wire - news in brief

DNA sequencing was revolutionized after scientists discovered a new bacterium in the hot springs of Yellowstone National Park, and today it's a common research technique.

A researcher at EPFL working at the crossroads of neuroscience and computational science has developed an algorithm that can predict how surprise and novelty affect behavior.

Researchers have developed 4M , a next-generation, open-sourced framework for training versatile and scalable multimodal foundation models that go beyond language.

Here are the most widely read scientific, academic, student and institutional news items of the past 12 months, broken down by faculty and the institution. Stimulating hypothalamus restores walking in paralyzed patients Researchers at EPFL and Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), led by Grégoire Courtine and Jocelyne Bloch, have achieved a major milestone in the treatment of spinal cord injuries.

As we come to the end of a year in which half the world's population went to the polls, researchers developed and field-tested a groundbreaking new technology to protect remote electronic voting or e-voting from voter coercion and vote buying.

In a real-world example of how construction materials can be reused, a team of 230 EPFL students is building a community pavilion in Ecublens, near the Lausanne campus, through a low-tech, participative approach.

EPFL research investigating the potential impact on education of AI assistants has found that systems like GPT-4 can answer up to 85% of university assessment questions correctly.

Curbing new-build construction, renovating existing buildings at pace and rethinking how we use them: according to Philippe Thalmann, an urban and environmental economics professor at EPFL, these are

EPFL chemical engineers have developed a way to build metal clusters - with near atomic precision - in a method that has the potential to improve catalysts and accelerate chemical reactions including turning carbon dioxide into high value chemicals like methanol.

In the future, buildings will provide enhanced, more personalized comfort to occupants while also achieving zero carbon emissions. This will be possible thanks to advances in sensors and AI, enabling new ways of interacting with our environments while leaving ultimate control in occupants' hands. Yet, as users, we'll also need to make lasting changes to our habits.

Giulia Tagliabue, a tenure-track assistant professor in mechanical engineering, has won the EPFL Award for Best Teaching.

Sophie Delhay, an architect and EPFL professor, is promoting an entirely new approach to designing and building homes.

On view at EPFL Pavilions, the exhibition Musica ex Machina: Machines Thinking Musically offers an immersive journey through the incredible history of algorithmic thinking and music.

EPFL scientist Sascha Nick has outlined a completely new scenario for what housing and neighborhoods might look like in Switzerland in the coming decades.

Mélina Lasfargues has the honor of being the first student to finish the Neuro X Masters. She completed her master's project on thermal illusions earlier this year.

EPFL is rolling out a number of measures this fall to support students in a variety of ways and help them achieve academic success.

Sabine Süsstrunk, an expert in scientific photography, has seen first-hand the amazing progress in imaging technology over the past 40 years. And now her field is being upended by artificial intelligence (AI). Prof. Süsstrunk is a computer scientist and has headed EPFL's Images and Visual Representation Laboratory since 1999.

Starting today, the Earth will be passing through a meteor shower. But in astronomy, the human eye is very much a limited tool. But increasingly powerful instruments are allowing us to peer ever deeper into the cosmos and ever further back in time, shedding new light on the origins of the universe. Today, scientists are able to observe an exoplanet orbiting its star, an individual galaxy and even the entire universe.

New EPFL research has found that the exchange of comments between members and non-members of fringe communities (fringe-interactions) on mainstream online platforms attracts new members to these groups. It has also suggested potential ways to curtail this growth. Fringe communities promoting conspiracy theories and extremist ideologies have thrived on mainstream online platforms, consistently raising the question on how this growth is fueled.

Thanks to the dedication of EPFL students, all motivated by the potential make a difference in someone's life, six MAKE prototypes were built last semester with the aim of assisting the mentally or physically challenged.

To transition away from fossil fuels and towards renewables - which are intermittent by nature - we'll need to rework our entire system of power storage, transmission and distribution. Yet experts haven't yet found the right energy mix or power storage system, or how to balance supply and demand effectively.

Data collected by satellites, drones, radars and microscopes provide a goldmine of information to better understand our environment. And when these data are coupled with artificial intelligence (AI), they can unlock the secrets of phenomena taking place at all levels. In a rapidly changing world where environmental threats abound, obtaining a better understanding of natural and anthropogenic processes can help corroborate points of view, guide conservation and renewal efforts, and orient new research.

EPFL was selected by the EUROfusion consortium to develop an advanced visualization system for a preliminary process in nuclear fusion.

"La Suisse de A(rbon) à Z(oug): Portrait en 12 villes", a new book published by EPFL Press, eschews the traditional focus on major conurbations.

EPFL officially joined the Multi Spectroscopic Telescope (MUST) project, led by China's Tsinghua University, as a founding member.

Green hydrogen could transform our energy system and solve many supply and emissions challenges. Whether this happens will depend on how economically it can be produced and attractive it will be to consumers.