news from the lab 2017

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Results 1 - 12 of 12.


Physics - Astronomy / Space - 15.11.2017
Still no sign of dark matter
Still no sign of dark matter
Measurements at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI further constrain theories about the nature of dark matter Experts are largely in agreement that a major portion of the mass in the universe consists of so-called dark matter. Its nature, however, remains completely obscure. One kind of hypothetical elementary particle that might make up the dark matter is the so-called axion.

Astronomy / Space - 06.11.2017
A "cosmic snake" reveals the structure of remote galaxies
Today, astronomers have a pretty accurate idea of how stars were formed in the recent cosmic past. But do these laws also apply to older galaxies' For around a decade, the Hubble telescope has been allowing astronomers to observe solar systems that are six or seven billion light years away. Hubble suggests that there are existing galaxies of nebulae and star clusters with a diameter of over 3000 light-years.

Astronomy / Space - 26.10.2017
New evidence for dark matter makes it even more exotic
New evidence for dark matter makes it even more exotic
Looking at massive galaxy clusters, EPFL astronomers have observed that their brightest galaxies within them "wobble" - an unexpected phenomenon in current models. The discovery, published in MNRAS, adds to the body of evidence of dark matter beyond the Standard Cosmological Model (?CDM). Figure: Abell S1063, a galaxy cluster, was observed by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope as part of the Frontier Fields programme.

Astronomy / Space - 27.09.2017
Searching for distant worlds with a flying telescope
Searching for distant worlds with a flying telescope
Media releases, information for representatives of the media Media Relations (E) Researchers from the University of Bern, using an observatory on board a jumbo jet, have observed how the extrasolar Planet GJ 1214b is passing in front of its star, causing a kind of mini-eclipse. The first measurements of this kind with the observatory called SOFIA (short for Stratospheric Observatory for Infra-red Astronomy) prove that the flying observatory is well-suited to the observation of exoplanets.

Physics - Astronomy / Space - 04.08.2017
Possible explanation for the dominance of matter over antimatter in the Universe
Possible explanation for the dominance of matter over antimatter in the Universe
Media releases, information for representatives of the media Media Relations (E) Neutrinos and antineutrinos, sometimes called ghost particles because difficult to detect, can transform from one type to another. The international T2K Collaboration announces a first indication that the dominance of matter over antimatter may originate from the fact that neutrinos and antineutrinos behave differently during those oscillations.

Astronomy / Space - 09.06.2017
The largest virtual Universe ever simulated
The largest virtual Universe ever simulated
Over a period of three years, a group of astrophysicists from the University of Zurich has developed and optimised a revolutionary code to describe with unprecedented accuracy the dynamics of dark matter and the formation of large-scale structures in the Universe.

Astronomy / Space - Chemistry - 08.06.2017
Relation between comets and earthâ? s atmosphere uncovered
Relation between comets and earthâ? s atmosphere uncovered
Media releases, information for representatives of the media Media Relations (E) The difficult yet successful measurement of several isotopes of the noble gas xenon on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko using the Bernese instrument ROSINA on the Rosetta probe shows that materials arrived on Earth due to comet impacts.

Astronomy / Space - 19.05.2017
Software developed at EPFL used to control a flotilla of satellites
Software developed at EPFL used to control a flotilla of satellites
This past week, 28 CubeSats were released from the International Space Station (ISS). Eight of them are running EPFL software that was originally developed for SwissCube.

Astronomy / Space - Physics - 19.05.2017
Astronomers make the largest map of the Universe yet
Astronomers make the largest map of the Universe yet
Astronomers of the extended Baryonic Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey, led by EPFL Professor Jean-Paul Kneib, used the Sloan telescope to create the first map of the Universe based entirely on quasars. Quasars are incredibly bright and distant points of light powered by supermassive black holes. As matter and energy fall into the black hole, they heat up to incredible temperatures and begin to glow with excessive brightness.

Astronomy / Space - Earth Sciences - 22.03.2017
Sunbathing meteoroids
Sunbathing meteoroids
When a meteoroid travels in space, solar radiation leaves distinctive imprints on its outer layer. Together with colleagues, ETH researcher Antoine Roth has developed novel analytical techniques to detect these imprints, allowing the team to reconstruct meteorites' space journeys. The inconspicuous, small stone that was analysed with high-tech equipment is named Jiddat al Harasis 466.

Earth Sciences - Astronomy / Space - 06.03.2017
Earth is bombarded at random
Earth is bombarded at random
Asteroids don't hit our planet at regular intervals, as was previously thought. Earth scientists have reached this conclusion after analysing impact craters formed in the last 500 million years, concentrating on precisely dated events. Do mass extinctions, like the fall of the dinosaurs, and the formation of large impact craters on Earth occur together at regular intervals? 'This question has been under discussion for more than thirty years now,' says Matthias Meier from ETH Zurich's Institute of Geochemistry and Petrology.

Astronomy / Space - 28.02.2017
Cells adapt ultra-rapidly to zero gravity
Cells adapt ultra-rapidly to zero gravity
Mammalian cells are optimally adapted to gravity. But what happens in the microgravity environment of space if the earth's pull disappears' Previously, many experiments exhibited cell changes - after hours or even days in zero gravity. Astronauts, however, returned to Earth without any severe health problems after long missions in space, which begs the question as to how capable cells are of adapting to changes in gravity.