news 2018

Scientists from EPFL and ETH Zurich have developed an ultra-light glove - weighing less than 8 grams per finger- that enables users to feel and manipulate virtual objects. Their system provides extremely realistic haptic feedback and could run on a battery, allowing for unparalleled freedom of movement.

Ready-to-use kits determine genomic characteristics of solid tumours Optimized workflow to generate results in house Software analysis allows correlation to AVENIO ctDNA NGS kits Roche today announced the global commercial launch of three new next-generation sequencing (NGS) AVENIO Tumor Tissue Analysis Kits - the AVENIO Tumor Tissue Targeted Kit, Expanded Kit and Surveillance Kit.

Global trade is saving water on balance. In principle, this is a good thing. However, the water budget has its dark side - a fact which Eawag researchers have now brought to light. Virtual water is the term used to describe water that is used in the production of a product. The amount used varies according to the place where the products are produced.

Drug-releasing textiles could, for instance, be used to treat skin wounds. Empa researchers are currently developing polymer fibers that can be equipped with drugs. The smart fibers recognize the need for therapy all by themselves and dose the active ingredients with precision and accuracy. For the «Self Care Materials» project, fibers are produced from biodegradable polymers using various processes.

Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease in which the body's own immune system attacks and damages the protective coating around nerve cells. This coating is made up of myelin - a biological membrane of protein and fatty substances - which is why research efforts to find the disease's target antigen have so far focused on the myelin membrane's components.

Mountain rivers swollen by heavy rainfall deposit large amounts of sediment in reservoirs. To prevent the loss of storage capacity, some reservoirs are equipped with bypass tunnels which convey sediment-laden waters to downstream reaches. The fact that such tunnels offer ecological benefits as well as economic advantages was shown, for example, by a study carried out on the Solis reservoir in Graubünden.

Successful pilot experiment on biomolecules at the newest large research facility of PSI For the development of new medicinal agents, accurate knowledge of biological processes in the body is a prerequisite. Here proteins play a crucial role. At the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, the X-ray free-electron laser SwissFEL has now, for the first time, directed its strong light onto protein crystals and made their structures visible.

More than half of foreign employees in Switzerland feel well-integrated in their work environment. Language difficulties serve as one of the main reasons for a lack of integration. This is concluded by the latest issue of the Swiss HR Barometer issued by the Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich and the Universities of Lucerne and Zurich.

Researchers from the Institute of Evolutionary Medicine of the University of Zurich and the Adelaide Medical School have analyzed data from 178 countries and found a link between family size and cancer risk. Worldwide the incidence of various types of cancer increases with smaller family size. "And this relationship is independent of income, levels of urbanization and age," explains Professor Maciej Henneberg, academic guest at UZH and senior author of the study.

Chimpanzees are capable of inventing new, more efficient tools and, once they have done so, of abandoning their old tools in favour of new ones. This is what Noémie Lamon, a doctorate in biology from the University of Neuchâtel, has shown in a study conducted with researchers from the universities of Geneva (UNIGE) and St Andrews (UK), published today in the prestigious journal Proceedings of the Royal Society: Biological Sciences.

Breadth of data at ECTRIMS underpins Novartis' relentless commitment to decoding the science of multiple sclerosis (MS) and decreasing the patient burden 33 abstracts from the leading MS portfolio include data for Gilenya (fingolimod), and investigational drugs siponimod (BAF312) and ofatumumab (OMB157)   New research will be presented on neurofilaments, a biomarker for MS that can be detected in the blood and could reimagine the way treatments

By studying the effects of Basel's electricity levy, researchers at the University of Lucerne investigated how tax incentives work in practice and how their impact on energy consumption could be increased. The National Council and the Council of States decided not to debate the proposals of the Federal Council on the second phase of the Energy Strategy 2050 concerning the climate and energy tax incentive KELS.

By identifying the genes involved in resisting Africa's most widespread cattle disease, researchers at EPFL have developed a map of Uganda showing cattle farmers where the riskiest areas are. "We hope that our research will have an impact, because it addresses some major issues regarding food security in Africa over the medium and long term," says Stéphane Joost, who works in EPFL's Laboratory of Geographic Information Systems (LASIG) and is the corresponding author of a study recently published in scientific review Frontiers in Genetics .

Is there a second Earth out there in space? Our knowledge of planetary systems far, far away is increasing constantly, as new technologies continue to sharpen our gaze into space. To date, 3,700 planets have already been discovered outside our solar system. The planetary masses and radii of these exoplanets can be used to infer their mean density, but not their exact chemical composition and structure.

Scientists at the University of Basel have found a way to change the spatial arrangement of bipyridine molecules on a surface. These potential components of dye-sensitized solar cells form complexes with metals and thereby alter their chemical conformation. The results of this interdisciplinary collaboration between chemists and physicists from Basel were recently published in the scientific journal ACS Omega.

For years, scientists have been trying to determine the climate of the past in order to make better predictions about future climate conditions. Now, there has been a breakthrough in the methodology of climate reconstruction based on microbial molecular fossils. Researchers under the direction of the University of Basel analyzed sediment samples collected from more than 30 Swiss lakes.

Differential recruitment of proteins to chromatin is fundamental in eukaryotes to regulate transcription, replication, and cell division. Yet it is unclear how the regulatory landscape is transmitted through cell division since many proteins are thought to be evicted during mitosis, when the chromosomes condensate.

EPFL astrophysicists actively participated in the discovery of a very rare star, which is particularly old and metal-poor. As a messenger from the distant past, it will allow the scientists to learn more about the young Universe, right after the Big Bang. "We made a major discovery, which questions our understanding of the formation of the first generations of stars in the universe".

A study reveals that over the course of their evolution, frogs of the family Ranidae have changed their sex chromosomes at least thirteen times. This is the highest documented turnover among vertebrates. Unlike humans and other mammals, ranids use at least five different pairs of sex chromosomes. In the red frog, the most common amphibian in Switzerland, the main gene that determines the sex of an individual - male or female - is located on chromosome pair 1.

Species-rich subtropical forests can take up on average twice as much carbon as monocultures. An international research team has evaluated data from forests grown specifically for this purpose in China with a total of over 150,000 trees. The results speak in favor of using many different tree species during reforestation.