How machine learning can help predict the spectral properties of materials

07-Jan-2025 - Many techniques in computational materials science require scientists to identify the right set of parameters that capture the physics of the specific material they are studying. Calculating these parameters from scratch is sometimes possible but costs a lot of time and computational power. ...

How catalysts remove dangerous nitrogen oxides

”If we know exactly where the reaction takes place, the production of catalysts can be controlled accordingly”

11-Oct-2024 - Catalysts belonging to the zeolite family help to remove toxic nitrogen oxides from industrial emissions. Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have now discovered that their complex nano porous structure is crucial. Specifically, individual iron atoms sitting in certain neighbouring ...

Enabling early detection of cancer: AI helps

Blood cells reveal tumours in the body: Researchers achieve an advance with the development of a test for early diagnosis of cancer

18-Dec-2023 - The ability to detect a developing tumour at a very early stage and to closely monitor the success or failure of cancer therapy is crucial for a patient’s survival. A breakthrough on both counts has now been achieved by researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI. Researchers led by G.V. ...

Using light to switch drugs on and off

Photopharmacology is a new field of medicine that is predicted to have a great future

22-Feb-2023 - Scientists at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have used the Swiss X-ray free-electron laser SwissFEL and the Swiss Light Source SLS to make a film that could give a decisive boost to developing a new type of drug. They made the advance in the field of so-called photopharmacology, a discipline ...

Making it easier to differentiate mirror-image molecules

Researchers have shown that mirror-image substances – so-called enantiomers – can be better distinguished using helical X-ray light

06-Jul-2022 - Using a new method, scientists are better able to distinguish between mirror-image substances. This is important amongst others in drug development, because the two variants can cause completely different effects in the human body. Researchers from Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, EPF Lausanne ...

Light amplification accelerates chemical reactions in aerosols

Temporal sequence of photochemical reaction in individual aerosol particles observed with high resolution

21-Apr-2022 - Aerosols in the atmosphere react to incident sunlight. This light is amplified in the interior of the aerosol droplets and particles, accelerating reactions. ETH researchers have now been able to demonstrate and quantify this effect and recommend factoring it into future climate models. Liquid ...

Novel X-ray lens facilitates glimpse into the nanoworld

Together with spin-off XRnanotech, PSI plans to market the new lens

16-Mar-2022 - PSI scientists have developed a ground-breaking achromatic lens for X-rays. This allows the X-ray beams to be accurately focused on a single point even if they have different wavelengths. The new lens will make it much easier to study nanostructures using X-rays, according to a paper just ...

New rapid test could detect coronavirus and flu simultaneously

It could also detect other diseases and different coronavirus variants

26-Jan-2022 - Researchers from the University of Basel and the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have developed a rapid test for Covid-19 with a novel functional principle. Although it requires further testing and improvements, the initial results are promising: As well as determining whether a Covid-19 infection is ...

Bringing information into the cell

30-Apr-2019 - Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have elucidated an important part of a siganalling pathway that transmits information through the cell membrane into the interior of a cell. This siganalling pathway is of great significance for all mammals, since it is involved in various important ...

Laboratory breakthrough may lead to improved X-ray spectrometers

09-Jun-2016 - Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute's Swiss Light Source in Villigen, Switzerland, have developed a new design for X-ray spectrometers that eschews a commonly utilized component to lowers overall production costs and increase the efficiency of x-ray flux, which may lead to faster ...