news

EPFL scientists have developed an algorithm that can determine whether a super-resolution microscope is operating at maximum resolution based on a single image. The method is compatible with all types of microscopes and could one day be a standard feature of automated models. Thanks to the advent of super-resolution microscopes some 30 years ago, scientists can observe subcellular structures, proteins and living tissue with unprecedented precision.

Researchers from EPFL and the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands have developed an extremely fast optical method for sculpting complex shapes in stem-cell-laden hydrogels and then vascularizing the resulting tissue. Their groundbreaking technique stands to change the field of tissue engineering.

How does the brain find order amidst a sea of noise and chaos' Researchers at the EPFL Blue Brain Project have found the answer to this long-standing question by using advanced simulation techniques to investigate the way neurons talk to each other while submerged in a sea of noise and chaos. In a paper published , they found that by working as a team, cortical neurons can respond even to weak input against the backdrop of noise and chaos, allowing the brain to find order.

Under a pilot project being spearheaded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), a team of experts - including civil and environmental engineers from EPFL - are studying methods to help protect a region of the Andes Mountains threatened by glacial retreat. The testing phase of the pilot project will conclude at the end of the month.

EPFL scientists are investigating new ways to provide visual signals to the blind by directly stimulating the optic nerve. Their preliminary study on animals uses a new type of neural electrode and provides distinct signals. Scientists from EPFL in Switzerland and Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Italy are developing technology for the blind that bypasses the eyeball entirely and sends messages to the brain.

Scientists have demonstrated how chronic liver diseases cause molecular changes in the brain. They carried out their research using the 9. Tesla high-magnetic-field MRI machine at the Center for Biomedical Imaging (CIBM) at EPFL. The liver plays a vital role as a filter in the human body.

Scientists at EPFL have developed a tiny pump that could play a big role in the development of autonomous soft robots, lightweight exoskeletons and smart clothing. Flexible, silent and weighing only one gram, it is poised to replace the rigid, noisy and bulky pumps currently used. The scientists' work has just been published in Nature.

Scientists from EPFL's Institute of Bioengineering have discovered that our circadian clock and our cell-cycle are in fact, synchronized. Nothing in biology is static; everything is fluid, dynamic and ever-moving. Often, this movement occurs in repeating patterns - regular, measurable cycles that tick just like "clocks".

EPFL researchers recently developed an algorithm that maps out the media landscape and reveals biases and hidden influences in the news industry. News consumers may not be aware that the way their local media outlet selects and presents news stories can be affected by the media group that owns it. At a time of rampant disinformation, it is just this sort of outside influence on the media that people should know about.

EPFL researchers have developed biodegradable microresonators that can be heated locally with a wireless system. Doctors could soon be using them in implants to control the release of painkillers within tissue. Patients fitted with an orthopedic prosthetic commonly experience a period of intense pain after surgery.

A team of EPFL researchers has set itself the lofty goal of building the biggest-ever database that digitizes the visual appearance of all natural and synthetic materials in the world.

EPFL chemical engineers have developed a new class of high-performance membranes for carbon capture that greatly exceed current targets. A major greenhouse gas, CO2 produced from burning fossil fuels is still mostly released into the atmosphere, adding to the burden of global warming. One way to cut down on it is through a carbon capture: a chemical technique that removes CO2 out of emissions ("postcombustion"), preventing it from entering the atmosphere.

Porous metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have many applications like carbon capture and water-cleaning. However, MOFs with large pores tend to collapse. Chemists and chemical engineers at EPFL have now solved the problem by adding small amounts of a polymer into the MOF pores, an act that impedes pore collapse.

EPFL scientists, working in association with colleagues at the University of Twente and the University of Pisa, have studied the link between the number of bristles on dandelion seeds and the ability of those seeds to travel long distances in a stable manner. Humans went to great lengths to design airplanes that can fly stably at cruising speed.

Researchers at EPFL and Stanford have carried out an analysis of the largest datasets from fertility awareness apps. Analyzing data from 200,000 users of the apps Sympto and Kindara, they have been able to make population-level observations regarding user demographics, tracking behavior patterns and accuracy in measuring menstrual health and ovulation.

From now on scientists can look at how living cells function and react under various experimental conditions, in parallel and throughout a the cell's lifetime. With the new 3D microscope unveiled today by EPFL spin-off Nanolive, researchers can observe the details of how cells operate - all the way down to their organelles.

Two EPFL Master's in Environmental Engineering students have developed a novel method for recovering nitrogen from wastewater. For their semester project, they adapted a system typically used to concentrate fruit juice and tested it out at the Yverdon-les-Bains wastewater treatment plant in Vaud. For their semester project, Océane Hames and Lucas Ott, two Master's students in Environmental Engineering at EPFL, chose to focus on the Yverdon-les-Bains wastewater treatment plant.

EPFL startup Flybotix has developed a novel drone with just two propellers and an advanced stabilization system that allow it to fly for twice as long as conventional models.

How do neurons process information? Neurons are known to break down an incoming electrical signal into sub-units. Now, researchers at Blue Brain have discovered that dendrites, the neuron's tree-like receptors, work together - dynamically and depending on the workload - for learning. The findings further our understanding of how we think and may inspire new algorithms for artificial intelligence.

A team of scientists from EPFL has compiled environmental and epidemiological data from around the world to develop a map that shows the riskiest areas for Hepatitis E outbreaks. Their work, published in Scientific Reports, opens the way to new avenues of research and prevention. EPFL scientists have created the first world map of regions with the highest prevalence of the hepatitis E virus (HEV).