science wire

An EPFL scientist has pinpointed the signs of brain activity that make up our brain fingerprint, which - like our regular fingerprint - is unique. "I think about it every day and dream about it at night. It's been my whole life for five years now," says Enrico Amico, a scientist and SNSF Ambizione Fellow at EPFL's Medical Image Processing Laboratory and the EPFL Center for Neuroprosthetics.

Valerio Piazza is creating new 3D architectures built from an inventive form of nanowire. His research aims to push the boundaries of miniaturization and pave the way to more powerful electronic devices.

EPFL has adopted a series of prevention, support and follow-up measures that were recommended by the School's Harassment Task Force.

Have you ever wanted to explore outer-space? Now you can, without leaving Earth, thanks to powerful, open-source beta software VIRUP that builds - in real-time - a virtual universe based on the most detailed contemporary astrophysical and cosmological data.

Researchers have built a footbridge prototype using reinforced-concrete blocks from walls of a building being renovated.

Urban brownfields represent a major challenge to sustainable transition that remains difficult to overcome.

Sometimes you have to take things apart - separate out their components, dig into the nuts and bolts and test various hypotheses - to figure out how they work.

EPFL spin-off Enerdrape has developed technology that can recover heat from underground parking lots and use it to warm the apartments above.

Immersive virtual reality disrupts the child's default coordination strategy, scientists show, something that should be taken into account when developing virtual reality rehabilitation protocols for children. While very little is known on the effects of immersive VR on adults, there is next to no knowledge on the impact of such systems on the sensorimotor abilities of young children.

Scientists have studied two mechanisms that can help bring oxygen to the depths of a lake - essential for preserving the lake's ecosystem.

Two EPFL engineers have come up with a revolutionary new method for tackling plastic pollution by harnessing the inner workings of proteins.

The Catalyst [email protected] Biotech program, introduced by the Bertarelli Foundation in 2017, aims to support research on innovative treatments for nervous-system diseases.

At the Bassenges Farm, six devoted women and men are bringing their vision of sustainability to the EPFL and UNIL campuses, giving low-tech agriculture - without pesticides - a chance to thrive.

From 17 September 2021, EPFL Pavilions will host an exceptional exhibition, "Deep Fakes: Art and Its Double".

EPFL and HEAD researchers have set-up an installation to raise awareness around the importance of exposure to natural light for human health and the role of the architecture in urban settings in modulating that light.

EPFL has recently brought an innovative heating plant online and will soon connect it to a large data center.

The successful deployment of solar power will depend on many factors, including how well grid operators are able to balance supply and demand in order to incorporate renewable energy into their low-voltage grids.

SUMMER SERIES: HOW SCIENCE WORKS In the 1990s, the internet upended the scientific publication process. Today, it's the whole culture of research that's changing. The COVID-19 pandemic sent shock waves around the world in the spring of 2020. It also unveiled deep underlying societal and cultural trends.

Switzerland has considerable capacity for carbon storage and a bright future in shallow geothermal energy. These are the two main findings presented in Innosuisse's final report on the 2013-2020 Energy Funding Programme, in the chapter on geo-energy. Lyesse Laloui, a full professor in civil engineering at EPFL, is the chapter's author and the head of a research group on this topic.

EPFL's new Center for Quantum Science and Engineering (QSE Center) , headed by Prof. Vincenzo Savona, will establish and promote programs for cross-disciplinary research, education and innovation in the fields of quantum science and engineering.

SUMMER SERIES: HOW SCIENCE WORKS - Citizens and scientists have two very different ways of reasoning. While citizens find comfort in certainty, scientists need to continually challenge the facts. Is it possible for these two groups to find common ground? Research is by nature a dynamic process. Scientists start with an observation, make a hypothesis, test the hypothesis through experiments, analyze the results, and form a conclusion.

Norway experiences dangerous landslides due to its clay-rich soil. For her Master's thesis in civil engineering at EPFL, Mathilde Metral outlined steps that the country's geotechnical engineers can take to improve the predictive computer model they're currently developing. The heavy rains that sweep across Europe with growing frequency can be particularly damaging in Norway, where the clay-rich soil is susceptible to landslides.

EPFL spin-off Rheon Medical has developed the world's first adjustable glaucoma drainage system, which has already been used successfully in over 250 patients in Europe.

The EPFL Wikipedia Project, which ran from August 2020 to July 2021, boosted EPFL's presence on the free encyclopedia and helped share information about the School's scientific discoveries with its Swiss audience.

SUMMER SERIES: HOW SCIENCE WORKS Every year, scientists churn out over 4,000 journal articles on new discoveries and nearly 140 inventions. Even though discoveries and inventions are closely related, it would be a mistake to put them in the same basket: the intellectual property is handled in two very different ways.

Scientists at EPFL have developed two complementary bladder models to study urinary tract infections (UTIs) caused by E. coli: bladder organoids and a bladder-on-a-chip.

SUMMER SERIES: HOW SCIENCE WORKS - Looking to the past can help us better understand the workings of science today. Jérôme Baudry, Professor at the College of Humanities at EPFL, explains how the procedures for proving and communicating scientific results have changed over time. We often hear people talk about "the scientific method" as the ultimate guarantee of rigor in experimental research, but what exactly does it entail?

A team of EPFL engineers, in association with local businesses and authorities, are testing novel algorithms for the deployment of greener EV fast-charging stations.

SUMMER SERIES: HOW SCIENCE WORKS - For millennia scientists have manually combed through data in a bid to find meaningful patterns to solve complex problems.

Engineers at EPFL's DESL lab, working in association with EPFL spin-off Swisspod, have built a Hyperloop test track on the Lausanne campus.

According to two scientists, Switzerland's right-wing populist parties have adopted some ideas from green parties in order to attract more voters. In a recent shift in messaging, the populists claim that increased urbanization and growing population density are being fueled in part by immigration, and could wipe out natural areas and expand Switzerland's carbon footprint.

Although a very promising solution for capturing solar energy, perovskite solar cells contain lead, which is toxic to the environment and a serious health hazard.

SUMMER SERIES: HOW SCIENCE WORKS For scientists, the path from bright idea to finished product is a long one. Prototypes must go through an extensive testing and approval process before they are ready for the market. Let's have a look. The results of scientific research can often bring considerable societal and economic benefits.

EPFL and UNIL students collaborated with professional journalists to write data-driven articles on key social issues - family and money - for publication in the Tribune de Genève and other news outlets of Tamedia.

Researchers have pioneered an innovative approach to implementing virtual memory in data centers, which will greatly increase server efficiency.

Summer series: How science works From data collection to environmental and public-health advocacy, amateur scientists make a valuable contribution to scientific research. It's 6:30pm on Tuesday, 29 June. From the couch in my Geneva apartment, I'm working on a project for EPFL's Digital Epidemiology Lab - even though I know nothing about epidemiology and nobody at the lab even knows I'm taking part.