Actualités de Bern,

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

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 ...

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

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 ...

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

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 ...

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

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 ...

SIFEM AG

Close to USD 100m of new investment commitments by SIFEM in 2022

Bern (ots) - In 2022, the Swiss Investment Fund for Emerging Markets (SIFEM) committed a total of USD 95 million to seven new investments and concluded the year with a negative operating result of minus CHF 13.1 million. The seven new investments will contribute directly to the achievements of SIFEM's development goals, especially in terms of job creation, climate ...

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

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 ...

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

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 ...

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

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 ...

ARt+ Magazine

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Art and Technology in Harmony: Michaela Litzka shows innovative augmented reality artworks in New York

ARt+ Magazine

6

Art and Technology in Harmony: Michaela Litzka shows innovative augmented reality artworks in New York

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

If paradise were made of concrete

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

Traffic noise - the enemy of our brains

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

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 ...

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

Analysing how we work

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

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 ...

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

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 ...

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

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 ...

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

A quiet crisis manager

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

Avoiding burnout of white blood cells

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

Novel approaches to health care

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

Sounding the alarm in time to save endangered species

Bern (ots) - Biodiversity loss is accelerating. To identify species in urgent need of protection, scientists from Fribourg want to combine AI with data collection and engagement by citizen scientists. A few years - or sometimes even just a few weeks - can be all it takes for a plant or animal to acquire "endangered species" status. For instance, when a new road is built through a forest, the chainsaws come out and a rare ...

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

She recognises "super recognisers"

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

Federal Councillors don't galvanise voters in their home cantons

Bern (ots) - When a new Federal Councillor is chosen, their home canton is always a much-discussed topic. Yet the results of referendums are hardly influenced by whether the voter's own canton is represented on the Federal Council or not. Successors will shortly be chosen both for Ueli Maurer and for Simonetta Sommaruga. Ever since they announced their resignations, ...

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

Improving the efficacy of antibiotics and curbing resistance

Bern (ots) - New findings from NRP 72, financed by the Swiss National Science Foundation, are helping to curb antibiotic resistance. In the field of new antibiotics, however, structures needed for translating results into practice are lacking. Worldwide, more and more pathogens are becoming resistant to today's antibiotics. As antibiotics lose their efficacy, infections that were once easy to treat can give rise to fatal ...

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

She wants to know how we talk about dying

Swiss Fibre Net AG

Competition authority paves the way for innovative fibre optic industry solution

Bern (ots) - Over the past few months, the Secretariat of the Competition Commission (COMCO) has been assessing the SFN shunting model developed by Swiss Fibre Net AG (SFN). It has checked whether the industry solution satisfies the competition law requirements for network access. The COMCO secretariat has now approved the proposal under antitrust law. The option of ...

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

The story of a cosmic striptease

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

Patients who want to decide by themselves - and those who would rather not decide at all

Bern (ots) - Not all patients desire the same amount of say in their medical treatment. Healthcare professionals should be aware of these different needs and take them into account. When it comes to determining next steps in hospital treatment, patients will frequently say: "I can't decide that. You're the doctor; you decide." Some patients, however, prefer to decide ...

3D Wind AG

Investment in VAYU® / You want to be a part of the VAYU® Family?

swissuniversities

Luciana Vaccaro elected as new president of swissuniversities

Bern (ots) - On October 20, 2022, the plenary assembly of swissuniversities elected Luciana Vaccaro, Rector of the Haute école spécialisée de Suisse occidentale (HES-SO), as President of swissuniversities. Luciana Vaccaro is elected for the period from February 2023 to July 2024, succeeding Yves Flückiger. As Yves Flückiger’s term of office as Rector of the Université de Genève ends in mid-July 2023, he will not ...