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Life Sciences - May 16
Psychology - May 13
Researchers at the Department of Neurology of the University of Bern and University Hospital Bern identified how the brain triages emotions during dream sleep to consolidate the storage of positive emotions while dampening the consolidation of negative ones. The work expands the importance of sleep in mental health and opens new ways of therapeutic strategies.
Life Sciences - May 13
A team from the University of Geneva shows that cells that make up our tissues increase in volume when tissues bend. A key discovery for the culture of in vitro organs.
Life Sciences - May 13
How does a cell balance risk and speed when dividing? scientists have developed and experimentally tested the first mathematical theory that describes the cell's best strategy for dividing safely and efficiently.
Life Sciences - May 12
The cerebral cortex is thought to be the seat of conscious processing in the brain. Rather than being inactivated, specific cells in the cortex show higher spontaneous activity during general anesthesia than when awake, and this activity is synchronized across those cortical cells. Improving our understanding of the neuronal mechanisms of general anesthesia could lead to better anesthetic drugs and improved surgical outcomes.
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Scientists have developed a digital model of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, which realistically simulates the movements of the animal. The twin is a big step towards reverse engineering the neuromechanical control of animal behavior, and developing bioinspired robots. "We used two kinds of data to build NeuroMechFly," says Professor Pavan Ramdya at EPFL's School of Life Sciences.
Researchers at the Department of Neurology of the University of Bern and University Hospital Bern identified how the brain triages emotions during dream sleep to consolidate the storage of positive emotions while dampening the consolidation of negative ones. The work expands the importance of sleep in mental health and opens new ways of therapeutic strategies.
How does a cell balance risk and speed when dividing? scientists have developed and experimentally tested the first mathematical theory that describes the cell's best strategy for dividing safely and efficiently. Cells go through a life cycle that includes growing to the right size, being equipped to perform its functions, and finally dividing into two new cells.
Our cells take their ease in the curves
A team from the University of Geneva shows that cells that make up our tissues increase in volume when tissues bend. A key discovery for the culture of in vitro organs. "Sheet" of curved cells in the form of a tube: the cells initially organized flat were forced to curl. (c) Aurélien Roux How do our cells organize themselves to give their final shape to our organs? The answer lies in morphogenesis, the set of mechanisms that regulate their distribution in space during embryonic development.
A team from the University of Geneva shows that cells that make up our tissues increase in volume when tissues bend. A key discovery for the culture of in vitro organs. "Sheet" of curved cells in the form of a tube: the cells initially organized flat were forced to curl. (c) Aurélien Roux How do our cells organize themselves to give their final shape to our organs? The answer lies in morphogenesis, the set of mechanisms that regulate their distribution in space during embryonic development.
The cerebral cortex is thought to be the seat of conscious processing in the brain. Rather than being inactivated, specific cells in the cortex show higher spontaneous activity during general anesthesia than when awake, and this activity is synchronized across those cortical cells. Improving our understanding of the neuronal mechanisms of general anesthesia could lead to better anesthetic drugs and improved surgical outcomes.
Anyone who lives in an old building with wooden floors knows the problem: Even if the neighbors from above glide across the floor with graceful elegance, it sounds as if you were living under a bowling alley. Impact sound is a challenge even for the most modern wooden buildings. Scientists at Empa are now tinkering with a solution.
The genetic origins of the first agriculturalists in the Neolithic period long seemed to lie in the Near East. A new study published in the journal Cell shows that the first farmers actually represented a mixture of Ice Age hunter-gatherer groups, spread from the Near East all the way to south-eastern Europe.
Very thin wires made of a topological insulator could enable highly stable qubits, the building blocks of future quantum computers. Scientists see a new result in topological insulator devices as an important step towards realizing the technology's potential. An international group of scientists have demonstrated that wires more than 100 times thinner than a human hair can act like a quantum one-way street for electrons when made of a peculiar material known as a topological insulator.
Researchers from FMI have identified a synthetic protein that dampens the activity of a cellular pathway involved in viral infection. The findings could help to develop drugs that combat viruses such as influenza A and Zika. Influenza A virus affects millions of people worldwide and can have serious complications, including bacterial pneumonia, ear infections and the worsening of long-term medical conditions.
Researchers at the University of Bern and University Hospital Bern have achieved a breakthrough in a particularly aggressive form of prostate cancer. In tissue samples from advanced brain metastases, they were able to establish the genetic profile of the cancer cells. These findings show for the first time that affected patients could benefit from target treatment, from which they have so far not been eligible.
Some breast tumors with certain genetic alterations are difficult to treat using existing therapies. Researchers at the University of Basel have now discovered an approach that involves a toxic combination with a second target gene in order to kill the abnormal cells. The first clinical trials could be starting soon.
Childbirth in humans is much more complex and painful than in great apes. It was long believed that this was a result of humans- larger brains and the narrow dimensions of the mother's pelvis. Researchers at the University of Zurich have now used 3D simulations to show that childbirth was also a highly complex process in earlier hominin species that gave birth to relatively small-brained newborns - with important implications for their cognitive development.
Scientists reveal a surprising mechanism in the formation of copper deposits, an essential metal for the energy transition. Copper is one of the most widely used metals on the planet today due to its electrical and thermal conduction properties. The greatest natural resources of this metal are the so-called "porphyry" deposits that come from magmas deep in the Earth.
The Lymphoma Genomics group, directed by Prof. Francesco Bertoni at the Institute of Oncology Research (IOR, affiliated to USI and member of Bios+), identified a new mechanism behind the resistance to the drug idelalisib, used in the treatment of patients with follicular lymphoma and marginal zone lymphoma.
Oliver Schilling spends most of his working time at the University of Basel, where he has been gathering his research group around him as a new assistant professor of hydrogeology since the beginning of March. At the University of Basel, he also heads the "Applied and Environmental Geology" work group, which, among other things, support the two cantons of Basel and regional companies in the management of water, energy and underground resources.
Researchers have discovered that symmetry in the human body is influenced by surface tension, the same mechanical phenomenon that allows lightweight insects to walk on water. A paper discussing this surprising finding, which is akin to a form of natural self-correction, has been published. In vertebrates, the arms, legs, fins and wings are neatly aligned on either side of the torso.
To get closer to quantum technology we need to develop non-classical light sources that can emit a single photon at a time and do so on demand.
Together with researchers from Ulm and Neuchâtel, Empa will soon be studying material samples on the ISS. The material in question are super-hard and corrosion-resistant alloys of palladium, nickel, copper and phosphorus - also known as "metallic glasses". A high-tech company from La Chaux-de-Fonds, which produces materials for the watch industry, is also involved.
Scientists led by EPFL have developed a new method to measure chemical kinetics by imaging progress of a reaction at a liquid-liquid interface embedded in a laminar-flow liquid microjet. This method is ideal for studies of dynamics on the sub-millisecond timescale, which is very difficult to do with current applications.
Worldwide, the demand for fertiliser for agriculture is increasing. This makes the recovery of nutrients from wastewater interesting. Switzerland, for example, is completely dependent on imports for phosphorus. Phosphorus reserves (which are also finite) are controlled by a few countries such as China and the USA.
News from the Lab is a selection of science news that are significant or interesting for a broad readership.
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