Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

The ocean supermodeller

Stacking - a route to higher-performance solid-state batteries

Are your backup data secure?

Bern (ots) - The new backup protocol for Whatsapp messages was subjected to a comprehensive security analysis by a research team. One identified weakness can be resolved with a strong password. Every day, people around the world exchange billions of messages using the Whatsapp messaging service. End-to-end encryption is used to ensure they are secure. However, until recently the automatic backups of chats did not enjoy the same level of security, as the personal key to the ...

The insatiable virus hunter

The news? - too complicated...

Bern (ots) - People are sometimes reluctant to read a newspaper or follow the news on TV. Why should that be? Although negativity is often cited as a reason for avoidance, it's not the only reason - according to a researcher from Fribourg. Many people deliberately avoid anything to do with current affairs. According to a recent survey by Reuters, 40 per cent of Americans prefer not to read a newspaper or watch the news on a screen. The anxiety caused by current affairs is ...

Obstacles slow down birds tracking global warming

The age of blood stains says more about the crime

Bern (ots) - The composition of blood stains changes over the course of weeks and months. Forensic medicine hopes to make use of this fact in future to convict suspects - or to prove their innocence. The blood-stained paper lay on the roof terrace for almost a year, protected from the rain but otherwise exposed to the elements. Fortunately it wasn't evidence of a violent crime; no, the drops of blood were part of a ...

Mosquitoes prefer cooler temperatures

Bern (ots) - Mosquitoes have thermal preferences. This is an important parameter to better predict outbreaks of diseases transmitted by these insects. "If they have a choice, when it's hot, mosquitoes hide in a cool place to rest," says Niels Verhulst, author of a study recently published in the journal Thermal Biology (*). The entomologist from the University of Zurich summarises the results of the experiment he ...

1,500 new research projects and 400 fellowships abroad in anniversary year

Bern (ots) - In 2022, the SNSF approved 910 million francs for its regular funding schemes. We awarded a further 173 million for the Horizon Europe transitional measures. Coronavirus research generated a wealth of knowledge. On 1 August 2022, the SNSF celebrated its 70th anniversary. Founded in 1952 out of concern that Swiss research might sink into mediocrity after ...

Transition to a sustainable economy: policy recommendations

Bern (ots) - How can economic progress be aligned with social and environmental responsibility? In closing, the National Research Programme "Sustainable Economy" (NRP 73) presents recommendations in this regard. To mark its conclusion, the National Research Programme "Sustainable Economy: resource-efficient, future-oriented, innovative" (NRP 73) is presenting a white paper with recommendations to policymakers for the ...

The Covid-19 pandemic is preparing us for future crises

Bern (ots) - The SNSF Corona Research Conference shows how the Covid-19 pandemic has enabled us to accumulate knowledge that will be useful in dealing with future crises. "If we ever have to deal with a new pandemic in future we will not be starting from scratch, as was the case when we were confronted with the coronavirus." These are the words of scientist Barbara Rath. As an active participant in the Vienna Vaccine ...

Woodland versus wind turbine

Bern (ots) - Special permission is required to clear forest in Switzerland. Until now, the system has worked well. However, plans to increase wind and solar electricity generation could increase conflicts. Around 185 hectares of forest - equivalent to 260 football pitches - are cleared in Switzerland each year. This is not due to felling or storm damage, but to create space for roads, mobile phone masts, drinking water catchment installations, gravel pits and other ...

Photographs reveal the hidden beauty of research

Bern (ots) - Nineteen works particularly impressed the international jury of the 2023 SNSF Scientific Image Competition. They reveal hidden beauty in research, tell tales of happy coincidences and explore new perspectives on the world around us. The transparent belly of a frog, the caring gesture of a veterinarian, a colony of bees residing on an electronic circuit, and mesmerising vortices: the selection by the jury of ...

Our movements predict our electricity needs

Bern (ots) - Artificial intelligence can predict electricity grid loads from road and rail usage data. To satisfy demand and manage consumption peaks, electricity suppliers have to be able to predict grid loads. A team of scientists from Zurich University of Applied Sciences funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) has developed an artificial intelligence system capable of accurately anticipating grid loads ...

If paradise were made of concrete

Traffic noise - the enemy of our brains

Mummies provide the key to reconstruct the climate of the ancient Mediterranean

Bern (ots) - Swiss scientists are reconstructing the climate of the ancient world using small wooden artefacts hung on mummified remains. Throughout history, the earth's climate has undergone natural fluctuations. Although insignificant compared with the current crisis, these fluctuations would nevertheless have been enough to make and unmake empires. According to ...

Analysing how we work

The journey to school is an important time for children

Bern (ots) - Going to school with friends is a precious time that offers numerous opportunities to learn and also unwind, according to children who were asked for their thoughts on this subject. Parents who do not accompany their children to school sometimes worry what could happen on the way. Children see things very differently: for them, the journey to school is a time of independence and socialisation that contributes ...

Big data, big challenges

Bern (ots) - If handled responsibly, big data enables many useful applications: the National Research Programme "Big Data" (NRP 75) of the Swiss National Science Foundation investigated the opportunities and the challenges. The use of big data can improve our everyday lives: medical care, mobility and energy efficiency, or the supply of information. At the same time, the increasing use of big data poses a challenge - in terms of safeguarding democratic processes, equal ...

Brain scans of people with MS help us understand the effects of Covid

Bern (ots) - People affected by multiple sclerosis need to undergo regular MRI brain scans. The images are now being used to visualise the effects of a coronavirus infection. Brain fog, memory problems, loss of the sense of smell - Covid-19 affects the brain in a number of ways, yet the mechanisms behind this remain largely unknown. This is because disease-related changes in our brains are almost impossible to detect if ...