Two new rocky worlds around an ultra-cool star

The telescopes of the SPECULOOS Southern Observatory gaze out into the stunning night sky over the Atacama Desert, Chile.
Credit: ESO/ P. Horålek

An international research team, with the participation of the University of Bern and the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS, discovered two "super-Earth" exoplanets. One is located at just the right distance from its star to potentially hold liquid water on its surface.

Most of the planets that have been discovered around other stars – also known as exoplanets – are bad candidates for life as we know it. They are either scorching hot or freezing cold, and the majority consist of nothing but gas. Relatively small terrestrial planets, like our Earth, are difficult to detect. Only a handful are known that receive just the right amount of radiation from their star to allow liquid water on their surface. The reported discovery of a promising candidate for such a world, made by a team of researchers with the participation of the University of Bern and the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS, is therefore a significant one. The team published their results in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. (As of this posting not yet released)

A thousand days of CHEOPS

Artist's impression of CHEOPS
Credit: ESA / ATG medialab

After a thousand days in orbit, the CHEOPS space telescope shows almost no signs of wear. Under these conditions, it could continue to reveal details of some of the most fascinating exoplanets for quite some time. CHEOPS is a joint mission by the European Space Agency (ESA) and Switzerland, under the aegis of the University of Bern in collaboration with the University of Geneva.

Since its launch from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana, on December 18th, 2019, the CHEOPS telescope in Earth’s orbit has demonstrated its functionality and precision beyond expectations. During this time, it has revealed the characteristics of numerous fascinating planets beyond our Solar System (exoplanets) and has become a key instrument for astronomers in Europe and worldwide.

Better understanding of the development of intestinal diseases

Dr. Bahtiyar Yilmaz, First author
Department for BioMedical Research, University of Bern, and Department of Visceral Surgery and Medicine, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital
Credit:  zvg / Courtesy of Bahtiyar Yilmaz

Bacteria in the small intestine adapt dynamically to our nutritional state, with individual species disappearing and reappearing. Researchers at the University of Bern and University Hospital Bern have now been able to comprehensively study the bacteria of the small intestine and their unique adaptability for the first time. The findings contribute to a better understanding of intestinal diseases such as Crohn's disease or celiac disease and to the development of new therapeutic approaches.

Humans have just as many microbes in their microbiota as there are cells in the body, and most of these are in the large intestine (colon). They are an important part of our ‘digestion’ because they can harvest energy from many foods that evade our digestive enzymes. Unfortunately, whilst it is easy to collect fecal samples, it has been largely impossible to study the lower small intestine because this can only be reached during a surgical operation or after purging the intestinal contents to allow safe passage of an endoscope.

The small intestinal microbiome has remained almost “terra incognita” within the human gastrointestinal tract, despite the fact that the small intestine is essential for life and it absorbs 90% of all our calories. Researchers led by Andrew Macpherson and Bahtiyar Yilmaz from the Department for Biomedical Research at the University of Bern and the University Clinic for Visceral Surgery and Medicine at the Inselspital have now been able to examine the intestinal bacteria of the human small intestine in a simple and innovative way to show how they support the digestive process by reacting dynamically to the human nutritional status. While the gut bacteria (microbiota) of the large intestine remain relatively stable throughout life, those in the small intestine have been shown to be very unstable: they largely disappear when we fast overnight and reappear when we eat in the morning. These findings are important for a better understanding of the development of intestinal diseases such as celiac disease or Crohn's disease. The study is published in the journal Cell Host and Microbe.

Treating the inflamed intestinal wall locally

For their self-forming gel, the researchers chose a lipid that is well tolerated and safe for use in humans. It is a fluid material at room temperature and can be administered as an enema into the inflamed area of the colon. There, at body temperature, it forms a viscous and sticky gel and remains adherent for at least six hours, gradually releasing the active ingredient.
Illustration Credit: © University of Bern, Marianna Carone

Treatment of the chronic inflammatory bowel disease ulcerative colitis often produces unsatisfactory results. Researchers at the University of Bern have now developed a lipid gel that is administered directly to the inflamed part of the intestine, where it remains and releases its active substance evenly. This could result in a new, targeted therapy approach with fewer side effects.

For diseases that affect a specific organ or tissue, a drug is usually most effective and well-tolerated if it is administered exactly where it is supposed to work in the body. If it is swallowed or injected, it distributes throughout the body, thus increasing the risk of side effects.

