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Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, EPFL


Results 41 - 60 of 1300.


Innovation - Mechanical Engineering - 05.11.2024
Record broken for the longest Hyperloop trial at EPFL
Record broken for the longest Hyperloop trial at EPFL
As part of the LIMITLESS project, scientists from EPFL, HEIG-VD and Swisspod have completed the longest-ever vacuum capsule journey in Europe's first operational Hyperloop test facility.

Life Sciences - Health - 31.10.2024
Neurotechnology boosts memory without surgery
Neurotechnology boosts memory without surgery
Researchers have combined virtual reality, non-invasive brain stimulation and advanced brain imaging techniques to improve spatial navigation in healthy participants. The study is a first step in addressing dementia in an aging population without medication or surgery. As we age, it becomes more difficult to remember where things are-whether it's recalling where we left the keys or where we parked the car.

Health - Life Sciences - 28.10.2024
A lung pathogen's dilemma: infect or resist antibiotics?
A lung pathogen's dilemma: infect or resist antibiotics?
A new study by EPFL reveals that the notorious bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa must balance between effectively colonizing human airways and developing antibiotic tolerance to survive. Imagine trying to settle into a new home while constantly being attacked. That's what the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa faces when it infects the lungs, and it can't both spread and protect itself from antibiotics at the same time.

Physics - Chemistry - 25.10.2024
A new spectroscopy reveals water's quantum secrets
A new spectroscopy reveals water's quantum secrets
For the first time, researchers have exclusively observed molecules participating in hydrogen bonds in liquid water, measuring electronic and nuclear quantum effects that were previously accessible only via theoretical simulations. Water is synonymous with life, but the dynamic, multifaceted interaction that brings H2O molecules together - the hydrogen bond - remains mysterious.

Physics - Computer Science - 18.10.2024
New benchmark helps solve the hardest quantum problems
New benchmark helps solve the hardest quantum problems
Predicting the behavior of many interacting quantum particles is a complicated process but is key to harness quantum computing for real-world applications. A collaboration of researchers led by EPFL has developed a method for comparing quantum algorithms and identifying which quantum problems are the hardest to solve.

Life Sciences - 17.10.2024
E-Flower records neuronal activity with electronic petals
E-Flower records neuronal activity with electronic petals
Researchers have developed a novel neural recording device called the "e-Flower" that gently wraps organoids in soft petals. Neural spheroids - 3D clusters of brain cells - are emerging as essential tools for understanding neural networks and studying neurological diseases in the lab. EPFL's e-Flower, a flower-shaped 3D microelectrode array (MEA), allows researchers to monitor the electrical activity of these spheroids in a way that was previously impossible.

Health - Life Sciences - 14.10.2024
A novel approach to combat fatty liver disease
A novel approach to combat fatty liver disease
Blocking the enzyme ACMSD can significantly reduce damage caused by metabolic liver disease according to a study from EPFL. Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) - previously known as "non-alcoholic fatty liver disease" - affects about 25% of the global population. Its severe form, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), can lead to liver fibrosis and even liver failure.

Environment - 11.10.2024
Catastrophically warm predictions are more plausible than we thought
Catastrophically warm predictions are more plausible than we thought
Researchers developed a rating system to evaluate the plausibility of climate model simulations in the IPCC's latest report, and show that models that lead to potentially catastrophic warming are to be taken seriously. What will the future climate be like? Scientists around the world are studying climate change, putting together models of the Earth's system and large observational datasets in the hopes of understanding - and predicting over the next 100 years - the planet's climate.

Environment - Chemistry - 10.10.2024
How personal care products affect indoor air quality
How personal care products affect indoor air quality
An EPFL study has revealed the impact of five common personal care products when they're used in enclosed spaces. Surprisingly, when they come into contact with ozone, the products spark chemical reactions generating new air pollutants. The personal care products we use on a daily basis significantly affect indoor air quality, according to new research by a team at EPFL.

Life Sciences - Health - 09.10.2024
How context-specific factors control gene activity
Researchers at EPFL have uncovered a new class of transcription factors that play a crucial role in gene regulation, offering fresh perspectives on how cells maintain their identity and function. Every cell in our body contains the same DNA, yet liver cells are different from brain cells, and skin cells differ from muscle cells.

