Research
EPFL launches new Center for Quantum Science and Engineering
Research
EPFL
EPFL’s new Center for Quantum Science and Engineering (QSE Center) will establish and promote programs for cross-disciplinary research, education and innovation in the fields of quantum science and engineering.
Skin matters
Research
ETH Zurich
Skintegrity.CH is a transdisciplinary consortium for the largest organ of humans, the skin.
Charging stations can combine hydrogen production and energy storage
Research
EPFL
EPFL scientists have developed a new system that addresses two top priorities of the energy transition: clean hydrogen production and large-scale energy storage. Their technology could be particularly useful in transportation applications.
Uncertainty spurs scientific progress
Research
EPFL
EPFL summer series: how science works. Citizens and scientists have two very different ways of reasoning. While citizens find comfort in certainty, scientists need to continually challenge the facts. Is it possible for these two groups to find common ground?
Embryonic development in slow motion
Research
ETH Zurich
Roe deer are among the few mammals whose embryos go into a particularly long period of dormancy. Using modern molecular methods, ETH Zurich researchers have shown for the first time exactly what happens to the embryo during this phase. They have identified signals that control the embryo`s awakening.
Improving contact-tracing apps in the COVID-19 era
Research
EPFL
An international collaboration with EPFL has developed a method to improve the performance of COVID-19 contact-tracing apps by taking into account a user’s recent contacts, risk levels and shared information about tests and symptoms.
“LéXPLORE brings together researchers from different disciplines – that’s fantastic”
Research
Eawag
There has been a floating laboratory on Lake Geneva called LéXPLORE since 2019. Natacha Tofield-Pasche, limnologist at EPFL and project leader of LéXPLORE, and Damien Bouffard, researcher at Eawag and member of the LéXPLORE steering committee, tell us what is being studied there and why this research platform is unique.
Optical technology can slash the energy required by AI
Research
EPFL
EPFL engineers are pioneering an energy-saving technology that uses fiber optics to boost the performance of supercomputers.
Helping engineers better predict clay landslides
Research
EPFL
Norway experiences dangerous landslides due to its clay-rich soil. For her Master’s thesis in civil engineering at EPFL, Mathilde Metral outlined steps that the country’s geotechnical engineers can take to improve the predictive computer model they’re currently developing. 
“Junk” DNA plays a key role in speciation
Research
ETH Zurich
Researchers propose a new framework for how satellite DNA, sometimes called “genomic junk,” is essential in the organization of chromosomes in cells. They suggest this quickly-evolving DNA is one reason different species are unable to successfully interbreed.
Faulty regulation of an architect gene can lead to rare bone disease
Research
EPFL
EPFL researchers found that, if expressed too early during embryonic development, one of the genes that orchestrate the formation of limbs can lead to a rare disorder of bone growth.
LiftPose3D: Turning 2D images into 3D models
Research
EPFL
EPFL scientists have developed a deep learning-based method called LiftPose3D, which can reconstruct 3D animal poses using only 2D poses from one camera. This method will have impact in neuroscience and bioinspired robotics.
Changes in colour indicate deformations
Research
ETH Zurich
ETH Zurich researchers have developed a new type of laminate that changes colour as soon as the material is deformed. This way, the materials researchers can kill two birds with one stone: a lightweight composite material that inspects itself.
Improving mobile COVID vaccination efforts through GIS mapping
Research
EPFL
EPFL has teamed up with Vaud Canton’s Office for Civil Protection and General Health Office to deploy targeted mobile COVID vaccination centers and inform high risk groups about the importance of getting vaccinated in order to stem the pandemic.
The spotted wing drosophila: also a major forest pest
Research
WSL
The spotted wing drosophila (SWD) is a well-known pest blighting agricultural land. A study conducted by the Cantons of Zug and Zurich alongside the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) now shows that this invasive alien insect also affects the forest ecosystem.
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