news 2019

By decoding the genetic mechanisms that control the neurons of the visual system, researchers at UNIGE are unveiling the first steps in the construction of vision, paving the way for regenerative eye medicine.

Local startup Rayform has developed a collection of unique, stylish rings that employ technology developed at EPFL (Switzerland). The surface of each ring is structured so as to create messages out of reflected light. look like normal pieces of jewelry. But shine light on them, and you'll see they are in fact extraordinary.

Eawag researchers have identified the major anthropogenic threats and their chief origins in a review article. Intensive agriculture, urban sprawl, the pharmaceutical industry, poor wastewater infrastructure, lack of water-quality data as well as lack of awareness of the meaning of groundwater as a renewable resource are among the most urgent problems.

Researchers at UNIGE have demonstrated that the brain adjusts the attention it gives to identical sounds as soon as they are perceived in the brainstem, a capacity that is lacking in schizophrenics. Our sound environment is extremely dense, which is why the brain has to adapt and implement filtering mechanisms that allow it to hold its attention on the most important elements and save energy.

Antibiotic resistance does not spread only where and when antibiotics are used in large quantities, ETH researchers conclude from laboratory experiments. Reducing antibiotic use alone is therefore not sufficient to curtail resistance, and should be done in conjunction with measures to prevent infection with resistant germs.

ETH scientists have been researching the effect of precipitation and population size on rising temperatures in cities compared with the surrounding countryside. They have found that more green spaces can help to lower temperatures in urban zones - but not everywhere. Urban heat islands are a phenomenon where the temperature in a city is noticeably higher than in the surrounding rural area.

Researchers at EPFL and the University of Bern have developed a groundbreaking method for studying the electrical signals of cardiac muscle cells. The technology has numerous potential applications in basic and applied research - such as improving the search for mechanisms underlying cardiac arrhythmias.

Switzerland is proud of its strongly developed use of hydropower. This covers almost 60% of the country's electricity needs. The production of around 36 terawatt hours (TWh) per year is now to be increased by a further 3 TWh by 2050 as part of the energy strategy. Eawag, the water research institute, is today presenting internal and external experts at the Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne on the challenges this poses for water bodies and the approaches society can take to meet these challenges.

Two EPFL researchers have contributed to a discussion paper for new members of the European Parliament, published ahead of the resumption of parliamentary business this week. In their chapter, they suggest that reversing the tide of deindustrialization and redistributing industrial activities in Europe could cut energy consumption and CO2 emissions in the long run.

Although predisposing processes occur earlier, schizophrenia breaks out at young adulthood, suggesting it might involve a pathological transition during late brain development in predisposed individuals. Using a genetic mouse model of schizophrenia, researchers from the Caroni group at the FMI showed that, like in patients, characteristic network and cognitive deficits only emerge in adult mice.

A rocky extrasolar moon (exomoon) with bubbling lava may orbit a planet 550 light-years away from us. This is suggested by an international team of researchers led by the University of Bern on the basis of theoretical predictions matching observations. The "exo-Io" would appear to be an extreme version of Jupiter's moon Io.

By successfully rejuvenating brain progenitor cells, researchers at UNIGE reveal an unsuspected role of the environment in setting  cellular properties. The cerebral cortex acts as the control centre of our cognitive processes. During embryogenesis, dozens of types of neurons with distinct functions come together to form the circuits that drive our thoughts and actions.

A UNIGE physicist has proposed a new approach to solving one of the biggest theoretical problems in physics: the cosmological constant. The cosmological constant, introduced a century ago by Albert Einstein in his theory of general relativity, is a thorn in the side of physicists. The difference between the theoretical prediction of this parameter and its measurement based on astronomical observations is of the order of 10121.

A group of geoscientists, among them Eawag PhD student Andrea Popp, collected data for a conference paper to be given at the annual meeting of the EGU (European Geosciences Union). The decision was made to use social media for the purposes of the research, the central question of which was what colleagues think about the unequal treatment of men and women in the geosciences.

EPFL scientists have developed an algorithm that can determine whether a super-resolution microscope is operating at maximum resolution based on a single image. The method is compatible with all types of microscopes and could one day be a standard feature of automated models. Thanks to the advent of super-resolution microscopes some 30 years ago, scientists can observe subcellular structures, proteins and living tissue with unprecedented precision.

Researchers from EPFL and the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands have developed an extremely fast optical method for sculpting complex shapes in stem-cell-laden hydrogels and then vascularizing the resulting tissue. Their groundbreaking technique stands to change the field of tissue engineering.

A solar façade developed at ETH Zurich combines electricity production with intelligent shading to achieve optimal energy balance. Heating or cooling internal spaces requires energy. More intelligent building façades could save much of that energy. A system developed at ETH Zurich uses movable solar panels to generate electricity while at the same time allowing the right amount of sunshine or shade to suit weather conditions and internal use.

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute, together with colleagues from the pharmaceutical company F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, have taken an important step towards the development of an agent against the metastasis of certain cancers. Using the Swiss Light Source, they deciphered the structure of a receptor that plays a crucial role in the migration of cancer cells.

How does the brain find order amidst a sea of noise and chaos' Researchers at the EPFL Blue Brain Project have found the answer to this long-standing question by using advanced simulation techniques to investigate the way neurons talk to each other while submerged in a sea of noise and chaos. In a paper published , they found that by working as a team, cortical neurons can respond even to weak input against the backdrop of noise and chaos, allowing the brain to find order.

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have developed a new method with which strong magnetic fields can be precisely measured. They use neutrons obtained from the SINQ spallation source. In the future, it will therefore be possible to measure the fields of magnets that are already installed in devices and thus are inaccessible by other probing techniques.