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27. EPFL researchers have discovered how intestinal worm infections cross-talk with gut bacteria to help the immune system. Intestinal worms infect over 2 billion people across the world, mostly children, in areas with poor sanitation. But despite causing serious health problems, worms can actually help the immune system of its host as an indirect way of protecting themselves.

26. A system for managing and storing energy, developed by EPFL's Distributed Electrical Systems Laboratory, has been inaugurated on the school's campus.

23. For patients in intensive care, knowing how much glucose, lactate and other substances are in the blood is a question of life or death. EPFL has developed a miniaturized microfluidic device that will allow medical staff to monitor these levels in real time and react more quickly. It was unveiled yesterday in Atlanta.

22. An international team of astronomers led by EPFL have discovered over 250 of the universe's earliest galaxies. This sample includes the faintest and smallest of the first-generation dwarf galaxies to be discovered, and offers important clues about the nature of the early universe. Before light travelled across it, the universe was a dark place.

22. Zhaoxuan Wu and William Curtin of the Laboratory for Multiscale Mechanics Modeling (LAMMM) have solved the 40-year-old scientific riddle of the low ductility magnesium. Magnesium is the lightest metal found on earth; it is four times lighter than steel and a third lighter than aluminum. It is also abundantly available, being the eight most common element in the earth's crust.

21. EPFL scientists have identified specific neurons in the striatum that contribute to driving motivated behaviors like movement. The work may help in designing new ways of treating disorders like Parkinson's disease in the long term. Perhaps the brain's most important function is to process sensory information and make behavioral decisions based on it, like moving to grasp an object.

16. The dwindling genetic diversity of farm animals is increasingly becoming a threat to livestock production.

14. Using a geologist's imaging tool, researchers have made unprecedented high-resolution images of how carbon atoms from glucose are integrated into brain cells, providing new insight and opening new doors into the fate of glucose in the brain. Glucose - a form of sugar - fuels the brain. But how it goes from the blood to the brain cells and where it ultimately winds up are not yet well understood.

12. Using a genome-wide association study, EPFL scientists have identified subtle genetic changes that can cause substantial differences to how we fight viral infections. When infected with a virus, the response of our immune systems varies widely from person to person. This variation is of great concern, as these differences can determine clinical outcome as well as effectiveness of vaccinations.

08. An international team led by EPFL scientists have completed a first draft computer reconstruction of a piece of the neocortex. The electrical behavior of the virtual brain tissue was simulated on supercomputers and found to match the behavior observed in a number of experiments on the brain. Further simulations revealed novel insights into the functioning of the neocortex.

01. EPFL scientists have developed a new DNA stain that can be used to image living cells. One of the holy grails of bio-imaging is to visualize the inner workings of a cell while it is still alive.

30. Why is the universe expanding at an increasing rate? Scientists will attempt to gain a better understanding of this phenomenon by mapping the distribution of galaxies in the universe.

04. Instead of aligning energy production with consumption, wouldn't it be possible to make consumption adapt to the intermittency of renewable energies? François Vuille, director of development at the Energy Center, shares his thoughts.

The start-up MindMaze has opened up a new dimension in the world of video games: moving with thoughts through a virtual environment or even directly interacting through certain emotions.

An EPFL study has shown that tetracycline-based antibiotics have an unexpected effect on the development of many organisms. In addition to pointing out the issue of soil pollution by these antibiotics, which are widely administrated to livestock, the scientists call upon colleagues to explore the consequences of using them in experiments that modulate gene expression.

Researchers have developed a camera that sees like the human eye, providing clues about the sensation of visual comfort. The instrument could optimize natural and artificial lighting to constantly adapt to the needs of the user. How can we combine visual comfort with electrical energy savings? Light inside the home is a theme that has interested researchers for over a half century.

EPFL researchers have shed new light on the fundamental mechanisms of heat dissipation in graphene and other two-dimensional materials. They have shown that heat can propagate as a wave over very long distances. This is key information for engineering the electronics of tomorrow. In the race to miniaturize electronic components, researchers are challenged with a major problem: the smaller or the faster your device, the more challenging it is to cool it down.

Who is the teacher: the student or the machine? By showing a robot how to write letters, children improve their writing skills and gain self-­-confidence.

Light behaves both as a particle and as a wave. Since the days of Einstein, scientists have been trying to directly observe both of these aspects of light at the same time. Now, scientists at EPFL have succeeded in capturing the first-ever snapshot of this dual behavior. Quantum mechanics tells us that light can behave simultaneously as a particle or a wave.

Researchers showed that by managing the access to freeway junctions and moderating the speed limit on the express lanes it is possible to reduce delays by over 12% across the highway system. In 30 years, traffic has more than tripled on most Swiss highways. On the A1, it even increased from 20'000 to nearly 90'000 vehicles per day, between Lausanne and Geneva.