Researchers from the Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Institute of Tissue Medicine and Pathology at the University of Bern, together with colleagues from the University Hospital Zurich, have developed a self-forming, viscous lipid gel to deliver anti-inflammatory drugs directly to the wall of the colon or rectum. Thanks to this innovation, patients with ulcerative colitis, a chronic inflammation of the terminal part of the intestine, could be helped in a more targeted way and with fewer side effects.

Long-term liquid water also on non-Earth-like planets?

Low-mass planets with a primordial atmosphere of hydrogen and helium might have the temperatures and pressures that allow water in the liquid phase. The presence of liquid water is favorable for life, so that these planets potentially harbor exotic habitats for billions of years.
Credit: (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) - Thibaut Roger - Universität Bern - Universität Zürich

Liquid water is an important prerequisite for life to develop on a planet. As researchers from the University of Bern, the University of Zurich and the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS report in a new study, liquid water could also exist for billions of years on planets that are very different from Earth. This calls our currently Earth-centered idea of potentially habitable planets into question.

Life on Earth began in the oceans. In the search for life on other planets, the potential for liquid water is therefore a key ingredient. To find it, scientists have traditionally looked for planets similar to our own. Yet, long-term liquid water does not necessarily have to occur under similar circumstances as on Earth. Researchers of the University of Bern and the University of Zurich, who are members of the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS, report in a study published in the journal Nature Astronomy, that favorable conditions might even occur for billions of years on planets that barely resemble our home planet at all.

Shedding light on comet Chury’s unexpected chemical complexity

Data from comet “Chury”, collected while the comet passed the point of its orbit closest to the Sun, shows a plethora of surprising molecules sublimating from expelled dust particles. On average, this complex organic material resembles that present in meteorites and Saturn’s ring rain, indicating a shared presolar origin.
Credit: University of Bern

A team of researchers led by the University of Bern has for the first time identified an unexpected richness of complex organic molecules at a comet. This was achieved thanks to the analysis of data collected during ESA’s Rosetta mission at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, also known as Chury. Delivered to the early Earth by impacting comets, these organics may have helped to kick-start carbon-based life as we know it.

Comets are fossils from ancient times and from the depths of our Solar System, and they are relics from the formation of the sun, planets, and moons. A team led by chemist Dr. Nora Hänni of the Physics Institute of the University of Bern, Department of Space Research and Planetary Sciences, has now succeeded for the first time in identifying a whole series of complex organic molecules at a comet as they report in a study published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications.

Dr. Nora Hänni, Physics Institute, Space Research and Planetary Sciences (WP), University of Bern
Credit: Courtesy of Nora Hänni

First detection of neutrinos made at a particle collider

The FASER (Forward Search Experiment) detector in the tunnel of CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Geneva.
Photo Credit: © 2021-2023 CERN

Neutrinos are fundamental particles that played an important role in the early phase of the universe. They are key to learning more about the fundamental laws of nature, including how particles acquire mass and why there is more matter than antimatter. Despite being among the most abundant particles in the universe they are very difficult to detect because they pass through matter with almost no interaction. They are therefore often called “ghost particles”.

Neutrinos have been known for several decades and were very important for establishing the standard model of particle physics. But most neutrinos studied by physicists so far have been low-energy neutrinos. Previously, no neutrino produced at a particle collider had ever been detected by an experiment. Now, an international team including researchers from the Laboratory for High Energy Physics (LHEP) of the University of Bern has succeeded in doing just that. Using the FASER particle detector at CERN in Geneva, the team was able to detect very high energy neutrinos produced by brand a new source: CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The international FASER collaboration announced this result on March 19 at the MORIOND EW conference in La Thuile, Italy.

Discovering New Cancer Treatments in the “Dark Matter” of the Human Genome

Microscopy pictures of three-dimensional lung cancer spheroids transfected with green fluorescent-labelled ASOs.
Credit: UniBE / NCCR RNA & Disease

Scientific Frontline: Extended "At a Glance" Summary: Targeting Genomic "Dark Matter" for Cancer Therapy

The Core Concept: Researchers have identified long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs)—abundant transcripts found in the non-protein-coding "dark matter" of the human genome—as viable therapeutic targets to slow the growth of non-small cell lung cancer.

Key Distinction/Mechanism: Unlike messenger RNAs (mRNAs) that carry instructions for building proteins, lncRNAs do not code for proteins. By deploying chemically synthesized RNAs called antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs), scientists can selectively bind and degrade specific cancer-promoting lncRNAs, halting cancer cell division while sparing healthy lung cells.

