The field of materials science has become abuzz with “metal-organic frameworks” (MOFs), versatile compounds made up of metal ions connected to organic ligands, thus forming one-, two-, or three-dimensional structures. There is now an ever-growing list of applications for MOF, including separating petrochemicals, detoxing water from heavy metals and fluoride anions, and getting hydrogen or…
Nanoparticles Built by Directed Evolution
The 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to three scientists who developed the method that forever changed protein engineering: directed evolution. Mimicking natural evolution, directed evolution guides the synthesis of proteins with improved or new functions. First, the original protein is mutated to create a collection of mutant protein variants. The protein variants that show…
Metasurfaces Enable Creation of Flexible Photonic Circuits
Optical circuits are set to revolutionize the performance of many devices. Not only are they 10 to 100 times faster than electronic circuits, but they also consume a lot less power. Within these circuits, light waves are controlled by extremely thin surfaces called metasurfaces that concentrate the waves and guide them as needed. The metasurfaces…
Smallest-Ever Optical Frequency Comb Developed
Optical frequency combs are laser sources whose spectrum consists of a series of discrete, equally spaced frequency lines that can be used for precise measurements. In the last two decades, they have become a major tool for applications such as precise distance measurement, spectroscopy, and telecommunications. Most of the commercially available optical frequency comb sources…
New Device Simplifies Measurement of Fluoride Contamination in Water
Adding fluoride to water has been common practice in a number of countries, including the US, Australia, Brazil, Malaysia, India and Vietnam. In low concentrations (below 1.5 mg/L) can help prevent tooth decay and even strengthen bones, but going above that can have the opposite effect, causing serious dental and bone disease, especially in children…
Gummy-Like Robots That Could Help Prevent Disease
Human tissues experience a variety of mechanical stimuli that can affect their ability to carry out their physiological functions, such as protecting organs from injury. The controlled application of such stimuli to living tissues in vivo and in vitro has now proven instrumental to studying the conditions that lead to disease. At EPFL, Selman Sakar’s…
Using Artificial Intelligence to Save Bees
A beekeeper teamed up with the Signal Processing Laboratory 5 and a group of Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) students to develop an app that counts the number of Varroa mites in beehives. This parasite is one of the two main threats—along with pesticides—to bees’ long-term survival. Knowing the extent of the mites’ infestation…
Using Water Molecules to Unlock Neurons’ Secrets
Nerve-on-a-Chip Platform Makes Neuroprosthetics More Effective
Neuroprosthetics – implants containing multi-contact electrodes that can substitute certain nerve functionalities – have the potential to work wonders. They may be able to restore amputees’ sense of touch, help the paralyzed walk again by stimulating their spinal cords and silence the nerve activity of people suffering from chronic pain. Stimulating nerves at the right…
New Technique Reveals Limb Control in Flies–and Maybe Robots
One of the major goals of biology, medicine, and robotics is to understand how limbs are controlled by circuits of neurons working together. And as if that is not complex enough, a meaningful study of limb activity also has to take place while animals are behaving and moving. The problem is that it is virtually…
Ultra-Light Gloves Let Users ‘Touch’ Virtual Objects
Engineers and software developers around the world are seeking to create technology that lets users touch, grasp and manipulate virtual objects, while feeling like they are actually touching something in the real world. Scientists at EPFL and ETH Zurich have just made a major step toward this goal with their new haptic glove, which is…
How the Cholera Bacterium Survives Water Predators
The cholera-causing bacterium, Vibrio cholerae, is commonly found in aquatic environments, such as oceans, ponds, and rivers. There, the bacterium has evolved formidable skills to ensure its survival, growth, and occasional transmission to humans, especially in endemic areas of the globe. One of the ways the pathogen defends itself against predatory aquatic amoebas involves “hitchhiking”…
Earthquakes can be Weakened by Groundwater
Titanium Dioxide as a Nanoscale Sensor of Mechanical Stress
Using Excitons to Take Electronics into The Future
Excitons could revolutionize the way engineers approach electronics. A team of EPFL researchers has created a new type of transistor – one of the components of circuits – using these particles instead of electrons. What is remarkable is that their exciton-based transistor functions effectively at room temperature, a hitherto insurmountable obstacle. They achieved this by…
Improving Biosensors for Implantable Use
EPFL scientists have developed new nanotube biosensors using synthetic biology, which improves their sensing capabilities in complex biofluids, such as blood and urine. The study is published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters. Biosensors are devices that can detect biological moleculesin air, water, or blood. They are widely used in drug development, medical diagnostics,…
A Step Closer to Single-Atom Data Storage
New Small Molecules for the Treatment of Autoinflammatory Diseases
EPFL scientists have discovered two small-molecule compound series that can effectively block a central pathway of the innate immune system, offering a promising new way for treating autoinflammatory diseases. The study is published in Nature. The innate immune system is the first line of defense, with cells that quickly identify “foreign” motifs from viruses and…
An Elastic Fiber Filled With Electrodes Set to Revolutionize Smart Clothes
It’s a whole new way of thinking about sensors. The tiny fibers developed at EPFL are made of elastomer and can incorporate materials like electrodes and nanocomposite polymers. The fibers can detect even the slightest pressure and strain and can withstand deformation of close to 500% before recovering their initial shape. All that makes them…
Using Water Molecules to Read Electrical Activity in Lipid Membranes
Every human cell is encased in a five-nanometer-thick lipid membrane that protects it from the surrounding environment. Like a gatekeeper, the membrane determines which ions and molecules can pass through. In so doing, it ensures the cell’s well-being and stability and allows it to communicate via electrical signals. Researchers from the Laboratory for fundamental BioPhotonics…
Removing Heavy Metals From Water
According to the World Health Organization almost 1 billion people do not have access to clean drinking water, and that number is expected to increase with climate change. Meanwhile, our endlessly rising energy needs and use of heavy metals in industrial processes have maximized our exposure to toxic materials in water. Current commercial methods to…
Infrared Lasers Reveal Unprecedented Details in Surface Scattering of Methane
When molecules interact with solid surfaces, a whole range of dynamic processes can take place. These are of enormous interest in the context of catalytic reactions, e.g. the conversion of natural gas into hydrogen that can then be used to generate clean electricity. Specifically, the interaction of methane molecules with catalyst surface such as nickel is of interest if we…
Calculating the CO2 Emissions of Biofuels is Not Enough
New Microscopy Method for Quick and Reliable 3-D Imaging of Curvilinear Nanostructures
Physical and biological sciences increasingly require the ability to observe nano-sized objects. This can be accomplished with transmission electron microscopy (TEM), which is generally limited to 2D images. Using TEM to reconstruct 3D images instead usually requires tilting the sample through an arc to image hundreds of views of it and needs sophisticated image processing…
The First Low-Cost System for Splitting Carbon Dioxide
A promising avenue for the future of clean energy is to store it in the form of carbon-based fuels produced from renewable sources, effectively enabling the clean use of liquid fuels such as gasoline. A first step is the electrolysis of carbon dioxide into oxygen and carbon monoxide, which can be subsequently be transformed into…