news 2023

Neuroscientists and neurosurgeons at the EPFL/CHUV/UNIL, Inserm and the University of Bordeaux have designed a neuroprosthetic intended to correct walking disorders associated with Parkinson's disease.

A new ETH study compares 27 humanoid robots with humans and comes to the conclusion that while robots have better components, they are still not capable of achieving as much.

A study by researchers at EPFL shows why only a subset of individuals exposed to trauma develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The research, centered on the body's stress hormone response, could pave the way for more targeted treatments for PTSD. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating condition that arises after experiencing traumatic events.

A team from the University of Geneva has modelled projections for the spread of green energy at local level. Switzerland will have to step up its efforts to achieve zero net carbon emissions by 2050. How can we ensure that an energy policy will achieve its objectives? To find out, scientists and public authorities can rely on computer models of varying degrees of accuracy.

Researchers are developing a dressing containing probiotic lactobacilli. These are intended to heal chronically infected wounds by destroying persistent biofilms, the scientists report in a study published in the scientific journal Microbes and Infection. Millimeter by millimeter, new tissue makes its way through a wound until it has closed a skin lesion.

A team from the University of Geneva and Swiss TPH has published a large study covering more than a decade of data on the effects of mobile phones on semen quality of young men. Does electromagnetic radiation emitted by mobile phones affect semen quality? While various environmental and lifestyle factors have been proposed to explain the decline in semen quality observed over the last fifty years, the role of mobile phones has yet to be demonstrated.

A research collaboration has uncovered a surprising magnetic property of an exotic material that might lead to computers that need less than one-millionth of the energy required to switch a single bit. The world of materials science is constantly discovering or fabricating materials with exotic properties.

The Douglas firs in Switzerland had a bad year: starting in mid-April 2023, foresters noticed conspicuously red-coloured needles. Investigations show that this is probably frost damage. Moreover, with the first discovery of invasive gall midges from North America in summer 2022, the list of Douglas fir pests has been extended further.

The brain's state of arousal is the key to many stressand anxiety-related disorders. Researchers at ETH Zurich have now found a way to influence it with a new biofeedback method. Our pupils are a mirror of our state of arousal: they dilate when we are tense, stressed or even panicky, and constrict when we calm down.

Using a new 3D printing technique, researchers at ETH Zurich have developed special ceramic structures for a solar reactor. Initial experimental testing show that these structures can boost the production yield of solar fuels. In recent years, engineers at ETH Zurich have developed the technology to produce liquid fuels from sunlight and air.

Researchers have designed a bio-inspired robot with a novel trimmed helicoid structure that allows for a wide range of motion and safe interaction with humans. At EPFL's CREATE lab , under the guidance of Josie Hughes, a breakthrough has been made in the realm of soft robotics. Drawing inspiration from the versatile movement of elephant trunks and octopus tentacles, the team introduced the trimmed helicoid - a novel robotic structure that promises greater compliance and control in robotic designs.

A major international study conducted mainly at the University of Neuchâtel (Switzerland) has revealed that the Apodera vas shell amoeba is found almost exclusively in regions originating from Gondwana, the supercontinent that gave rise to some of today's continents. The study also highlights the threat posed by global warming to the biodiversity of soil micro-organisms, of which this amoeba is one.

Sparkling water on the go at the touch of a button and entirely plastic-free. The new water bottle by ETH spin-off bottleplus makes this possible. by Nicole Davidson and Karin Kelly Like many other people, former ETH students Christian Käser and Linus Lingg love to drink sparkling water. There are dozens of convenient and well-designed reusable bottles for transporting tap water.

Mars's liquid iron core is smaller and denser than previously thought. Not only is it smaller, but it is also surrounded by a layer of molten rock. This is what researchers conclude on the basis of seismic data from the InSight lander. For four years, NASA's InSight lander recorded tremors on Mars with its seismometer.

In gene therapy, not all genes can be transported equally well into the target cells. Researchers have now developed a flexible method to deliver large genes efficiently and without significant side effects. The approach has great potential for therapeutic applications . Gene therapy is currently the most promising approach to treat hereditary diseases.

Treatment of the chronic inflammatory bowel disease ulcerative colitis often produces unsatisfactory results. Researchers at the University of Bern have now developed a lipid gel that is administered directly to the inflamed part of the intestine, where it remains and releases its active substance evenly.

How to bring a diagnostic process that has endured for 100 years into the digital age? Two researchers from ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich are developing a robotic platform that enables a more accurate diagnosis of cancer cells by rapidly quantifying tissue samples in their entirety. It all started with an innocuous question at the start of Francesca Catto's doctoral thesis: wouldn't it be nice if tissue samples could be coloured and digitally displayed as a 3D image?

Researchers at EPFL and Northwestern University unveil a groundbreaking design for perovskite solar cells, creating one of the most stable PSCs with a power-conversion efficiency above 25%, paving the way for future commercialization. Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) stand at the forefront of solar energy innovation, and have drawn a lot of attention for their power-conversion efficiency and cost-effective manufacturing.

Researchers have developed a new distributed algorithm that, for the first time, solves one of the key performance and reliability problems affecting most of the currently-deployed consensus protocols. Consensus is one of the fundamental problems in distributed systems. It allows a group of machines to maintain multiple copies of data and update them consistently, even when a fraction of the machines might fail.

Using a new, non-invasive brain-stimulation technique, scientists at EPFL show that it is possible to enhance the activity of deep brain structures and improve motor learning. The research opens up new ways for noninvasive treatments of brain disorders. Video: The Hummel lab showed improvements of motor learning in older adults by noninvasive neuromodulation of a deep brain region (striatum).