For years, scientists have been trying to determine the climate of the past in order to make better predictions about future climate conditions. Now, there has been a breakthrough in the methodology of climate reconstruction based on microbial molecular fossils. Researchers under the direction of the University of Basel analyzed sediment samples collected from more than 30 Swiss lakes. Their findings can be applied to lakes worldwide, as the scientists report in PNAS.
Scientists at the University of Basel have found a way to change the spatial arrangement of bipyridine molecules on a surface. These potential components of dye-sensitized solar cells form complexes with metals and thereby alter their chemical conformation.
How is it possible that so many different and highly specific neurons arise in the brain? A mathematic model developed by researchers from the University of Basel’s Biozentrum demonstrates that different variants of genes enable such a random diversity. The scientists describe in “Cell Reports” that despite countless numbers of newly formed neurons, the genetic variants equip neurons individually and precisely for their specific function.
Today, the University of Basel and ETH Zurich co-founded the Botnar Research Centre for Child Health (BRCCH) in Basel. They bring together top scientists and clinical researchers from a variety of disciplines in order to develop new methods and digital innovations for global use in paediatrics. The BRCCH is funded by a CHF 100 million contribution from Fondation Botnar in Basel.
Distributed ledger technology with decentralized transaction systems has the potential to fundamentally change the world of finance. To strengthen research in this area, the University of Basel’s President’s Board has appointed the economist Fabian Schär as an assistant professor. The endowed professorship will be financed by Credit Suisse Asset Management (Switzerland) Ltd.
A new technique makes it possible to obtain an individual fingerprint of the current-carrying edge states occurring in novel materials such as topological insulators and 2D materials.
Academics on social media: some call it a trivialization of science, others an opportunity for direct dialogue with the public. In reality, there is much more to this trend than a simple dichotomy. Three scientists at the University of Basel show that communicating about research can not only be complicated or trivial, but also humorous and relatable. With several thousand followers, they have successfully established themselves as micro-influencers on various social networks.
Blood vessel formation relies on the ability of vascular cells to move while remaining firmly connected to each other. This enables the vessels to grow and sprout without leaking any blood. In the current issue of “Nature Communications”, scientists from the Biozentrum at the University of Basel describe how this works.
Silvia Arber and Botond Roska, both professors at the University of Basel, have been selected as co-recipients of the 2018 W. Alden Spencer Award in recognition of their outstanding contributions to understanding developmental and functional mechanisms of motor and visual system circuitry respectively.