https://phys.org/ en-us Latest news from University of Bern A research team led by the University of Bern has decoded a mechanism by which an inconspicuous succulent regulates the uptake of carbon dioxide via the leaf surface so finely that it receives enough for photosynthesis without losing too much water—and can therefore conserve water efficiently. The findings might be translated to crops to induce higher drought resistance and ensure yields during heat and drought. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-succulents-role-photosynthesis-loss-efficiently.html Plants & Animals Thu, 26 Mar 2026 16:40:02 EDT news693749942 Although Mercury was geologically active in its early days, today its surface appears almost completely static. This is why it is often perceived as a dead and dry planet. A new study led by Dr. Valentin Bickel from the Center for Space and Habitability at the University of Bern and from the NCCR PlanetS together with researchers from the Astronomical Observatory of Padua (INAF) has now carried out the first systematic analysis of so-called slope streaks, or "lineae." The abundance and distribution of lineae provide new insights into the geological activity of the innermost and smallest planet in our solar system. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-streaks-mercury-dead-planet.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 27 Jan 2026 12:50:33 EST news688740601 Using images from cameras on Mars orbiters, an international research team has discovered structures on Mars that are very similar to classic river deltas on Earth. These are traces of rivers that have deposited their sediments into an ocean. This shows that Mars was a "blue planet" around 3 billion years ago. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-mars-blue-planet-ancient-river.html Astrobiology Mon, 12 Jan 2026 12:39:16 EST news687443911 An international research team led by scientists from Bern and Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin has identified a previously unknown function of the intestinal nervous system. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-11-gut-brain-plays-central-role.html Immunology Tue, 25 Nov 2025 14:29:04 EST news683303341 A new study shows for the first time that biological invasions don't change ecosystems in a single, uniform way. Some impacts, most notably losses of native plant diversity caused by invasive plant species, are persistent and intensify with time, while others, such as shifts in soil carbon and nutrients, often fade as invasions age. These results help clarify when environmental managers should act fast to prevent damage and where patient monitoring is wiser. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-global-reveals-tempo-invasive-species.html Plants & Animals Thu, 23 Oct 2025 14:33:05 EDT news680448782 A simple change in species composition can impact the course of evolution: A research team from the University of Bern and the University of British Columbia in Canada shows that the presence of just one other fish species is enough to drive the emergence of new species in sticklebacks. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-evolution-differences-coexistence-species.html Evolution Wed, 15 Oct 2025 08:52:05 EDT news679737122 Over the course of more than two decades, researchers at the University of Bern have developed the so-called "Bern model," a suite of computer programs that can numerically simulate the formation of planetary systems, thus shedding light on system architecture. These models are, however, very complex: each simulation from the Bern model can take a few days to a few weeks to be computed using modern supercomputers. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-ai-discovery-exoplanets-distant.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 09 Sep 2025 12:43:04 EDT news676640582 Earth is so far the only known planet on which life exists—with liquid water and a stable atmosphere. However, the conditions were not conducive to life when it formed. The gas-dust cloud from which all the planets in the solar system formed was rich in volatile elements essential for life, such as hydrogen, carbon and sulfur. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-collision-life-earth-space.html Astrobiology Thu, 28 Aug 2025 11:31:03 EDT news675599461 Supercell thunderstorms are among the most impactful weather events in Europe. They typically occur in summer and are characterized by a rotating updraft of warm, humid air that brings strong winds, large hail and heavy rain. The impact is significant and often leads to property damage, agricultural losses, traffic chaos and even threats to human safety. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-simulations-supercell-thunderstorms-alps-climate.html Earth Sciences Wed, 27 Aug 2025 15:31:04 EDT news675527462 A team from the University of Bern and the National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS has developed a machine-learning model that predicts potential planetary systems with Earth-like planets. The model could significantly accelerate and thus revolutionize the future search for habitable planets in the universe. