news

EPFL's SolAce pilot unit was inaugurated today at the NEST R&D center on the Empa campus in Dübendorf, Switzerland. Researchers at this solar-powered unit will test out new technology designed to make buildings energy positive and carbon neutral - while providing maximum comfort for their occupants.

Researchers stimulated the nerves of the amputated arm with signals very similar to the natural ones, succeeding in "imitating the colors" of the evoked sensations of the various types of receptors and related nerve fibers present in the fingertips of the hand. This has brought greater realism and greater functionality of the feelings experienced by patients.

Scientists from EPFL and the University of Geneva have discovered a "code" of architect genes that are expressed in specific combinations during the development of hands and fingers. The study decrypts developmental gene expression at the level of the single cell in developing limbs and expands our understanding of the genetics behind growing limbs.

EPFL researchers have developed floating, solar-powered robots to help protect Chile's water reservoirs. These low-cost robots can be assembled together in a variety of ways on the water surface to prevent the water from evaporating - thereby preserving a precious resource in this arid country and one that's crucial to its biggest industry: winemaking.

EPFL chemists have developed a method that can significantly increase the yield of sugars from plants, improving the production of renewable fuels, chemicals, and materials. Producing fuels and chemicals from biomass (wood, grasses, etc.) is one of the most promising solutions for building a renewable economy.

Scientists from the Max Planck Institute and EPFL have developed a new type of biosensor able to precisely quantify metabolites using a single drop of blood. The accuracy and simplicity of the procedure could make it a tool of choice for diagnosing and monitoring several diseases. Diseases or injuries can result in dramatic changes in the blood levels of metabolites, which are chemical compounds produced by the body's metabolism.

EPFL scientists have mapped out the steps required to build a self-sustaining research base on Mars that would be habitable for the long term. Their work can help researchers set priorities for space programs exploring Mars as well as the solar system as a whole. If there was ever life on Mars, its traces are most likely to be found at the planet's poles.

A team of eight EPFL students has come up with a portable biosensor that can measure the amount of vancomycin in a patient's blood stream, enabling doctors to better control the dosage and reduce harmful side effects.

By using artificial intelligence to comb through the vast array of published research and detect the findings most relevant for invention, engineers can magnify their creative ability and invent faster and more disruptively than has been previously possible. This is the approach that Ana Manasovska helped develop as a Master's student at EPFL, and the one used by creative Artificial Intelligence firm Iprova, based at EPFL's Innovation Park, to come up with a wide range of inventions.

Scientists have designed a three-stepped recipe for regenerating electro-physiologically active nerve fibers across complete spinal cord lesions in rodents. Rehabilitation is still required to make these new nerve fibers functional for walking. The results appear in today's issue of Nature. The adult mammalian body has an incredible ability to heal itself in response to injury.

New avatar-based software developed at EPFL looks at how people walk in order to predict their energy expenditure. The software, originally intended for roboticists and for researchers who develop prosthetics and exoskeletons, could have many uses in both medicine and sports. It can be tested online through a downloadable app.

Men who exhibit high social dominance make faster decisions than low-dominance men even outside a social context, finds a large behavioral study from EPFL. Hierarchies exist across all human and animal societies, organized by what behavioral scientists refer to as dominance. Dominant individuals tend to climb higher up the hierarchy ladder of their particular society, earning priority access to resources.

In a breakthrough approach that combines virtual reality and artificial tactile sensations, two amputees feel as though their prosthetic hand belongs to their own body. Moreover, the scientists show that the phantom limb actually grows into the prosthetic hand. The famous idiom "seeing is believing" is not enough to help amputees with the use of their prosthetic limb.

Age, sex, and specific human genetic variants are the key factors behind differences between immune responses among healthy humans, finds a study of 1,000 individuals carried out by EPFL and the Pasteur Institute. Over the course of our life, we are continuously exposed to pathogens such as viruses and bacteria, meaning that our immune system is constantly at work.

EPFL neuroscientists have identified a brain mechanism that is linked to aggression and violent behavior, potentially forming the basis for treating aggression in several psychiatric disorders. violence, which, needless to say, are destructive to both individuals and societies worldwide: death, disease, disability, and numerous socioeconomic problems can often be traced back to aggressive behavior.

By applying a computer program that mimics the way the human brain learns to identify objects, EPFL scientists are now able to reconstruct images that have been degraded by passing through an optical fiber. EPFL researchers have taught a type of machine learning algorithm to reconstruct images that became blurred while being transmitted through an optical fiber.

Researchers from EPFL and the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris have found that the presence of pressurized fluid in surrounding rock can reduce the intensity of earthquakes triggered by underground human activities like geothermal energy production. Around 100,000 earthquakes are recorded worldwide every year, but not all are naturally occurring.

Drawing on the fact that the snow in an avalanche can behave like both a solid and a fluid, a young researcher at EPFL and SLF has managed to simulate a snow slab avalanche with unrivaled precision. An avalanche is an extremely complex event, with countless parameters and physical variables coming into play from the time the avalanche is triggered until it ends.

EPFL researchers have developed an optical fiber capable of detecting what sort of material or liquid they have come into contact with. Their research has been published. In recent years optical fibers have served as sensors to detect changes in temperature, like a thermometer, and pressure, like an artificial nerve.

An origami-like drone developed at EPFL is flexible enough to absorb shocks without breaking before returning to its initial shape. This new type of drone, which was inspired by insect wings, draws on the advantages of both stiff and flexible structures. In recent years, robotics experts have taken a page from the traditional Japanese practice of origami and come up with light and flexible - and highly innovative - robots and drones.