The University of Zurich tested 2,500 schoolchildren in the Canton of Zurich to determine if they were infected during the period between the onset of the novel coronavirus and early June 2020. The preliminary results show that in the first stage of testing prior to the summer break, there was no clustering of coronavirus infections in schools in the Canton of Zurich.

Researchers at EPFL have developed an approach to print tiny tissues that look and function almost like their full-sized counterpart. Measuring just a few centimeters across, the mini-tissues could allow scientists to study biological processes-and even test new treatment approaches-in ways that were previously not possible.

DNA damage can occur anywhere in the genome, but most DNA is wrapped around nucleosomes making it inaccessible to the repair machinery. Researchers from the Gasser group now show that DNA damage induces histone depletion, which increases the accessibility and flexibility of the DNA fiber and enhances the rate of homology search during repair by homologous recombination.

Nanoscale vortices known as skyrmions can be created in many magnetic materials. For the first time, researchers at PSI have managed to create and identify antiferromagnetic skyrmions with a unique property: critical elements inside them are arranged in opposing directions. Scientists have succeeded in visualising this phenomenon using neutron scattering.

Air quality in Switzerland has improved but is still not good enough. To continue the monitoring of air pollutants which has taken place for many years in Dübendorf, canton Zurich, federal government has opened a new station as part of its National Air Pollution Monitoring Network (NABEL). As well as showing whether air pollution control measures are working, it will also be used as a platform for research activities on new measuring equipment or new air pollutants.

A recent EPFL study shows that pathogenic viruses may be able to develop resistance to warm temperatures and some types of disinfectant. That - combined with global warming and more frequent and longer heat waves - could make it even harder to keep them from spreading. We could soon see the day when people have to think twice before taking a swim in lakes hitherto considered healthy.

By exploring the benefits of sport in memory and motor learning, scientists from the University of Geneva are opening up promising perspectives for school programmes and in the prevention of Alzheimer's disease. After an intensive sports session, the memory performance are much better. @DR  If sport is good for the body, it also seems to be good for the brain.

On September 27 Switzerland votes for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, including on a contentious initiative to end the free movement of workers with the European Union. Predikon will be predicting the final outcome within minutes of the release of the first partial municipal results from the Swiss Federal Statistical Office.

EPFL spin-off Hydromea has developed a miniature optical modem that can operate down to 6,000 meters below the ocean's surface. It is sensitive enough to collect data at very high speeds from sources more than 50 meters away. If you want to use a connected device underwater, you don't have many options.

Scientists have gained a fundamental understanding of a highly promising material that could be suited to future data storage applications. Their experiments with strontium-iridium oxide, Sr2IrO 4 , investigated both the magnetic and electronic properties of the material as a thin film. They also analysed how these properties can be systematically controlled by manipulating the films.

Fibre-optic cables are emerging as a valuable tool for geoscientists and glaciologists. They offer a relatively inexpensive way of measuring even the tiniest glacial earthquakes - plus they can also be used to obtain more accurate images of the geological subsurface in earthquake-prone megacities. Today's fibre-optic cables move data at tremendous speeds, enabling us to stream films and TV shows in HD or even 8K resolution.

The trade-off between gleaners and exploiters does not explain the diversity of biological species in the way that scientists expected. Our understanding of biodiversity has to change. Aquatic organisms - and terrestrial ones - that do best when there is lots of food also do best when there is very little .

On Earth, auroras, also called northern lights, have always fascinated people. An international consortium involving the University of Bern has now discovered such auroras in the ultraviolet wavelength range at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, Chury for short. This phenomenon was detected thanks to the analysis of data from the European Space Agency ESA's Rosetta mission.

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI and from ETH Zurich want to make so-called zeolites more efficient. Today, these compounds are already indispensable additives in the chemical industry and have been used as catalysts in oil refineries since the 1960s. Now, , the researchers advocate paying more attention to the classic zeolites.

Scientists at EPFL, ETH Zurich and Harvard Medical School/Boston Children's Hospital have developed an implantable technology that enabled the discovery of an interaction between sensory neurons and immune cells. Pain is a protective mechanism, alerting us to danger by generating an unpleasant sensation.

Researchers at EPFL have developed remote-controlled, mechanical microdevices that, when inserted into human tissue, can manipulate the fluid that surrounds them, collect cells or release drugs. This breakthrough offers numerous potential applications in the biomedical field, from diagnostics to therapy.

Researchers at the University of Bern have discovered a mechanism in the body's own immune system which is responsible for the maturing and activation of immune cells. In the fight against skin cancer, the results have the potential to help immunotherapy succeed, even for patients on whom it previously had no effect.

Researchers at EPFL have made a surprising discovery about how bile acids act as signaling molecules to boost intestinal regeneration. The discovery sheds light on the role of bile acids as hormone-like molecules and opens new ways for regenerative therapies of the gut. Intestinal stem cells replenish the cells lining the gut epithelium, which usually renews itself every week.

Physicists propose a new path to detect infrared radiation with outstanding sensitivity, allowing detection of signals as low as that of a single quantum of light. When using our webcam or cell phone camera, we experience the tremendous capabilities of cheap and compact sensors developed in the past decades for the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Traces of violence on 1700 year old skeletons allow researchers to reconstruct warfare and sacrifices of nomads in Siberia. An international and interdisciplinary team of anthropologists, archaeologists and specialists in forensics sciences led by Marco Milella from the University of Bern performed a detailed and revealing analysis of the traumas found on the skeletal remains.