News EPFL

A natural boost for MRI scans

Published:22.10.13 — Using an innocuous agent that is already naturally produced in the body, EPFL researchers have developed a breakthrough method that can make contrast-enhanced MRI safer and cheaper.

Twenty-two thousand trips around the planet

Published:21.10.13 — Four years after its launch, Swisscube, the small satellite developed by EPFL’s Space Center, is still in operation. Some of the technological choices made and considered audacious at the time have yielded valuable lessons for building future spacecraft.

Using mathematics for predicting the chances of a Kickstarter project

Published:18.10.13 — Vincent Etter, doctoral student in communication systems, has developed an analysis tool for projects seeking for funding in the Kickstarter website. After a few hours, it is capable of predicting with amazing accuracy whether the submitted project will succeed or fail.

Using heat to make magnets

Published:17.10.13 — EPFL scientists have provided the first evidence ever that it is possible to generate a magnetic field by using heat instead of electricity. The phenomenon is referred to as the Magnetic Seebeck effect or ‘thermomagnetism’.

The Matterhorn like you've never seen it

Published:15.10.13 — Two EPFL spin-offs, senseFly and Pix4D, have modeled the Matterhorn in 3D, at a level of detail never before achieved. It took senseFly’s ultralight drones just six hours to snap the high altitude photographs that were needed to build the model.

Got a good idea? Join the Fusebox challenge!

Published:14.10.13 — EPFL is setting up an online platform to get all those neurons on campus busy generating novel ideas. Fusebox has launched its first challenge: What will the interior of the car of the future be like?

Scientists Develop New Method to Regenerate Cartilage

Published:11.10.13 — A team of EPFL scientists has developed a smart hydrogel material that could promote cartilage regeneration. Their method consists in releasing medication at the right place and at the right time. In the future, damage to cartilage following injuries may no longer have to be irreversible.