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-earth-machine-habitable-planets.html Astronomy Wed, 09 Apr 2025 10:39:04 EDT news663413941 Meteoroid impacts create seismic waves that cause Mars to shake more strongly and deeply than previously thought. This is shown by an investigation using artificial intelligence carried out by an international research team led by the University of Bern. Similarities were found between numerous meteoroid impacts on the surface of Mars and marsquakes recorded by NASA's Mars lander InSight. These findings open up a new perspective on the impact rate and seismic dynamics of the red planet. https://phys.org/news/2025-02-machine-reveals-meteoroid-impacts-play.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 03 Feb 2025 11:21:06 EST news657804062 Researchers at the University of Bern and Bern University Hospital have developed a test to simplify the diagnosis of allergies. Its effectiveness has now been confirmed in clinical samples from children and adolescents suffering from a peanut allergy. The results could fundamentally improve the clinical diagnosis of allergies in the future. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-10-diagnosis-allergies.html Inflammatory disorders Tue, 15 Oct 2024 11:49:38 EDT news648211773 An international team of researchers led by the University of Bern has used observation-based computer modeling to find an explanation for how macromolecules can form in a short time in disks of gas and dust around young stars. These findings could be crucial for understanding how habitability develops around different types of exoplanets and stars. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-astronomers-rapid-formation-macromolecules-protoplanetary.html Astronomy Tue, 30 Jul 2024 06:36:05 EDT news641540158 A team including researchers from the Laboratory for High Energy Physics at the University of Bern has successfully measured the interaction rates of neutrinos at unprecedented energies using the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. The study was published in the journal Physical Review Letters. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-neutrino-interaction-unprecedented-energies.html General Physics Tue, 16 Jul 2024 10:29:03 EDT news640344541 For the first time, water frost has been detected on the colossal volcanoes on Mars, which are the largest mountains in the solar system. The international team led by the University of Bern used high-resolution color images from the Bernese Mars camera, CaSSIS, onboard the European Space Agency's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter spacecraft. Understanding where water can be found, and how it is transported, is relevant for future Mars missions and possible human exploration. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-frost-solar-tallest-volcanoes-mars.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 10 Jun 2024 11:00:01 EDT news636985512 Researchers at the University of Bern have for the first time been able to pin down a prehistoric settlement of early farmers in northern Greece dating back more than 7,000 years to the year. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-succeed-accurately-dating-year-prehistoric.html Archaeology Tue, 21 May 2024 13:33:48 EDT news635517222 Researchers using NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope may have detected an atmosphere surrounding 55 Cancri e, a rocky exoplanet 41 light-years from Earth. This is the best evidence to date for a rocky planet atmosphere outside our solar system. Brice-Olivier Demory, Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Bern and member of the the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS, was part of the international research team that just published the results in Nature. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-rocky-planet-earth-size-thick.html Astronomy Wed, 08 May 2024 13:59:33 EDT news634395564 The mystery of how Pluto got a giant heart-shaped feature on its surface has finally been solved by an international team of astrophysicists led by the University of Bern and members of the National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS. The team is the first to successfully reproduce the unusual shape with numerical simulations, attributing it to a giant and slow oblique-angle impact. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-astrophysicists-mystery-heart-feature-surface.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 15 Apr 2024 11:52:25 EDT news632400739 Unlike their relatives, individuals of the poison frog Allobates femoralis are not poisonous but are captivating due to their different behavioral profiles: They successfully reproduce with different strategies depending on whether they are bold, aggressive or explorative. In addition, certain character traits are already present in this species at the tadpole stage. This is shown in two recently published studies by the University of Bern. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-poison-dart-frogs-personality-reproductive.html Plants & Animals Thu, 09 Nov 2023 11:35:04 EST news618752102 Maize roots secrete certain chemicals that affect the quality of soil. In some fields, this effect increases yields of wheat planted subsequent to maize in the same soil by more than 4%. This was proven by researchers from the University of Bern. While the findings from several field experiments show that these effects are highly variable, in the long term they may yet help to make the cultivation of grains more sustainable, without the need for additional fertilizers or pesticides. