News in Brief
Pharmacology - Nov 24
Novartis highlights confidence in growing sales with margin expansion, fueled by in-market brands and a rich pipeline, at Annual Meet the Management investor event
Novartis highlights confidence in growing sales with margin expansion, fueled by in-market brands and a rich pipeline, at Annual Meet the Management investor event
Campus - Nov 23
Culinary tourism, USI Master thesis leads to a report by the European Travel Commission
Culinary tourism, USI Master thesis leads to a report by the European Travel Commission
news
Environment - Nov 25
Physics - Nov 25
Due to its antibacterial properties, nanosilver is used in a wide range of products from textiles to cosmetics. But nanosilver if present at high concentrations also disrupts the metabolism of algae that are essential for the aquatic food web dynamics and the production of terrestrial oxygen.
Environment - Nov 25
Scientists at EPFL have developed new methods to design and control civil structures that are able to automatically adapt to loading. The aim is to reduce the environmental impact of the construction sector.
Health - Nov 25
Iron-deficiency anaemia is a major concern in low-income settings, especially for women. In a new study by the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) and partners published yesterday in The Lancet Global Health, researchers found that iron infusion was feasible, safe and in contrast to the standard iron-deficiency anaemia treatment of oral iron tablets, highly effective in Tanzania. This is the first study to provide evidence of the benefits and safety of iron infusion in a low-income setting.
Health - Nov 24
Temperature inversions or Saharan dust intrusions can favor the presence of fine particles in the air. Their high concentration can aggravate the consequences of COVID-19.
Category
Years
2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008
Results 1 - 20 of 331.
A team of international scientists led by ETH researcher Paolo Sossi has gained new insights into Earth's atmosphere of 4.5 billion years ago. Their results have implications for the possible origins of life on Earth. Four-and-a-half billion years ago, Earth would have been hard to recognise.
Due to its antibacterial properties, nanosilver is used in a wide range of products from textiles to cosmetics. But nanosilver if present at high concentrations also disrupts the metabolism of algae that are essential for the aquatic food web dynamics and the production of terrestrial oxygen. Products derived from nanotechnology are efficient and highly sought-after, yet their effects on the environment are still poorly understood.
Iron-deficiency anaemia is a major concern in low-income settings, especially for women. In a new study by the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) and partners published yesterday in The Lancet Global Health, researchers found that iron infusion was feasible, safe and in contrast to the standard iron-deficiency anaemia treatment of oral iron tablets, highly effective in Tanzania.
Adaptive structures cut down the carbon footprint of buildings
Scientists at EPFL have developed new methods to design and control civil structures that are able to automatically adapt to loading. The aim is to reduce the environmental impact of the construction sector. In order to address current environmental challenges, the construction industry must find new ways of building.
Scientists at EPFL have developed new methods to design and control civil structures that are able to automatically adapt to loading. The aim is to reduce the environmental impact of the construction sector. In order to address current environmental challenges, the construction industry must find new ways of building.
Temperature inversions or Saharan dust intrusions can favor the presence of fine particles in the air. Their high concentration can aggravate the consequences of COVID-19. The correlation between the high concentration of fine particles and the severity of influenza waves is well known to epidemiologists.
Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a technique for manufacturing micrometre-long machines by interlocking multiple materials in a complex way. Such microrobots will one day revolutionise the field of medicine. Robots so tiny that they can manoeuvre through our blood vessels and deliver medications to certain points in the body - researchers have been pursuing this goal for years.
Study measures Switzerland's potential geothermal heating capacity
An EPFL PhD candidate has calculated the maximum amount of geothermal energy that could theoretically be extracted using ground-source heat pumps in the Cantons of Vaud and Geneva. In a study combining data on the area available for such systems with computer modeling techniques, she found stark differences between geothermal energy's potential in urban versus rural areas.
An EPFL PhD candidate has calculated the maximum amount of geothermal energy that could theoretically be extracted using ground-source heat pumps in the Cantons of Vaud and Geneva. In a study combining data on the area available for such systems with computer modeling techniques, she found stark differences between geothermal energy's potential in urban versus rural areas.
Make geothermal energy safer by using supercomputer simulations. That is the aim of the research project FASTER (Forecasting and Assessing Seismicity and Thermal Evolution in Geothermal Reservoirs) which involves Universitą della Svizzera italiana (USI), the Swiss Seismic Service (SED), the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH), and the Swiss National Centre for Scientific Computing (CSCS).
