News EPFL

Using cell phone signals to measure rainfall

Published:08.02.11 — Mobile telephone relay antennas can be used for measuring rainfall, according to an innovative idea from EPFL’s Environmental Remote Sensing Laboratory (LTE) and EAWAG, the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology.

Lightning does actually strike in the same place twice!

Published:07.02.11 — A scientist at EPFL has developed a sensor that he subsequently fitted in the radio-TV tower at the top of the Säntis mountain, one of the places in Europe most affected by lightning. The goal is to better understand this phenomenon, which is still shrouded in mystery.

Another famous architect stamps his mark on EPFL

Published:04.02.11 — The project to transform the former mechanical engineering halls and the central library of EPFL has been awarded to the Karl Steiner company. The architect is Dominique Perrault, who was responsible for France’s National Library, among other works. This building will house, in particular, the Center for Neuroprosthetics, which was launched at the end of 2008 and co-financed by the Bertarelli Foundation, the Defitech Foundation, the International Foundation for Research into Paraplegia (IRP) and the Sandoz Family Foundation.

A New Model for Studying Parkinson's disease

Published:03.02.11 — Swiss researchers develop new, working model to combat genetic causes of the disease.

EPFL antennas chosen by ESA for nano-satellites

Published:02.02.11 — The European Space Agency (ESA) has chosen EPFL to design the antennas for its next generation of satellites. They will equip nano-satellites – the future market for communication, experimentation and space observation.

The mystery of the formation of centrioles

Published:01.02.11 — Centrioles enable human cells to “perceive” their environment, to communicate with each other, and to move around. But how are they formed? Scientists from EPFL and the Paul Scherrer Institute answer this 50-year-old question on cellular biology.

A material to revolutionize electronics

Published:30.01.11 — Smaller and more energy-efficient electronic chips could be made using molybdenite. In an article appearing online January 30 in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, EPFL’s Laboratory of Nanoscale Electronics and Structures (LANES) publishes a study showing that this material has distinct advantages over traditional silicon or graphene for use in electronics applications.