Toniebox, Tiptoi, and Tamagotchi are smart toys, offering interactive play through software and internet access. However, many of these toys raise privacy concerns, and some even collect extensive behavioral data about children, report researchers at the University of Basel. The Toniebox and the figurines it comes with are especially popular with small children.

Primate ornamentation plays a crucial role in communication not only within social groups but also between them, according to a new study. The research reveals that the males of species with overlapping home ranges often display vibrant colors or elaborate features, traits that may help reduce intergroup aggression by enabling quick assessments of potential rivals.

Climate change is particularly intense in the Arctic. To assess its consequences and determine what role this region plays in global warming, two teams of scientists from EPFL have visited the area. One to gain a better understanding of the region's air composition, the other to quantify the greenhouse gases sequestered in Greenland fjords sourced by glacial water.

Microorganisms in biofilms in rivers can break down harmful substances. Some are also able to degrade biocides, including the insect repellent diethyltoluamide (DEET) - or so it is thought. Researchers at the aquatic research institute Eawag have now discovered that DEET is degraded better when the proportion of treated wastewater in the water is high.

Not all pain is the same. Depending on the cause, it requires different therapies. A team led by ETH Zurich has now developed a method that enables physicians to better distinguish between physical and psychosocial pain. Severe pain often has physical causes. But emotional, psychological and social factors can influence how we perceive and react to pain.

Most of a planet's water is generally not on its surface but hidden deep in its interior. This affects the potential habitability of distant worlds, as shown by model calculations of researchers at ETH Zurich and Princeton University. We know that the Earth has an iron core surrounded by a mantle of silicate bedrock and water (oceans) on its surface.

Methane-oxidizing bacteria could play a greater role than previously thought in preventing the release of climate-damaging methane from lakes, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, Germany, and the Swiss Eawag report. They also show who is behind the process and how it works.

Zollikofen, 19. Apprentices do better in companies that offer them a diverse range of tasks and the freedom to find their own solutions. Improvements in the quality of in-house training could help to reduce the number of apprenticeship failures by 10 per cent. These are the findings of researchers at the Swiss Federal University for Vocational Education and Training SFUVET.

Previously thought to be negligible, the Sun-s magnetic activity is influencing the determination of its seismic age, as shown by a study published by an international team led by a researcher from the University of Geneva. An international team of astronomers, led by a researcher from the University of Geneva , has shown that the Sun-s magnetic activity has a significant influence on its seismic characterisation, contrary to predictions in the literature.

The shark has survived numerous environmental disasters, but now it may be losing the battle against its most dangerous rival: the human being. A new economic analysis shows the conditions under which high demand can lead not only to the extinction of a single species, but also to a progressive, accelerating mass extinction.

More than half of the global population is estimated to lack safe drinking water services in a study published yesterday in the journal Science. The results are depicted in a map that researchers compiled using machine learning based on data from household surveys and data derived from earth observations.

Researchers at Swiss TPH have demonstrated that the novel drug candidate, emodepside, is highly effective in treating parasitic worm infections in humans, particularly hookworms. The results of a Phase 2b trial, published today in The Lancet, confirmed the drug's strong efficacy and safety profile, building on the promising outcomes of an earlier Phase 2a study.

Are you concerned about hackers stealing your fingerprint and face data for accessing your smartphone? researchers have found numerous security flaws in Android's most privileged components before hackers do and give advice to users on how to reduce risks. researchers in computer and communication sciences are hacking and fixing Android phones before malicious hackers do.

A new study now published in Science reveals that the memory for a specific experience is stored in multiple parallel "copies". These are preserved for varying durations, modified to certain degrees, and sometimes deleted over time, report researchers at the University of Basel. The ability to turn experiences into memories allows us to learn from the past and use what we learned as a model to respond appropriately to new situations.

More than half of the global population were estimated to lack safely managed drinking water services in a recent study lead by researchers. This is shown in a global map that researchers compiled using machine learning based on data from household surveys and data derived from Earth observations. Safe drinking water access is a human right and one of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.

In the USA, the world's most extensive neutrino experiment, DUNE, is being built at Fermilab. The University of Bern is playing a key role in this by developing the "ND-LAr" detector, which features new technology and an innovative design to observe neutrinos. The prototype of the "ND-LAr" has now been successfully tested and has detected its first neutrinos.

A new class of fat cells makes people healthier. The cells consume energy and produce heat through seemingly pointless biochemical reactions. Fat cells come in three colours: white, brown, and beige. White fat cells store fat in our body as an energy reserve. We need these cells, but having too many creates health problems.

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have been improving the resolution of a process known as photolithography. They hope to use their technique to help advance the miniaturisation of computer chips. Miniaturising computer chips is one of the keys to the digital revolution. It allows computers to become ever smaller and, at the same time, more powerful.

Food, feed, fiber, and bioenergy: The demand for agricultural raw materials is rising. How can additional cultivation areas be reconciled with nature conservation? Researchers at the University of Basel have developed a land-use model that provides answers. By 2030, global cultivation areas are expected to expand by 3.6 percent, increasing global agricultural production by two percent.

Scientists have developed an AI-based technique to improve chemical analysis of nanomaterials, overcoming challenges of noisy data and mixed signals. "Nanomaterials" is a broad term used to describe chemical substances or materials in which a single unit is sized between 1 and 100 nanometers (a nanometer is a billionth of a meter).