2017
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To proliferate or not to proliferate? A cellular spring replies
The cell protein ZO-1 promotes or not epithelial cell proliferation depending on the tensions to which it is subjected. The epithelium, a tissue made up of closely juxtaposed cells, forms the glands and covers the outer surface of the human body as well as its internal cavities, such as the lungs or intestines. There are different types of epithelia, depending on the surfaces they cover and the functions they carry out. These tissues are subjected to multiple types of mechanical stretch, such as those caused by passing food or filling a bladder. The mechanical input strongly influences the proliferation and differentiation of epithelial cells, whether healthy or cancerous, but the underlying processes remain poorly understood. Researchers at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, have discovered that the proteins Zonula Occludens-1 and -2 (ZO-1 and ZO-2), which contribute to the tightness of the epithelium, perceive these physical signals and activate different cellular responses accordingly. Published in the journal Current Biology, these results reveal a novel process by which mechanical forces can regulate the structure of epithelia, their dynamic equilibrium and the establishment of tissue barriers. Targeted inhibition of ZO-1 in tumors could therefore be a pathway to explore, given its likely role in the proliferation of cancer cells.
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To proliferate or not to proliferate? A cellular spring replies
The cell protein ZO-1 promotes or not epithelial cell proliferation depending on the tensions to which it is subjected. The epithelium, a tissue made up of closely juxtaposed cells, forms the glands and covers the outer surface of the human body as well as its internal cavities, such as the lungs or intestines. There are different types of epithelia, depending on the surfaces they cover and the functions they carry out. These tissues are subjected to multiple types of mechanical stretch, such as those caused by passing food or filling a bladder. The mechanical input strongly influences the proliferation and differentiation of epithelial cells, whether healthy or cancerous, but the underlying processes remain poorly understood. Researchers at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, have discovered that the proteins Zonula Occludens-1 and -2 (ZO-1 and ZO-2), which contribute to the tightness of the epithelium, perceive these physical signals and activate different cellular responses accordingly. Published in the journal Current Biology, these results reveal a novel process by which mechanical forces can regulate the structure of epithelia, their dynamic equilibrium and the establishment of tissue barriers. Targeted inhibition of ZO-1 in tumors could therefore be a pathway to explore, given its likely role in the proliferation of cancer cells.
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When magma prevents volcanic eruptions
Why does the floor of calderas lift disproportionately without erupting? An international team of researchers, including UNIGE members, used thermal and experimental models to explain one of the least-understood processes in volcanology: ‘caldera resurgence’. A spectacular proof of our planet’s activity, calderas are huge topographic depressions, similar to flat-bottomed craters, with a diameter of several tens of kilometres. They are formed by large volcanic eruptions, and sometimes experience an inflation of their floor of up to a kilometre, caused by magma injection. This well-known process, dubbed «caldera resurgence», has been observed several times and yet remains one of the least understood in volcanology. The enigmatic question was: Why after an eruption the arrival of new magma does not produce another major eruption but resurgence? A team of researchers from the University of Roma Tre, Italy, and the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, shows that the non-erupted magma left after the caldera-forming eruption behaves as a “rubber sheet” that inhibits the rise to the surface of the newly injected magma. A research published in Nature Communications.
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New batteries with better performance and improved safety
Researchers from Empa and the University of Geneva have developed an initial prototype of a solid sodium battery with the potential to store extra energy. Phones, laptops, electric cars – batteries are everywhere. And to meet the expectations of today’s consumers, these batteries are increasingly light, more powerful and designed to last longer. Currently the most important technology for these applications is the lithium-ion battery technology: but the technology is expensive and contains a flammable liquid, which may represent a safety hazard, when the battery is abused. To satisfy the growing demand from emerging markets (electric cars, for example, and renewable energy storage), researchers from Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, and the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, have devised a new battery prototype: known as “all-solid-state”, this battery has the potential to store more energy while maintaining high safety and reliability levels. Furthermore, the battery is based on sodium, a cheap alternative to lithium. Read about the research in more detail in the journal Energy and Environmental Science.