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-chemicals-maize-roots-wheat-yield.html Ecology Fri, 11 Aug 2023 12:32:17 EDT news610975927 With methods of so-called geoengineering, the climate could theoretically be artificially influenced and cooled. Bernese researchers have now investigated whether it would be possible to prevent the melting of the West Antarctic ice sheet by artificially "dimming the sun." The results show that artificial influence does not work without decarbonization and entails high risks. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-artificially-dimming-sun-ice.html Earth Sciences Fri, 11 Aug 2023 11:03:51 EDT news610970624 With the help of the CHEOPS space telescope an international team of European astronomers managed to clearly identify the existence of four new exoplanets. The four mini-Neptunes are smaller and cooler, and more difficult to find than the so-called Hot Jupiter exoplanets which have been found in abundance. Two of the four resulting papers are led by researchers from the University of Bern and the University of Geneva who are also members of the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-elusive-planets-cheops.html Astronomy Thu, 08 Jun 2023 10:24:56 EDT news605438692 The highly contagious canine distemper virus is dangerous to dogs and wild life animals. It is also closely related to the equally highly contagious measles virus. Researchers at the University of Bern and the Zurich University of Applied Sciences have now for the first time determined the structure of the canine distemper virus "docking protein" and depicted it at molecular level. This lays the ground to develop novel therapies for a better management of the diseases induced by CDV and related viruses, such as the measles virus. https://phys.org/news/2023-03-opportunities-canine-distemper-virus.html Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 15 Mar 2023 16:23:04 EDT news598116181 After more than three years in orbit, the mission of the CHEOPS space telescope has just been extended. Led by the University of Bern in collaboration with the University of Geneva, CHEOPS is a joint mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) and Switzerland. https://phys.org/news/2023-03-cheops-mission.html Space Exploration Thu, 09 Mar 2023 14:13:00 EST news597593575 Geckos can use their tongue to differentiate their own odor from that of other members of their species, as researchers from the University of Bern have shown in a new experimental study. The findings show that geckos are able to communicate socially, meaning that they are more intelligent than was previously assumed. https://phys.org/news/2023-02-geckos-odor.html Plants & Animals Mon, 20 Feb 2023 10:04:51 EST news596109888 Ice cores are a unique climate archive. Thanks to a new method developed by researchers at the University of Bern and Empa, greenhouse gas concentrations in 1.5 million year old ice can be measured even more accurately. The EU project "Beyond EPICA" with the participation of the University of Bern aims to recover such old ice in Antarctica. https://phys.org/news/2023-02-method-accurate-analysis-ice.html Earth Sciences Thu, 16 Feb 2023 12:49:14 EST news595774148 In our solar system, everything seems to be in order: The smaller rocky planets, such as Venus, Earth or Mars, orbit relatively close to our star. The large gas and ice giants, such as Jupiter, Saturn or Neptune, on the other hand, move in wide orbits around the sun. https://phys.org/news/2023-02-classes-planetary.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 14 Feb 2023 08:54:00 EST news595587214 Difference in body size (or sexual dimorphism) between males and females is common across the animal kingdom. One of the most extreme examples of sexual dimorphism is found in the cichlid fish species Lamprologous callipterus from Lake Tanganyika in East Africa, where males are 12 times bigger (heavier) than females. https://phys.org/news/2023-02-giants-dwarfs-exploring-size-difference.html Evolution Thu, 09 Feb 2023 12:00:18 EST news595166415 Grasses have "respiratory pores" (called stomata) that open and close to regulate the uptake of carbon dioxide for photosynthesis on the one hand and water loss through transpiration on the other. Unlike many other plants, stomata in grasses form lateral "helper cells." Thanks to these cells, the stomata of grasses can open and close more quickly, which optimizes plant-atmosphere gas exchange and thus saves water. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-polarity-proteins-efficient-pores-grasses.html Plants & Animals Fri, 23 Dec 2022 12:26:54 EST news591020811 The impact experiment conducted on the asteroid Ryugu by the Japanese Hayabusa2 mission that took place two years ago resulted in an unexpectedly large crater. With the use of simulations, a team led by the University of Bern and the National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS has recently gained new insights from the experiment regarding the formation and development of asteroids. These insights are also important for the DART mission of NASA. https://phys.org/news/2022-11-simulations-impact-crater-small-asteroids.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 30 Nov 2022 09:13:04 EST news589021982