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Aran Nayebi jokes that his robot vacuum has a bigger brain than his two cats. But while the vacuum can only follow a preset path, Zoe and Shira leap, play and investigate the house with real autonomy.  "I see them flexibly play and jump around," Nayebi said. "Their brains are so much tinier than the Roomba, yet these animals have a kind of robust agency." This natural curiosity seen in animals inspired Nayebi and his Carnegie Mellon University colleagues to try to build something that can explore its environment without explicitly being told what to do.

Key components of the new spectrograph designed at the University of Geneva have been successfully tested. They will enable analysis of light from the exoplanet Proxima b. The RISTRETTO project, dedicated to observing Proxima b -the closest exoplanet to the Solar System - is reaching a new milestone: several key components of this high-precision spectrograph have been prototyped and successfully tested by the workshops of the Department of Astronomy at the University of Geneva.

Research project on motor abnormalities in children provides practical solutions Motor abnormalities in children are often not recognized as such. This is shown by a study in 25 Tyrolean kindergartens with over 750 children. In a two-stage test, almost 5 percent of the children showed deficits in their motor development.

Study points to ways to better support this community, including enhanced training of service providers Homelessness services in Montreal are not well suited to the needs of 2SLGBTQ+ adults in Montreal, a study by McGill researchers has found. "Homelessness services are very binary, and often those who are non-binary are completely excluded," said Jayne Malenfant , Assistant Professor in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education.

A team of astronomers led by UNIGE is launching a major research program on Neptunes to better understand the mechanisms of formation and evolution of planetary systems. An international team led by the University of Geneva , including scientists from the National Centre of Competence in Research PlanetS, the University of Warwick, and the Canary Islands Institute of Astrophysics, has launched an ambitious program to map exoplanets located around the Neptunian Desert.

Almost 85 percent of respondents say they have seen an increased threat to academic freedom since October 7, 2023 / Early-career researchers are particularly affected According to a new study titled "German Academia after October 7: Self-Censorship and Restrictions of Academic Freedom among MENA Scholars" by Jannis Julien Grimm, Sven Chojnacki, Nina Moya Schreieder, Iman El Ghoubashy, and Thaddäa Sixta, which was published in German by the Cente

A team from the University of Geneva reveals a once purely theoretical geometry at the heart of quantum materials, with major implications for future electronics. How can data be processed at lightning speed, or electricity conducted without loss? To achieve this, scientists and industry alike are turning to quantum materials, governed by the laws of the infinitesimal.

A team from the University of Geneva and INGV has created an unprecedentedly accurate 3D model of the internal structure of an active volcano, marking an advance in risk management. Volcanic eruptions can have dramatic consequences. But how can we anticipate this phenomenon, which unfolds up to tens of kilometres beneath the surface? A team from the University of Geneva , in collaboration with the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) in Italy, has successfully recreated a 3D model of the interior of the Vulcano volcano, located in northern Sicily.

How does parental leave affect the income of mothers and fathers with PhDs? A research team at the University of Würzburg investigated this question in cooperation with the German Center for Higher Education Research and Science Studies. After completing their doctorates, many new PhDs must ask themselves important questions about their careers and lives: Should I pursue an academic career?

A new study challenges the notion that Americans fear ethnic and religious replacement. On the contrary, the majority want a more diverse United States. At a time marked by debate about identity, migration and national cohesion, a new study brings a surprising message: Most Americans want a more ethnically and religiously diverse society than the one they live in today.

A team from the University of Geneva has shown that hearing loss, combined with feelings of loneliness, accelerates cognitive decline in older adults. Isolation, communication difficulties, reduced alertness - hearing impairment or loss is a real challenge in daily life. Over time, it can also become a risk factor for cognitive decline.

From ill-fitting instruments to assumptions about competence, surgical culture sidelines women, first Canadian study of its kind suggests Women now make up over half of medical students in Canada, but only one-third of practising surgeons. A new study suggests part of the gap stems from gender norms embedded in workplace culture.

A team from the University of Geneva identifies a key brain region that abstracts spatial information from the senses, illuminating a fundamental pillar of intelligence. The brain has a remarkable capacity for abstraction. For example, it allows us to recognise an object in complete darkness through touch alone, even if we have previously only identified it by sight.

An international team led by UNIGE has discovered a massive, Milky Way-like spiral galaxy that formed just 1 billion years after the Big Bang, revealing an unexpectedly mature structure in the An international team led by the University of Geneva has discovered the most distant spiral galaxy candidate known to date.

Special anatomical structures in the throat greatly enrich the vocal repertoire of New World monkeys A recent investigation led by voice scientist Christian T. Herbst from the University of Vienna and colleagues from Anglia Ruskin University provides new insights into the vocal capabilities of New World monkeys, the group of all'original primates of the American continent: They can produce "voice breaks" similar to human yodeling, but support a much wider range of frequencies.

An international team led by UNIGE shows that red and dead galaxies can be found only 700 million years after the Big Bang, indicating that galaxies stop forming stars earlier than predicted by models. For a long time, scientists thought that only actively star-forming galaxies should be observed in the very early Universe.

Scientists have revealed the key role played by a form of actin in the mechanics of epithelial membranes and the dynamics of components of cell-cell junctions. Our skin and mucous membranes are protected by epithelial cells. This "barrier" tissue performs its function thanks to specialized structures called "junctions".

Human evolution has revolved around food, from identifying and foraging for it to growing and preparing it. Carnegie Mellon researchers have identified a region in the brain's visual cortex that responds to food and have developed a theoretical framework that could explain the origins of this selectivity.

A team of Carnegie Mellon researchers set out to see how accurately large language models (LLMs) can match the style of text written by humans, and their findings were recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). "We humans, we adapt how we write and how we speak to the situation.