Getting to Mars, whatever it takes

Published:27.05.19 — Sending manned missions to Mars is essential, according to Pierre Brisson, the president of Mars Society Switzerland, “because we can.” We spoke with him about this challenge while he was at EPFL recently to give a talk. 

Website provides real-time forecasts for Swiss lakes

Published:24.05.19 — A new website, www.meteolakes.ch, provides up-to-date information – such as water temperature, current speed, the chances of a storm and the presence of algae and gyres – on Switzerland’s main lakes. The EPFL PhD student who developed the platform as part of his doctoral work defended his thesis today.

EPFL spin-off Bicycle Therapeutics floats on Nasdaq

Published:24.05.19 — EPFL spin-off Bicycle Therapeutics carried out an IPO this past Wednesday and raised $60.6 million. The proceeds will be used to conduct further clinical trials of its cancer drugs. That makes Bicycle Therapeutics the third EPFL spin-off to go public, following in the footsteps of Logitech and Biocartis.

Producing electricity at estuaries using light and osmosis

Published:23.05.19 — Researchers at EPFL are working on a technology to exploit osmotic energy – a source of power that’s naturally available at estuaries, where fresh water comes into contact with seawater. In a laboratory experiment, the team reproduced the real-world conditions that occur where rivers meet the sea (pH and salt concentration) and showed that, by shining light on a system comprising salt, water and a membrane three atoms thick, it was possible to optimize electricity production.

Nominations of EPFL professors

Published:23.05.19 — The Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology has announced the appointment of two professors at EPFL.

Shedding light on cancer metabolism in real-time with bioluminescence

Published:22.05.19 — Cancerous tumors can be made to bioluminesce, like fireflies, according to the level of their glucose uptake, giving rise to a technique for quantifying metabolite absorption. The firefly imaging technique for sugar can be translated from cancer to many other metabolic diseases.

EPFL architecture students bring La Buvette d'Evian back to life

Published:21.05.19 — Around 150 first-year EPFL architecture students will soon be crossing Lake Geneva into France to install new forms of architecture and gardens around the Buvette d'Evian. They have already tested their new architectural designs on the Swiss side of the lake. The revamped site will be inaugurated at a ceremony on 28 May, which will be attended by Evian city officials.