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Dark matter and dark energy: do they really exist?
A University of Geneva researcher has recently shown that the accelerating expansion of the universe and the movement of the stars in the galaxies can be explained without drawing on the concepts of dark matter and dark energy… which might not actually exist. For close on a century, researchers have hypothesised that the universe contains more matter than can be directly observed, known as “dark matter”. They have also posited the existence of a “dark energy” that is more powerful than gravitational attraction. These two hypotheses, it has been argued, account for the movement of stars in galaxies and for the accelerating expansion of the universe respectively. But – according to a researcher at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland – these concepts may be no longer valid: the phenomena they are supposed to describe can be demonstrated without them. This research, which is published in The Astrophysical Journal, exploits a new theoretical model based on the scale invariance of the empty space, potentially solving two of astronomy’s greatest mysteries.
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Tubules to stop cell growth
When nutrients are abundant, TORC1 protein complexes stimulate cell growth. When sugar is absent, these complexes self-inactivate by assembling into an enormous tubular structure. TORC1 is an enzyme complex that controls the normal growth of our cells; but, when too active, it can promote diseases such as cancer. A study led by biologists from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, and published in the journal Nature describes how sugar regulates the activity of TORC1, through a surprising mechanism. In the presence of this nutrient, individual TORC1s stimulate the various metabolic processes that allow cells to grow. In the absence of sugar, TORC1s assemble into a tubular structure, rendering them inactive and thus cell growth stops. The formation and disassembly of these tubules are easy to observe in living cells, which, in future work, would make it possible to identify compounds that interfere with this process. As regulators of cellular growth, such compounds would represent an interesting anti-cancer strategy.
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Climate change can goad volcanoes into life
The possibility that temporary closure of the Gibraltar gateway and isolation of the Mediterranean from the Atlantic during the Messinian Salinity Crisis (5.96 My ago) led to near complete desiccation of the Mediterranean has been debated for more than four decades, but no definitive proof of this has yet been found. Significant and fast reductions in sea level, however, unload the Earth’s surface, which can increase the volcanic activity. We thus analyzed the available data and recognized a two-fold increase of the Mediterranean volcanic and magmatic activity synchronous to the proposed desiccation event. Numerical modeling demonstrates that abrupt kilometre-scale lowering of the Mediterranean Sea can cause the observed increase in volcanic activity. We thus conclude that the Mediterranean magmatic record provides a strong argument in favour of a kilometre-scale drawdown of the Mediterranean sea during the Messinian salinity crisis. Our results also imply that the volcanic activity is particularly sensitive to variations of the surface conditions involved by, for instance, past and ongoing climate changes.
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The Return of the Comet-like Exoplanet
Astronomers have discovered a comet-like exoplanet that trails a huge, Rapunzel-like hair made of gasbehind it. Astronomers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, also members of the PlanetS National Centre of Competence in Research, have been working on a joint project with the universities of Berne, Warwick, Grenoble Alpes and the Paris Institute of Astrophysics. The research team focused the Hubble Space Telescope on an exoplanet that had already been seen losing its atmosphere, which forms an enormous cloud of hydrogen, giving the planet the appearance of a giant comet. During earlier observations in 2015, it was not possible to cover the whole cloud, whose shape was predicted by numerical simulations. Thanks to these new observations, however, the scientists have finally been able to confirm the initial predictions. The results are unveiled in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
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Mercury is altering gene expression
By studying the RNA, UNIGE scientists are the first to demonstrate how mercury enters the food web and affects the microalgae at its base. The mercury found at very low concentrations in water is concentrated along the entire food chain, from algae via zooplankton to small fish and on to the largest fish — the ones we eat. Mercury causes severe and irreversible neurological disorders in people who have consumed highly contaminated fish. Whereas we know about the element’s extreme toxicity, what happens further down the food chain, all the way down to those microalgae that are the first level and the gateway for mercury? By employing molecular biology tools, a team of researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, has addressed this question for the first time. The scientists measured the way mercury affects the gene expression of algae, even when its concentration in water is very low, comparable to European environmental protection standards. Find out more about the UNIGE research in Scientific Reports.
