2014 – Science That Made Headlines (3)
© 2015 Jamani Caillet
This year a great deal of research done at EPFL made the headlines in newspapers. Here are a few that marked the months of September to December.
September 17 – Clocks: The End of Ticking
The oscillator is the component responsible for the tiny, incessant ticking that has set the beat in mechanical clocks for over two centuries. The team of Simon Henein has developed a new system that is also 100% mechanical while being more accurate and completely silent. Large watchmaking firms are already interested.
September 26 – Sun, Cheap Materials and Hydrogen
To produce hydrogen from sunlight, current systems require expensive materials. The team of Michaël Grätzel has produced an inexpensive prototype with an explosive 12.3% efficiency.
November 6 – Neuroscientists Wake the Ghosts… in Our Cortex
Patients with neurological or psychiatric disorders often speak of the “sense of a presence.” This ghostly illusion was reproduced in the laboratory by manipulating sensations of perfectly healthy people.
November 21 – Fingers and Sexual Organs: Same Genes, Different Parts
The same genes are responsible for the formation of fingers and genitals. The team of Denis Duboule discovered how, in the formation of an embryo, DNA sequences fold and unfold so that the same gene may participate in the formation of two body parts that are unmistakably different.
December 2 – A Martian Meteorite Contains Traces of Biological Activity
Is there life on Mars, or has the red planet ever hosted it in the past? The composition of a Martian meteorite reignited this debate. An international team including EPFL researchers has carefully analyzed carbon traces found inside a Martian meteorite. The results point towards a biological origin for the traces.