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Researchers have developed a protocol for checking that quantum computer components function as they should. That's a critical step in making the promise of quantum computing - including unprecedented computing power - a reality. Quantum computers are being developed by teams working not only at universities but also at Google, IBM, Microsoft and D-Wave, a start-up company.

A new ultrasound technique can help distinguish benign breast tumours from malignant ones. The technology was developed with support from the Swiss National Science Foundation. Ultrasound is one of the three main technologies used in medical imaging. It is more compact and affordable than nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques, and safer than x-rays.

Using laser technology Empa scientists optimized a technique to weld the electronics of implantable pacemakers and defibrillators into a titanium case. The medtech company Medtronic is now using the method worldwide to produce these devices. In Tolochenaz (Canton of Vaud) the US medtech company Medtronic produces one out of five heart pacemakers available on the global market and one out of four defibrillators.

Researchers have carried out a study using smartphone data from young Swiss people to better understand the circumstances in which they are most likely to drink. A computer model developed from the data can estimate, with over 75% accuracy, whether alcohol was consumed on a given weekend night. Do young people drink more out on the town or at a friend's place?

Dealing with wastewater right where it is being produced, instead of in central treatment plants, can be more flexible and economical depending on the location. In Switzerland, however, there are very few such decentralised wastewater treatment plants - although, as Eawag researchers have established, there is a surprisingly strong market potential for them.

EPFL's SolAce pilot unit was inaugurated today at the NEST R&D center on the Empa campus in Dübendorf, Switzerland. Researchers at this solar-powered unit will test out new technology designed to make buildings energy positive and carbon neutral - while providing maximum comfort for their occupants.

Anyone who spends most of their day indoors knows the importance of a comfortable atmosphere to work and live in. Researchers from EPFL's Solar Energy and Building Physics Laboratory are searching for ways to maximize the energy gain from a building's envelope while also optimizing interior comfort in an environmentally friendly way.

Wastewater smells foul and is full of pathogens. For these reasons it is usually removed and disposed of quickly.

EPFL scientists have mapped out the steps required to build a self-sustaining research base on Mars that would be habitable for the long term. Their work can help researchers set priorities for space programs exploring Mars as well as the solar system as a whole. If there was ever life on Mars, its traces are most likely to be found at the planet's poles.

By using artificial intelligence to comb through the vast array of published research and detect the findings most relevant for invention, engineers can magnify their creative ability and invent faster and more disruptively than has been previously possible. This is the approach that Ana Manasovska helped develop as a Master's student at EPFL, and the one used by creative Artificial Intelligence firm Iprova, based at EPFL's Innovation Park, to come up with a wide range of inventions.

For the first time, researchers were able to study quantum interference in a three-level quantum system and thereby control the behavior of individual electron spins. To this end, they used a novel nanostructure, in which a quantum system is integrated into a nanoscale mechanical oscillator in form of a diamond cantilever.

Modern technologies such as computers, smartphones, TVs and gaming consoles are alleged to exert a variety of impacts, both positive and negative.

Atmospheric pollutants put a strain on the environment and harbor health hazards for humans. The Empa spin-off MIRO Analytical Technologies developed a technology to simultaneously analyze nine greenhouse gases and pollutants with only one device and at an unprecedented speed and precision. Air pollution is a problem that affects us all.

Atmospheric pollutants put a strain on the environment and harbor health hazards for humans. The Empa spin-off MIRO Analytical Technologies developed a technology to simultaneously analyze nine greenhouse gases and pollutants with only one device and at an unprecedented speed and precision. Air pollution is a problem that affects us all.

Producing living tissue or organs based on human cells is one of the main research fields in regenerative medicine. Tissue engineering, which involves growing replacement parts in the laboratory, forms a key part of this research. The parts can be used to replace defective cells and tissues in the body and restore their normal functioning.

The wide use of smartphones in our working and private lives has led to an unprecedented level of networking between people. Aside from the possibilities that the smartphone offers, there are also side-effects such as distraction while driving or at work. Bern researchers now show that differences in personality in our capacity for self-control can explain whether people react immediately to smartphone signals.

The Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG), an international committee headed by an EPFL professor, has just unveiled JPEG XS. With this new format, the image-compression process uses less energy, and higher-quality images can be sent with low latency over broadband networks like 5G. JPEG XS will have applications in areas such as virtual reality, augmented reality, space imagery, self-driving cars and professional movie editing.

EPFL spin-off Embion Technologies has developed a soluble fiber powder made from barley residue from the beer-making process that can be used to reduce the sucrose content of a wide range of foods. This by-product also appears to lower cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

EPFL and Nissan researchers are able to read a driver's brain signals and send them to a smart vehicle so that it can anticipate the driver's moves and facilitate the driving process.

To improve diagnosis and treatment of children under five, Swiss TPH together with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) developed the electronic decision support tool ALMANACH.