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Mercury is altering gene expression
By studying the RNA, UNIGE scientists are the first to demonstrate how mercury enters the food web and affects the microalgae at its base. The mercury found at very low concentrations in water is concentrated along the entire food chain, from algae via zooplankton to small fish and on to the largest fish — the ones we eat. Mercury causes severe and irreversible neurological disorders in people who have consumed highly contaminated fish. Whereas we know about the element’s extreme toxicity, what happens further down the food chain, all the way down to those microalgae that are the first level and the gateway for mercury? By employing molecular biology tools, a team of researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, has addressed this question for the first time. The scientists measured the way mercury affects the gene expression of algae, even when its concentration in water is very low, comparable to European environmental protection standards. Find out more about the UNIGE research in Scientific Reports.
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Published on
Mercury is altering gene expression
By studying the RNA, UNIGE scientists are the first to demonstrate how mercury enters the food web and affects the microalgae at its base. The mercury found at very low concentrations in water is concentrated along the entire food chain, from algae via zooplankton to small fish and on to the largest fish — the ones we eat. Mercury causes severe and irreversible neurological disorders in people who have consumed highly contaminated fish. Whereas we know about the element’s extreme toxicity, what happens further down the food chain, all the way down to those microalgae that are the first level and the gateway for mercury? By employing molecular biology tools, a team of researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, has addressed this question for the first time. The scientists measured the way mercury affects the gene expression of algae, even when its concentration in water is very low, comparable to European environmental protection standards. Find out more about the UNIGE research in Scientific Reports.
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First discovery of an exoplanet with SPHERE/VLT
«To photograph» an exoplanet: an exploit still rare, made possible by an instrument developed in partnership with the astronomers of the University of Geneva. An international team of astronomers, including members of the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, discovered an exoplanet by direct imaging using SPHERE, an instrument designed and developed by a consortium of 12 European institutes on the Very Large Telescope ESO, based in Chile. The instrument, which corrects in real time the terrestrial atmospheric turbulences and occults the light of the star, allows to take a real «photography» of the exoplanet. A result published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics this week.
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First discovery of an exoplanet with SPHERE/VLT
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Hunting microbes or smelling poison: a matter of evolutio
Researchers at UNIGE demonstrate how some genes evolved from an immune function to an olfactory role in some mammals. Mammals possess several lines of defense against microbes. One of them is activated when receptors called Fprs, which are present on immune cells, bind to specific molecules that are linked to pathogens. Researchers at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, showed in 2009 that these same receptors were also present in the nose of mice, probably to detect contaminated food or to avoid sick conspecifics. The biologists now describe in the journal PNAS how Fprs have acquired this olfactory role during rodent evolution, moving from the immune system to a neuronal system. This innovation results from two genomic ‘accidents’ that occurred several millions years apart during the evolution of rodents.
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Switzerland in pole position in ESA’s new mission
PLATO, the largest European exoplanet research mission, was adopted today by the European Space Agency at the ESA Scientific Programs Committee meeting. Switzerland, through the Universities of Geneva (UNIGE) and Berne (UNIBE), is heavily involved in this mission, which should enable astronomers to discover and characterize planets the size of the Earth and the “super–Earths” that orbit around solar type stars in their habitable zone.
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When healthy cells stimulate the migration of tumor cells
The unusual localization of an estrogen receptor in the microenvironment of breast cancer cells facilitates their invasiveness. Estrogens act as a driving force of both healthy and cancerous mammary cell growth by binding to receptors that include a type named GPER, which is generally located in cell membranes. Recent studies have, however, revealed the unusual presence of this receptor in the nuclei of fibroblasts - cells of the connective tissue - surrounding mammary tumor cells. Researchers at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, have discovered that this is in fact another version of GPER, a nuclear variant of this receptor, with different properties. The fibroblasts carrying this variant promote the migration of neighboring malignant cells, thus participating in the process of tumor metastasis. This research, which may pave the way to a novel therapeutic strategy, is published in the journal Oncotarget.