Virtual reality helps measure vulnerability to stress
Behavioral scientists at EPFL have developed a virtual reality test that assesses a person's vulnerability to stress while exploring immersive environments. The resulting model offers the field of stress research one of the first such tools that does not rely on subjective evaluations. We all react to stress in different ways.
Behavioral scientists at EPFL have developed a virtual reality test that assesses a person's vulnerability to stress while exploring immersive environments. The resulting model offers the field of stress research one of the first such tools that does not rely on subjective evaluations. We all react to stress in different ways.
A Basel-led international research team has discovered a connection between the intestinal flora and sites of inflammation in the central nervous system in multiple sclerosis. A specific class of immune cell plays a central role in this newly identified gut-brain axis. The discovery could pave the way for new treatments for MS that target the intestinal flora.
Scientists have generated a huge true random number using DNA synthesis. It is the first time that a number of this magnitude has been created by biochemical means. True random numbers are required in fields as diverse as slot machines and data encryption. These numbers need to be truly random, such that they cannot even be predicted by people with detailed knowledge of the method used to generate them.
A factsheet from the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT) shows: Too much nitrogen and phosphorus is released into the Swiss environment. There they damage biodiversity, forests and water bodies, exacerbate climate change and affect human health. Actually the causes are known. With the help of Eawag researchers, the Swiss Academy of Sciences have collected facts on the problem of excessive nitrogen and phosphorus pollution in the environment.
Skin and cartilage are both strong and flexible - properties that are hard to replicate in artificial materials. But a new fabrication process, developed by scientists at EPFL, brings lifelike synthetic polymers a step closer. Natural materials like skin, cartilage and tendons are tough enough to support our bodyweight and movements, yet flexible enough that they don't crack easily.
Lake Tanganyika in Africa is a true hotspot of organismal diversity. Approximately 240 species of cichlid fishes have evolved in this lake in less than 10 million years. A research team from the University of Basel has investigated this phenomenon of -explosive speciation- and provides new insights into the origins of biological diversity, as they report in the journal -Nature-.
Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, together with colleagues from several other European institutions, have investigated whether particulate matter from certain sources can be especially harmful to human health. They found evidence that the amount of particulate matter alone is not the greatest health risk.
Splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen is an important chemical reaction, especially considering that the use of hydrogen as an energy source in sustainable mobility in the future. An international research team has now decoded how one of the catalysts used in this reaction works. Hydrogen is a key element for achieving sustainable mobility in the future, especially "green" hydrogen produced by splitting water using renewable power.
TIGER is an project between France, Germany and Switzerland to support the cross-border monitoring and control of the Asian tiger mosquito in the Upper Rhine region. On 13 November, Swiss TPH hosted a one-day virtual symposium, where the project team, consisting of Swiss TPH and partners, presented on the current situation of the spread of the tiger mosquito in the region, as well as the project results from the past three years.
Some viruses can get inside cells via a mechanism that involves sulfur organic molecules. Chemists at UNIGE have discovered effective inhibitors and blocked the uptake of SARS-CoV-2. The cell membrane is impermeable to viruses: to get inside and infect a cell, they use a range of strategies to exploit the cellular and biochemical properties of the membranes.
Some, if not all, early sharks that lived 300 to 400 million years ago not only dropped their lower jaws downward but rotated them outwards when opening their mouths. This enabled them to make the best of their largest, sharpest and inward-facing teeth when catching prey, paleontologists at the Universities of Zurich and Chicago have now shown using CT scanning and 3D printing.
The University of Bern and the Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, are founding a "Center for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine" (CAIM) that combines cutting-edge research, engineering and digitalization.
News from the Lab is a selection of science news that are significant or interesting for a broad readership.
Add this page to your bookmarks 
Add this page to your bookmarks
News in Brief
Pharmacology - Nov 24
Novartis highlights confidence in growing sales with margin expansion, fueled by in-market brands and a rich pipeline, at Annual Meet the Management investor event
Novartis highlights confidence in growing sales with margin expansion, fueled by in-market brands and a rich pipeline, at Annual Meet the Management investor event
Campus - Nov 23
Culinary tourism, USI Master thesis leads to a report by the European Travel Commission
Culinary tourism, USI Master thesis leads to a report by the European Travel Commission