take care of everything, not being able to find a balance: If an expectant mother is strongly stressed over a longer period of time, the risk of the unborn child developing a mental or physical illness later in life - such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or cardiovascular disease - increases.

Accurate measurements of the frequencies of weak electric or magnetic fields are important in many applications. Researchers at ETH Zurich have now developed a procedure whereby a quantum sensor measures the frequency of an oscillating magnetic field with unprecedented accuracy. Accurate frequency measurements are of crucial importance in many scientific and technological applications.

Researchers from EPFL have shown that the surface of minuscule water drops with a 100 nm size is surprisingly ordered. At room temperature, the surface water molecules of these droplets have much stronger interactions than a normal water surface. The structural difference corresponds to a difference in temperature of -50 °C, which may shed new light on a variety of atmospheric, biological and even geological processes.

Scientists at the University of Basel in Switzerland have, for the first time, described a new T'cell population that can recognize and kill tumor cells.

EPFL scientists have developed a mathematical 'face-recognition' method for identifying and discovering nanoporous materials based on their pore size. Image: Topological differences of top-performing materials for methane storage. Topological data analysis reveals the similarity between structures; each node represents a family of similar materials, while a network between two nodes indicates that they share at least one material.

Sex is one of the most essential characteristics of an individual - not only for humans, but also for animals and plants.

Most people know from their own experience that just a single sleepless night can lead to difficulty in mastering mental tasks the next day. Researchers assume that deep sleep is essential for maintaining the learning efficiency of the human brain in the long term. While we are awake, we constantly receive impressions from our environment, whereby numerous connections between the nerve cells - so-called synapses - are excited and intensified at times.

This past week, 28 CubeSats were released from the International Space Station (ISS). Eight of them are running EPFL software that was originally developed for SwissCube.

Astronomers of the extended Baryonic Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey, led by EPFL Professor Jean-Paul Kneib, used the Sloan telescope to create the first map of the Universe based entirely on quasars. Quasars are incredibly bright and distant points of light powered by supermassive black holes. As matter and energy fall into the black hole, they heat up to incredible temperatures and begin to glow with excessive brightness.

EPFL researchers have created an online platform for monitoring the genetic diversity of livestock and the sustainability of animal farming in Switzerland. This project, which was developed in partnership with the Federal Office for Agriculture, could serve as a model for other countries. "With the GenMon platform, our aim was to develop a practical tool for automating the process of monitoring livestock in Switzerland," explains Solange Duruz, a PhD student in the Laboratory of Geographic Information Systems (LASIG) and lead author of the article, which appeared in the journal PLOS One .

ETH scientists have combined millions of images and videos into a three-dimensional, living model of the city of Zurich.

A team of EPFL scientists has developed several antibody-based biosensors that have the potential to help healthcare centers in developing countries or even patients in their own homes keep track of drug concentration in the blood. Being able to monitor drug concentration in the blood of a patient is an important aspect of any pharmaceutical treatment.