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For a long time it has been suspected that fullerene and its derivatives could form naturally in the universe. These are large carbon molecules shaped like a football, salad bowl or nanotube. An international team of researchers using the Swiss SLS synchrotron light source at PSI has shown how this reaction works. The results have just been published in the journal Nature Communications .
A team led by ETH Zurich chemical engineers Chih-Jen Shih and Andrew deMello have developed a rapid test system made of smart graphene paper. It only costs a few Swiss Rappen per test strip, is easy to use but is as accurate as lab measurements. The approach will impact more than just disease monitoring.
A forest is crucial for life in streams, particularly in the catchment area and in the headwaters. Eawag researcher Rebecca Oester has quantified the extent of this influence of forests in the riparian zone and found a significant effect, particularly for sensitive species.
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Researchers at EPFL and UNIL have uncovered a new way in which cancer can develop: whole genome doubling (WGD) changes the way DNA is organized in the 3D space, leading to the activation of oncogenes that drive cancer growth. A single cell contains 2-3 meters of DNA, meaning that the only way to store it is to package it into tight coils.
For a long time it has been suspected that fullerene and its derivatives could form naturally in the universe. These are large carbon molecules shaped like a football, salad bowl or nanotube. An international team of researchers using the Swiss SLS synchrotron light source at PSI has shown how this reaction works.
A forest is crucial for life in streams, particularly in the catchment area and in the headwaters. Eawag researcher Rebecca Oester has quantified the extent of this influence of forests in the riparian zone and found a significant effect, particularly for sensitive species. This work shows once again how closely terrestrial and aquatic habitats are linked.
A team led by ETH Zurich chemical engineers Chih-Jen Shih and Andrew deMello have developed a rapid test system made of smart graphene paper. It only costs a few Swiss Rappen per test strip, is easy to use but is as accurate as lab measurements. The approach will impact more than just disease monitoring.
Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed an electronic yarn capable of precisely measuring how a person's body moves. Integrated directly into sportswear or work clothing, the textile sensor predicts the wearer's exhaustion level during physical exertion. Exhaustion makes us more prone to injury when we're exercising or performing physical tasks.
One and a half million times a year, the instruments of eye surgery specialist Oertli Instrumente AG are used for cataract operations. In cooperation with the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences, the Rhine Valley company is working on instruments that will make the operation safer and even more efficient.
Researchers have developed a temperature-modulating robotic system that can be seamlessly integrated into notoriously sensitive honeybee hives, providing both a never-before-seen view of honeybee behavior and a means to influence it. Honeybees are famously finicky when it comes to being studied. Research instruments and conditions and even unfamiliar smells can disrupt a colony's behavior.
Thanks to a unique data set from ten Swiss lakes, an international team of researchers led by Eawag has succeeded in reconstructing entire ecological plankton networks and determining how they respond to climate change and phosphate levels. The results make one sit up and take notice. In most lakes, there are millions of small creatures that generally remain hidden from our eyes.
To mark Sexual Harassment Awareness Day at Swiss universities, Vice President Julia Dannath analyses the situation at ETH Zurich, explains what anonymous reports can and cannot achieve, and presents what she believes is most needed to effectively combat sexual harassment. Today, for the first time, Swiss universities are joining forces to raise awareness about sexual harassment in the context of university education.
An international team led by the University of Geneva, HUG and NUS has developed an innovative method for evaluating AI interpretability methods, with the aim of deciphering the basis of AI reasoning and possible biases. Researchers from the University of Geneva , the Geneva University Hospitals (HUG), and the National University of Singapore (NUS) have developed a novel method for evaluating the interpretability of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, opening the door to greater transparency and trust in AI-driven diagnostic and predictive tools.
Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have deciphered the molecular processes that first occur in the eye when light hits the retina. The processes - which take only a fraction of a trillionth of a second - are essential for human sight. The study has now been published in the scientific journal Nature .
Light particles, also called photons, do not normally interact with each other. An international research team has now demonstrated for the first time that a few photons can be manipulated and made to interact in a controlled manner. This could advance both medical imaging and quantum computing. Photons do not interact with each other in a vacuum; they can fly through each other undisturbed.
Some animals do not need a brain to be able to learn. This is what Professor Simon Sprecher of the University of Freiburg has revealed in a study that has just been published. With his team, the biologist taught a sea anemone to adapt its behavior according to past experiences . We spontaneously associate the faculties of learning and memorization with the existence of a brain.
In the Forest Laboratory "Waldlabor" on Hönggerberg, researchers investigate the storage and transport processes of water in the forest. Recently they showed that forest-floor litter and deadwood have a far larger influence on the forest water balance than expected. The forest on Hönggerberg in the north of Zurich is both, a recreational space and a laboratory.
The abolition of daylight saving time is a frequently - and hotly - debated topic. Often, only the aspect of electricity consumption due to artificial lighting is considered. In a new study, researchers have analyzed whether daylight saving time also has an impact on the energy needed to heat and cool office buildings, and what role climate change might play in this.
An international team led by the University of Geneva has developed a quantum material in which the fabric of space inhabited by electrons can be curved on-demand. The development of new information and communication technologies poses new challenges to scientists and industry. Designing new quantum materials - whose exceptional properties stem from quantum physics - is the most promising way to meet these challenges.
A study by researchers at ETH Zurich shows for the first time how a relaxation of Swiss spatial planning policy would affect the locations of wind turbines. If the aim is to have as few wind turbines as possible in the Alps and in Switzerland in general, it would be worth considering using windy agricultural areas on the western Swiss Plateau.
Increasingly dense cell clusters in growing tumours convert blood vessels into fibre-filled channels. This makes immune cells less effective, as findings by researchers from ETH Zurich and the University of Strasbourg suggest. It was almost ten years ago that researchers first observed that tumours occurring in different cancers - including colorectal cancer, breast cancer and melanoma - exhibit channels leading from the surface to the inside of the cell cluster.
West African chimpanzees in Guinea are threatened by mining. Using a novel genetic approach, researchers together with an international team have collected information on the population size and community structure of the threatened species. These data provide an important basis for assessing the impact of mining .
Smartphones and social media are part of our lives, raising understandable concerns, especially when younger people use them. However, online experiences can be as negative as they are positive. The way to the psychological well-being of adults and adolescents is through the conscious use of such technologies, not their avoidance.