University of Zurich

Scientists have developed a new navigation algorithm that enables unmanned quadcopters to pull off some impressive acrobatics, a training pathway they hope can help boost drone efficiency in areas such as search and rescue operations.

Measuring more than 5 m (16 ft) long, Titanichthys was a giant armored fish that swam the oceans 380 million years ago. It may sound intimidating, but new research suggests that it fed in a manner much like that of today's harmless basking shark.

Obstacle avoidance is crucial for drones, but most systems aren’t fast enough for some situations. Now engineers at the University of Zurich have developed a new system that gives drones such fast reflexes that they can play – and win at – dodgeball.

Researchers in Europe and the UK have managed to connect biological and artificial neurons together. The biological neurons were grown in Italy, sent signals through an artificial synapse in the UK to communicate with artificial neurons in Zurich.

In what is being touted as a major breakthrough, scientists have developed a machine that can not only keep livers alive outside the body for a week, but can also rejuvenate damaged livers unfit for transplantation.

New research suggests some asteroids could actually be alien, captured during close flybys with other star systems. These close encounters could also explain objects like Oumuamua and might even provide an alternative to the “Planet Nine” hypothesis.

Although quadcopter drones show promise as a means of exploring hazardous environments, they do have one drawback – they're wide, limiting their ability to squeeze through tight spaces. An experimental new drone addresses that problem, by folding into different shapes while in flight.

Jupiter may be the largest planet in the solar system, but it experienced growing pains. That's the conclusion of a team of scientists, who say that Jupiter grew in three stages with a two-million-year gap during which it grew very slowly, affecting the development of the rest of the solar system.

​Many of the applications for drones will see them fly high up in open airspace, but safely moving through denser urban areas at street level would be a handy capability, too. Researchers have come up with a control system for drones that enables them to autonomously navigate these busier settings

An international team of scientists has identified a new species of orangutan, living in an isolated part of North Sumatra. Dubbed Pongo Tapanuliensis, comprehensive studies of its genomes and skull confirmed it as a distinct species. And unfortunately, it’s already critically endangered.

​​Back in 2003, the fossilized remains of a supposedly aquatic prehistoric lizard known as Eusaurosphargis dalsassoi were discovered in Italy. Now, however, thanks to a marvellously-complete skeleton found in the Alps of eastern Switzerland, that's no longer thought to be the case.​

​​Rassim Khelifa was standing by a pond collecting insect eggs one day when he noticed something strange. A dragonfly being pursued by another took a dive and crashed to the ground, seemingly dead on the spot, before springing back to life and making a grand escape once the coast was clear.