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 ...

A quiet crisis manager

Avoiding burnout of white blood cells

Novel approaches to health care

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 ...

She recognises "super recognisers"

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, ...

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 ...

She wants to know how we talk about dying

The story of a cosmic striptease

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 ...

The fascination of Mars

Inertial sensors: strength in numbers

Arguing over meat, finding comfort with friends - The emotions of the great apes

The discreet jihadism expert

Broad-based Swiss Covid-19 research

Bern (ots) - During the coronavirus pandemic, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) supported a total of 114 Covid-19 research projects, for which it used funding of over CHF 45 million. In the National Research Programme "Covid-19" (NRP 78), around 200 researchers are working in 28 projects with a total budget of CHF 20 million. Another research programme on Covid-19 is about to start. It was the first time the ...

Sensors and actuators made from wood may be the green electronics of the future

Bern (ots) - Sustainable electronic components can be made from wood with the help of a novel process that uses a laser to engrave electrically conductive structures on veneers. Non-biodegradable electronic waste continues to accumulate year after year. For that reason, making electronic components at least partly from a natural raw material like wood seems an obvious ...

Urban and rural poor are different

She wants to bridge the human-nature divide

Bern (ots) - Johanna Jacobi is Assistant Professor for Agroecological Transitions at ETH Zurich. Through her scientific work, she aims to bring us closer to ecology. A discussion. "I've always been fascinated by plants and insects. When I was little, I collected lots of things. Sometimes I'd let my spiders out onto the kitchen table. My parents weren't too pleased," she smiles. It's hardly surprising that Johanna Jacobi, ...

Should we rely on other tree species to adapt to global warming?

Bern (ots) - Pubescent oak trees thrive even at higher temperatures, in part because they are active earlier in the year. Researchers supported by the SNSF put the trees of the future to the test. As trees grow, they absorb ever greater amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere. Consequently, the health of trees both determines climate and is determined by it. During ...

"Music should play a bigger part in life"

What triggers photoreceptor cell death in a disease leading to blindness?

Bern (ots) - In the common eye disease retinitis pigmentosa, the rods and cones of the retina slowly die. Single cell analysis provides insights into the onset of this process. First night blindness and tunnel vision, then the loss of contrast and colour and, in the worst case, total blindness: this is the typical course of retinitis pigmentosa, a hereditary disease of ...

882 million francs invested in research in 2021

Bern (ots) - Last year, the SNSF selected around 1800 research projects for funding. It also launched new funding measures because Swiss researchers are not able to participate in important areas of the Horizon Europe programme. Expanding knowledge and solving problems. That is what thousands of SNSF-funded research teams do at Swiss universities and other higher education institutions. Their curiosity and their ...

Gravestones show that Neolithic people were skilled builders

Bern (ots) - People 5000 years ago were already skilled builders and probably lived in the same place for generations - an old burial site reveals Stone Age secrets. A Neolithic grave discovered in 2012 near Oberbipp (BE) has turned out to be a real treasure trove for science. After ten years, a multidisciplinary research team co-funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation has published the last study on this subject ...