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Researchers at EPFL use neural networks to study proprioception, the sense the brain uses to "know" the body's movement and position. How does your brain know the position and movement of your different body parts? The sense is known as proprioception, and it is something like a "sixth sense", allowing us to move freely without constantly watching our limbs.

By capturing a rare glimpse into three-dimensional crack formation in brittle solids, researchers have found that complex cracks require more energy to advance than simple ones; a discovery that could improve materials testing and development. The last time you dropped a favorite mug or sat on your glasses, you may have been too preoccupied to take much notice of the intricate pattern of cracks that appeared in the broken object.

A research project at EPFL succeeded in decoding the complex dance of electrons in water, a major step in understanding a critical process of many chemical phenomena, and that might be the first step to improving energy conversion technologies. Water, the cradle of life on Earth, is not just a passive backdrop but actively participates in the chemical ballet of life.

Researchers at EPFL reveal how Drosophila's Turandot proteins protect against immune self-harm. The study is the first to identify some proteins that protect against antimicrobial peptides offering insights into cellular resilience mechanisms with potential therapeutic applications. In the constant battle between organisms and pathogens, our immune system plays the role of a vigilant guardian.

In a step toward nanofluidic-based neuromorphic - or brain-inspired - computing, EPFL engineers have succeeded in executing a logic operation by connecting two chips that use ions, rather than electrons, to process data. Memory, or the ability to store information in a readily accessible way, is an essential operation in computers and human brains.

EPFL neuroscientists have located single neurons in a deep structure of the brain that regulates the heart and the lungs, a first detection in humans. The results shed light on how the brain-body system self-regulates both vital bio-rhythms. The body self-regulates in a process known as homeostasis, and the brain is responsible for this as it is constantly monitoring all'of the body's vital signals.

An artificial intelligence system developed at EPFL can produce 3D maps of coral reefs from camera footage in just a few minutes. It marks a major leap forward in deep-sea exploration and conservation capabilities for organizations like the Transnational Red Sea Center (TRSC). Corals often provide a colorful backdrop to photographs of shimmering fish captured by amateur divers.

Scientists have developed a sustainable method to make high-performance plastics from agricultural leftovers, turning them into valuable materials. In our rapidly industrialized world, the quest for sustainable materials has never been more urgent. Plastics, ubiquitous in daily life, pose significant environmental challenges, primarily due to their fossil fuel origins and problematic disposal.

A fresh look at red giant stars offers key insights into cosmic distance measurements and a way to measure the Universe's expansion with the highest accuracy. In a constantly expanding universe, measuring cosmic distances is like trying to find a reliable ruler in a vast, ever-stretching fabric. One tool that astrophysicists use is the Hubble constant, (H0), which measures how fast the Universe is expanding and sets the age and observable size of the Universe.

Researchers have shown that large language models primarily trained on English text seem to use English internally, even when they are prompted in another language. As AI increasingly runs our lives, this may have important consequences regarding linguistic and cultural bias. Large language models (LLMs) including Open AI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini have taken the world by storm, surprising with their ability to understand and respond to users with seemingly natural speech.

Researchers have developed a haptic device capable of reproducing the softness of various materials, from a marshmallow to a beating heart, overcoming a deceptively complex challenge that has previously eluded roboticists. The perception of softness can be taken for granted, but it plays a crucial role in many actions and interactions - from judging the ripeness of an avocado to conducting a medical exam, or holding the hand of a loved one.

EPFL neuroscientists have devised a way to alter our social perception and monitor specific types of hallucinations, both in healthy individuals and patients with Parkinson's disease. The test, which is also available online, provides the medical community with a tool to monitor hallucination susceptibility.

Engineers from EPFL and partner organizations have developed a method for classifying lacustrine deltas based on morphological parameters, in order to determine which of the deltas severely altered by human activity are best suited for restoration to their natural state. The Reuss delta on the edge of Lake Lucerne is once again a nature-lover's paradise, complete with gravel islands and stretches of shallow water where plants, animals and bathers coexist in harmony.

Scientists at EPFL have decoded the electronic structure of water, opening up new perspectives for technological and environmental applications. There is no doubt that water is significant. Without it, life would never have begun, let alone continue today - not to mention its role in the environment itself, with oceans covering over 70% of Earth.

Scientists at EPFL have published a guide to building an add-on that turns a standard optical microscope into an instrument capable of producing super resolution, 3D images of cells, organoids, and embryos. For hundreds of years, the optical microscope was the only tool available to scientists wanting to study the movement of cells, bacteria and yeast.

Glacier-fed streams are undergoing a process of profound change, according to scientists in a paper appearing in Nature Geoscience. This conclusion is based on the expeditions to the world's major mountain ranges by members of the Vanishing Glaciers project. Microbial life will flourish in mountain streams because of ongoing glacier shrinkage.

Scientists at EPFL uncover the mechanism by which cells mark the protein cGAS for degradation, which is critical in preventing the immune system from mistakenly attacking the body's own tissues. A microscopic battle rages in our bodies, as our cells constantly fend off invaders through our immune system, a complex system of cells and proteins designed to protect us from harmful pathogens.

Scientists at EPFL have developed a game-changing technique that uses light to manipulate and identify individual bacteriophages without the need for chemical labels or bioreceptors, potentially accelerating and revolutionizing phage-based therapies that can treat antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections.

Researchers at EPFL have developed a new, uniquely modular machine learning model for flexible decision-making. It is able to input any mode of text, video, image, sound, and time-series and then output any number, or combination, of predictions. We've all'heard of Large Language Models, or LLMs - massive scale deep learning models trained on huge amounts of text that form the basis for chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT.

An international collaboration between EPFL and the University of Glasgow has led to an advanced machine-learning algorithm to effectively detect concealed manufacturing defects in wind turbine composite blades - before turbines are put into service. Faulty wind turbine blades can incur huge costs for the companies that operate them, especially if the defects go unnoticed until it's too late.