Earth Sciences - Environment - 08.10.2024
Scientists explore the complexity of rocks within the Earth's crust
Scientists explore the complexity of rocks within the Earth's crust
A team of scientists has provided insight into the mechanisms at work in geothermal reservoirs located deep underground, known as supercritical reservoirs. Through a combination of computer simulations and lab experiments, they showed that rocks located between five and eight kilometers deep in the Earth's crust are also permeable to fluids.

Transport - Mathematics - 04.10.2024
New approach can reduce traffic congestion at no extra cost
New approach can reduce traffic congestion at no extra cost
Engineers at EPFL and ETH Zurich have come up with a new approach for reducing traffic congestion in large cities during rush hour. Their system is designed to be both fair and effective. Rush-hour traffic congestion is a major headache for commuters and a real problem for city planners. Worldwide, a huge amount of time is wasted stuck in traffic.

Transport - Computer Science - 03.10.2024
A new deep learning model for easier sustainable aircraft design
A new deep learning model for easier sustainable aircraft design
EPFL professor's passion for sustainable flying and expertise in machine learning and computer vision drives innovation in green aviation design and beyond. Aerodynamic shape optimization (ASO) is a key technique in aerodynamic design aimed at enhancing an object's physical performance while adhering to specific constraints.

Life Sciences - Computer Science - 02.10.2024
Modeling the minutia of motor manipulation with AI
Modeling the minutia of motor manipulation with AI
An AI research collaboration led by EPFL professor Alexander Mathis creates a model which provides deep insights into hand movement, which is an essential step for the development of neuroprosthetics and rehabilitation technologies.

Life Sciences - Health - 27.09.2024
How a protein keeps gene clusters quiet in the cell nucleolus
In a discovery that sheds light on the complex mechanisms of gene regulation, scientists at EPFL have uncovered a critical role for the protein ZNF274 in keeping certain gene clusters turned off by anchoring them to the cell nucleolus. Our DNA is not just a string of genes; it's a complex and dynamic structure where the spatial organization within the nucleus plays a crucial role in regulating which genes are turned on or off.

Health - Pharmacology - 26.09.2024
Unexpected immune response may hold key to long-term cancer remission
Unexpected immune response may hold key to long-term cancer remission
Results from a preclinical study in mice, led by EPFL, and a collaborative clinical study in patients show that the type 2 immune response - associated with parasitic infection and thought to play a negative role in cancer immunity - is positively correlated with long-term cancer remission. In 2012, 7-year-old Emily Whitehead became the first pediatric patient to receive pioneering chimeric antigen receptor (CAR-T) therapy to fight the recurrence of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

Civil Engineering - 25.09.2024
AI helps detect and monitor infrastructure defects
Thanks to recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI), civil engineers can inspect large-scale infrastructure more efficiently and cost-effectively, while also monitoring the progression of damage severity over time. A team of researchers has demonstrated the feasibility of an AI-driven method for crack detection, growth and monitoring, and will soon test it on the railway section between Zermatt and Brig in Valais Canton.

Pedagogy - Innovation - 17.09.2024
Students seem to prefer teacher feedback over AI feedback
A new EPFL paper has found that students are cautious towards AI feedback, highlighting the complexity of integrating it into educational feedback systems. Feedback plays a crucial role in learning, helping individuals to understand and improve their performance, yet globally large and diverse student populations often mean that providing timely and personalized observations can be a challenge.

Computer Science - Linguistics / Literature - 16.09.2024
Large Language Models feel the direction of time
Large Language Models feel the direction of time
Researchers have found that AI large language models, like GPT-4, are better at predicting what comes next than what came before in a sentence. This "Arrow of Time" effect could reshape our understanding of the structure of natural language, and the way these models understand it. Large language models (LLMs) such as GPT-4 have become indispensable for tasks like text generation, coding, operating chatbots, translation and others.

Astronomy / Space - 10.09.2024
AI helps distinguish dark matter from cosmic noise
AI helps distinguish dark matter from cosmic noise
An AI-powered tool developed at EPFL can distinguish dark matter's elusive effects from other cosmic phenomena, which could bring us closer to unlocking the secrets of dark matter. Image: Still image from simulation of the formation of dark matter structures from the early universe to today. Gravity makes dark matter clump into dense halos, indicated by bright patches, where galaxies form.