Higher aspirations lead to higher achievements. At least, that is true in the context of educational and occupational aspirations, as shown by a new study co-authored by economist Dr. Reto Odermatt of the University of Basel. Unrealistically high aspirations as a teenager, however, can have a negative effect on well-being as an adult.
The steadily worsening climate crisis caused by the accumulation of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere makes the search for ideas to store CO2 increasingly important. Prof. Ben Engel's team at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel together with colleagues from the Universities of Frankfurt and Marburg, has now shed light on the structure of an enzyme that reveals a new way of storing CO2.
From pandemics to nuclear energy – the world is full of risks. Psychologists at the University of Basel have developed a new method of determining how risk is perceived within a society..
In no other stage of life does sleep change as much as in adolescence. Low-intensity morning exercise can have a positive effect on adolescents’ sleep patterns – as discovered by researchers at the University of Basel and Flinders University in Adelaide.
Even before carbohydrates reach the bloodstream, the very sight and smell of a meal trigger the release of insulin. For the first time, researchers from the University of Basel and University Hospital Basel have shown that this insulin release depends on a short-term inflammatory response that takes place in these circumstances. In overweight individuals, however, this inflammatory response is so excessive that it can impair insulin secretion.
NextImmune, a spin-off from the Biozentrum of the University of Basel, has received financial support of 150,000 Swiss francs from the Venture Kick funding initiative. The start-up develops a new generation of immunosuppressive drugs for autoimmune diseases and organ transplantation.
Communication networks need nodes at which information is processed or rerouted. Physicists at the University of Basel have now developed a network node for quantum communication networks that can store single photons in a vapor cell and pass them on later.
University of Basel researchers have discovered neutralizing antibodies which prevent bacterial infection or bring them to a halt. Only changes in the antibody docking sites on the bacterial cell surface enables the pathogen to evade this effective immune defense.
Extreme dry conditions contributed to the decline of the ancient South Arabian kingdom of Himyar. Researchers from the University of Basel have reported these findings in the journal Science. Combined with political unrest and war, the droughts left behind a region in disarray, thereby creating the conditions on the Arabian peninsula that made possible the spread of the newly emerging religion of Islam.