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A Molecular Plaster to Repair DNA
Researchers from Geneva and Basel have discovered the key role of a protein called Rif1 in the protection, stabilization and repair of damaged DNA. TAll cells are confronted with DNA damage, for example by exposure of the skin to UV rays, chemical byproducts of nerve cells consuming sugar, or the destruction of bacteria in immune cells. If these DNA lesions are not - or badly - repaired, they may initiate tumor formation. Thankfully, cells have evolved an elaborate control system to correct these DNA anomalies. Researchers at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research (FMI) in Basel, Switzerland, have now discovered the key role of a protein called Rif1 in the protection, stabilization and repair of damaged DNA. This study, published in the journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, uncovers a DNA maintenance function likely to be present in all eukaryotes - organisms whose cells possess a nucleus - because the region of Rif1 that enables the formation of a protective sheath around DNA lesions is similar in humans and yeast.
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A Single Molecule is Missing and the Cell World is Empty
University of Geneva scientists have discovered the key role played by a molecule in cell division, opening up new perspectives in the fight against cancer and HIV. Cells multiply by duplicating themselves: they grow, replicate their components, and finally split into two. Many diseases are related to defective cell division; cancer is one of them. Understanding mechanisms conducting this division is therefore essential in the search for cancer treatments. Researchers at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, in collaboration with the IMBA- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology at the Vienna BioCenter (VBC) and the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, have turned their attention in particular to the role of ESCRT proteins, which are responsible for severing cell membranes. These proteins assemble in spirals that gradually bring about cleavage of the membrane, spirals that are constantly renewing themselves with the help of the Vps4 molecule. Without this molecule the renewal stops, eventually preventing the membrane from being severed. This research, reported in the journal Nature Cell Biology, sheds new light on the fight against cancer and HIV, both of which depend on cell division.
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What the hair of a fly tells us about cancer
Researchers at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, have conducted an indepth analysis of the asymmetric stem cells division that decide the fate of a fly’s cells and a fish’s neurons. Things couldn’t be simpler at the start: the cells divide into two identical cells that then divide in turn, meaning that any tissue can grow at an exponential rate. But the moment comes when some of them have to develop into specialised cells. On the back of a fly, for example, a cell must “know” that when it splits, it will give birth to two fundamentally different cells: one will make a hair and the other one, a neuron. How do these asymmetric divisions function? How can a mother cell split into two daughter cells that are so different? The researchers at UNIGE set about trying to understand these mechanisms down to the last detail, as the stakes are extremely high: a stem cell that misses out on its asymmetric division may generate cancer cells that reproduce exponentially, forming a tumour. You can read about the results of this research in Nature Communications, where the scientists demonstrate how the required information circulates inside the mother cell, enabling it to make a success of the asymmetric division.
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Volcanoes, referees for the life on Earth
At the Triassic-Jurassic boundary, 200 million years ago, some 60% of species living on Earth disappeared. Scientists suspected that magmatic activity and the release of CO2 were responsible for this environmental disaster. To corroborate this, one would need to find and to precisely date traces of this activity and make sure that it coincides with this mass extinction. The precise determination of this timing has been achieved by scientists at the University of Geneva, and is published in Nature Communications.
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Random numbers: hard times ahead for hackers
Researchers from the University of Geneva have developed a new quantum method for generating random numbers. Whenever we need to communicate in secret, a cryptographic key is needed. For this key to work, it must consist of numbers chosen at random without any structure – just the opposite of using the birthdate of our favourite pet. But, for a human, it is extremely difficult to choose without creating any bias, even by hitting the keyboard chaotically. To solve this problem, researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, have developed a new random numbers generator based on the principles of quantum physics. This physical theory, full of phenomena that run counter to our common sense, shows that certain physical events occur perfectly at random, making them impossible to predict. Unlike previous methods, the new system allows the user to verify the reliability of the random numbers it generates in real time. This work, to appear in the scientific journal Physical Review Applied, will greatly complicate the tasks of hackers who can no longer exploit bias resulting from human fallibility or possible imperfections in existing devices.
