news from the lab 2016

In today's turtles the shell has a key protective function. The animals can withdraw into it and protect themselves against predators.

Synthetic biology is an emerging and rapidly evolving engineering discipline.

EPFL scientists have invented a new type of 'acoustic prism? that can split a sound into its constituent frequencies. Their acoustic prism has applications in sound detection. Almost 400 years ago, Newton showed that a prism could split white light into the colors of the rainbow, with each colour corresponding to a different wave frequency.

Ever since the prion gene was discovered in 1985, its role and biological impact on the neurons has remained a mystery. "Finally, we can ascribe a clear-cut function to prion proteins and reveal that, combined with particular receptor, they are responsible for the long-term integrity of the nerves," says Professor Adriano Aguzzi from the Neuropathological Institute at the University of Zurich and University Hospital Zurich.

A new web service provides real-time information and forecasts of water temperature and surface water currents.

Although refugees in Switzerland are allowed to take up employment while their asylum application procedure is still pending, a long wait reduces their chances of entering into employment. Researchers supported by the SNSF have now robustly quantified this negative effect for the first time. On 5 June 2016, the Swiss electorate approved an accelerated asylum procedure.

Researchers have developed an algorithm for creating complex objects by cutting holes in sheets of inextensible, but flexible materials such as metal, plastic and leather. It has potential applications in many areas, including microengineering, bioengineering, fashion and architecture. EPFL researchers, in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Hull, have come up with a method for creating everyday objects - like a mask or a shoe - from sheets of inextensible material.

In psychiatric clinics with an exclusively open-door policy, the risk of patients committing suicide or absconding from treatment is no higher than in clinics with locked wards.

Brief, directed smartphone exercises can help quickly improve our mood. This is the latest finding from psychologists at the University of Basel and their international colleagues, reported in the journal Frontiers in Psychology. Participants in the international study felt more alert, calmer and uplifted after - using five-minute video tutorials on their smartphones as a guide - they had, for example, practiced concentrating on their bodies.

Researchers at EPFL have found a way to make images by controlling the reflections that are produce when light passes through a transparent object. This technology is now being marketed by the startup Rayform. Researchers at EPFL have found a way to make images by controlling the reflections that are produce when light passes through a transparent object.

Male honey bees, called drones, can be affected by two neonicotinoid insecticides by reducing male honey bee lifespan and number of living sperm. Both insecticides are currently partially banned in Europe. Researchers from Bern, Switzerland, together with partners from Thailand and Germany, call for more thorough environmental risk assessments of these neonicotinoids.

Scientists at EPFL and ETHZ have developed a new method for building microrobots that could be used in the body to deliver drugs and perform other medical operations. For the past few years, scientists around the world have been studying ways to use miniature robots to better treat a variety of diseases.

Normally computers speed up calculations. But with his new pen-and-paper formula Kevin Heng of the University of Bern gets his results thousands of times faster than using conventional computer codes. The astrophysicist calculates the abundances of molecules (known as atmospheric chemistry) in exoplanetary atmospheres.

Many tourists returning from India were found colonized with multidrug-resistant 'superbugs'.

Flame retardants are invisible assistants in car seats, gasket sealants, furniture and even in aeroplanes. However, their ingredients are not always harmless. Empa researchers developed three innovative flame retardants and tested them for toxicity; not all of them passed the test. Researchers are constantly striving to develop better and safer flame retardants.

Physics student Darius Merk has used an insect-inspired algorithm to develop a drone that can navigate around obstacles.

Even single cells are able to remember information if they receive the order from their proteins. Researchers at the University of Basel's Biozentrum have discovered that proteins form pairs to give the signal for storing information in the cell's memory. The results of the study have now been published in 'Cell Reports'.

Scientists at EPFL and in the US have developed a robust method for characterizing human embryonic stem cells and their potential for medical applications.

For some pathogens, attack is the best form of defense - they enter immune cells of the human body. However, if they are detected in their hidden niche, the infected cell kills itself to re-expose the pathogens. In the 'EMBO Journal? a research group at the University of Basel's Biozentrum has reported that a protein called gasdermin forms permeable pores in the cell membrane and thus triggers the suicide of the immune cell.

Chemists at the University of Basel have succeeded in using computer simulations to elucidate transient structures in proteins. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, the researchers set out how computer simulations of details at the atomic level can be used to understand proteins? modes of action. Using computational chemistry, it is possible to characterize the motion of individual atoms of a molecule.