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A network of crystals for long-distance quantum communication
Quantum physic can guarantee that a message has not be intercepted before reaching its destination. Thanks to the laws of quantum physic, a particle of light – a photon – can be in two distinct states simultaneously, comparable to a coin thrown in the air, which is virtually both head and tail before reaching the ground. Like when the coin is grabbed, this superposition of states is destroyed as soon as it is read. This peculiar feature allow one to detect an evil eavesdropper when sending a message. However, this technique is so far limited to short distances. In order to extend the reach of these quantum communications, researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, have demonstrated a novel protocol based on a crystal than can emit quantum light as well as store it for arbitrary long times. This work, to appear in Physical Review Letters, paves the way for a future quantum repeater.
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Sea level as a metronome of Earth’s history
Sedimentary layers record the history of the Earth. They contain stratigraphic cycles and patterns that precisely reveal the succession of climatic and tectonic conditions that have occurred over millennia, thereby enhancing our ability to understand and predict the evolution of our planet. Researchers at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, — together with colleagues at the University of Lausanne (UNIL) and American and Spanish scientists — have been working on an analytical method that combines observing deep-water sedimentary strata and measuring in them the isotopic ratio between heavy and light carbon. They have discovered that the cycles that punctuate these sedimentary successions are not, as one might think, due solely to the erosion of mountains that surround the basin, but are more ascribable to sea level changes. This research, which you can read in the journal Geology, paves the way for new uses of isotopic methods in exploration geology.
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The liver increases by half during the day
Biologists from UNIGE have discovered how this organ adapts to the cycles of feeding and fasting, and the alternation of day and night. In mammals, the liver plays a pivotal role in metabolism and the elimination of toxins, and reaches its maximum efficiency when they are active and feed. Biologists from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, have discovered how this organ adapts to the cycles of feeding and fasting, and the alternation of day and night within 24 hours. The researchers showed in mice that the size of the liver increases by almost half before returning to its initial dimensions, according to the phases of activity and rest. Published in the journal Cell, their study describes the cellular mechanisms of this fluctuation, which disappears when the normal biological rhythm is reversed. The disruption of our circadian clock due to professional constraints or private habits therefore probably has important repercussions on our liver functions.
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Mineral resources: exhaustion is just a myth
An international team has demonstrated that the mineral resources containing metals and other commodities are sufficient to supply countless future generations. Recent articles have declared that deposits of mineral raw materials (copper, zinc, etc.) will be exhausted within a few decades. An international team, including the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, has shown that this is incorrect and that the resources of most mineral commodities are sufficient to meet the growing demand from industrialization and future demographic changes. Future shortages will arise not from physical exhaustion of different metals but from causes related to industrial exploitation, the economy, and environmental or societal pressures on the use of mineral resources. The report can be read in the journal Geochemical Perspectives.
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Track down water pollution through DNA of algae
Diatoms are a group of unicellular algae particularly sensitive to changes that affect their aquatic environment. This is why they are used as bioindicators for the biological monitoring of water quality. However, their microscopic identification in river samples requires a lot of time and skills. Biologists from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, have succeeded in establishing a water quality index based solely on the DNA sequences of the diatoms present in the samples, without needing to identify each species visually. This study, published in the journal Molecular Ecology Resources, presents a revolutionary tool to process a very large number of samples in parallel, allowing wide coverage of the monitored sites in a reduced time and at a lower cost.
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How to color a lizard: from biology to mathematics
From the clown fish to leopards, skin colour patterns in animals arise from microscopic interactions among coloured cells that obey equations discovered by the mathematician Alan Turing. Today, researchers at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, and SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics report in the journal Nature that a southwestern European lizard slowly acquires its intricate adult skin colour by changing the colour of individual skin scales using an esoteric computational system invented in 1948 by another mathematician: John von Neumann. The Swiss team shows that the 3D geometry of the lizard’s skin scales causes the Turing mechanism to transform into the von Neumann computing system, allowing biology-driven research to link, for the first time, the work of these two giants in mathematics.
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Exploring ocean waters to characterize atmospheric aerosols
Scientists from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) discovered that studying water masses enables them to analyse organic aerosols, which influence cloud formation. Aerosols are collections of fine particles, either biological or of other types, in suspension in a gaseous medium. They play a major role in cloud formation and therefore have a strong impact on climate models. They are however extremely hard to study due to the small size and immense variety of their constituent particles. But researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, members of the PlanetSolar Deepwater expedition, have now succeeded in linking the composition of marine biological aerosols - and therefore their influence on the climate - to that of bodies of water under them within the Atlantic Ocean, thereby paving the way to an indirect study of these aerosols through water analysis. This study, which has been published in Scientific Reports, will contribute to making climate models more accurate.
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Greenhouse gases: First it was cows — now it’s larvae!
Scientists have discovered that a certain species of larva uses methane to propel itself… and it is even possible that this mechanism is accelerating the release of gases into the atmosphere and magnifying global warming. Chaoborus spp is a small fly species that is found all over the world (except in Antarctica). The insect spends one to two years of its life cycle under water in a larval state, in lakes no deeper than 70 metres. Larvae spend the day in lakebed sediment and rise to the surface at night time to feed. They are equipped with air sacs that they can adjust to alter their depth in the water so as to migrate upwards and downwards. Scientists at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland — in collaboration with Berlin’s Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Potsdam University and Swansea University — have discovered that Chaoborus spp also uses the methane it finds in lakebeds to help it move around. The species releases methane into the surface water, increasing the likelihood that the gas will enter the atmosphere. The research, which has just been published in Scientific Reports, demonstrates the negative role played by the larvae not just in global warming but also in disturbing the sedimentary layers at the bottom of lakes.
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Copper-bottomed deposits
The world’s most valuable copper deposits, known as porphyry deposits, originate from cooling magma. But how can we predict the size of these deposits? What factors govern the amount of copper present? Researchers at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, have studied over 100,000 combinations to establish the depth and number of years required for magma to produce a given amount of copper. The same scientists have also devised a model that can detect the quantity of copper held in a deposit by means of a simple factor analysis. The research, which is published in the journal Scientific Reports, will make it possible to estimate the potential for mining the metal before beginning any drilling. It is a model that will undoubtedly be of great benefit to mining companies.
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A nose for smells? Practice makes perfect!
The human brain has the ability to recognise and process a very wide range of sensory stimuli, from which it builds a mental representation. But do these representations change over time? Can we learn to classify and interpret stimuli more effectively? Neuroscientists at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) have been trying to answer these questions by studying the olfactory system of mammals. They have succeeded in identifying the complementary role played by two distinct kinds of neurons in processing olfactory information and the different brain re-organisation that occurs depending on the context. After having previously demonstrated the possibility to boost the capacity to distinguish similar smells by regulating the inhibition of certain neural networks, the scientists now explain why the brain has to make use of different sorts of cells to form, maintain and reshape the representations of odours. In fact, it is their very combination that enables us to recognise and distinguish similar smells. Find out more about the research outcomes in the journal Neuron.
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Towards mastering terahertz waves?
Scientists from the University of Geneva have perfected a technique based on the usage of graphene, that allows for terahertz waves to be controlled accurately, paving the way for numerous applications. The terahertz waves span frequency ranges between the infrared spectrum (used, for example, for night vision) and gigahertz waves (which find their application, among other, in Wi-Fi connections). Terahertz waves allow for the detection of materials that are undetectable at other frequencies. However, the use of these waves is severely limited by the absence of suitable devices and materials allowing to control them. Researchers at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), working with the Federal Polytechnic School in Zurich (ETHZ) and two Spanish research teams, have developed a technique based on the use of graphene, which allows for the potentially very quick control of both the intensity and the polarization of terahertz light. This discovery, presented in Nature Communications, paves the way for a practical use of terahertz waves, in particular for imaging and telecommunications.