Major Frameworks/Components:

• Genomic "Dark Matter": The non-protein-coding regions of human DNA, which house over 100,000 lncRNAs with largely unknown biological functions, compared to only 20,000 "classical" protein-coding genes.
• Cancer Hallmarks Targeting: The genetic screening system evaluated over 800 lncRNAs based on their impact on core disease progression factors, including proliferation, metastasis formation, and therapy resistance.
• Antisense Oligonucleotides (ASOs): Short, synthetic RNA molecules utilized to intercept and destroy targeted lncRNAs after they are produced, effectively neutralizing their function.
• Three-Dimensional Organoid Models: Advanced 3D cell cultures that more accurately mimic actual tumors than standard cell cultures, demonstrating that targeting a single lncRNA with an ASO can reduce tumor growth by more than 50 percent.

How global warming affects astronomical observations

The VLT's Laser Guide Star: A laser beam launched from VLT´s 8.2-metre Yepun telescope crosses the majestic southern sky and creates an artificial star at 90 km altitude in the high Earth´s mesosphere. The Laser Guide Star (LGS) is part of the VLT´s Adaptive Optics system and it is used as reference to correct images from the blurring effect of the atmosphere.
Credit: ESO / G. Hüdepohl atacamaphoto.com

Astronomical observations from ground-based telescopes are sensitive to local atmospheric conditions. Anthropogenic climate change will negatively affect some of these conditions at observation sites around the globe, as a team of researchers led by the University of Bern and the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS reports.

The quality of ground-based astronomical observations delicately depends on the clarity of the atmosphere above the location from which they are made. Sites for telescopes are therefore very carefully selected. They are often high above sea level, so that less atmosphere stands between them and their targets. Many telescopes are also built in deserts, as clouds and even water vapor hinder a clear view of the night sky.

A team of researchers led by the University of Bern and the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS shows in a study, published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics and presented at the Europlanet Science Congress 2022 in Granada, how one of the major challenges of our time – anthropogenic climate change – now even affects our view of the cosmos.

“Atlas” of mouse microbiome strengthens reproducibility of animal testing

Prof. Dr. Bahtiyar Yilmaz, Research group leader at the Department for Biomedical Research (DBMR) of the University of Bern and Department of Visceral Surgery and Medicine, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital.
Photo Credit: © Courtesy of Bahtiyar Yilmaz

Scientific Frontline: Extended "At a Glance" Summary: Global Mouse Microbiome Atlas

The Core Concept: The global mouse microbiome atlas is an extensive dataset comprising approximately 4,000 intestinal samples collected from laboratory and wild mice across international facilities. It maps microbial community structures and metabolic functions to establish reference standards that strengthen the reproducibility of animal testing in biomedical research.

Key Distinction/Mechanism: Unlike traditional analytical approaches that focus exclusively on taxonomic species identification, this framework emphasizes metabolic functionality, demonstrating that diverse microbial communities across different environments can preserve consistent metabolic outputs.

Major Frameworks/Components:

• Strain-resolved metagenomics providing high-resolution profiling of microbial genetic diversity.
• Metabolomics and advanced structural modeling enabling the reconstruction of 98 complete bacterial genomes.
• Standardized sample collection protocols implemented across 51 mouse facilities and 12 wild-mouse colonies globally.
• Interactive online resources designed to help researchers evaluate potential metabolic biases in experimental models.

Geckos know their own odor

Objects of the study of the researchers of the University of Bern were Tokay geckos (Gekko gecko).
Photo Credit: © Francesca Angiolani

Scientific Frontline: Extended "At a Glance" Summary: Gecko Self-Odor Recognition and Social Communication

The Core Concept: Geckos can use their tongues to differentiate their own body and fecal odors from those of other members of their species, demonstrating social communication and advanced cognitive abilities previously unassociated with reptiles.

Key Distinction/Mechanism: Unlike many mammals and birds that rely primarily on visual self-recognition or vocalization, geckos utilize chemosensory perception, darting their tongues to detect skin chemicals and pheromones and comparing them with environmental markers in their territory.

Major Frameworks/Components:

• Chemosensory self-recognition via tongue-flicking behavior.
• Discrimination of skin chemicals and pheromones from same-sex conspecifics.
• Utilization of feces and deposited pheromones for territorial marking and individual identification.
• Comparative behavioral responses showing increased tongue-flicking when encountering foreign odors compared to self-odors.

Poison dart frogs: Personality determines reproductive strategies

The Allobates femoralis species of poison dart frogs follows different strategies during reproduction according to their behavioral type.
Photo Credit: Eva Ringler

Poison frogs of the species Allobates femoralis are common in the rainforests in South America. Their highly poisonous relatives, such as frogs of the genus Phyllobates, were frequently used by indigenous people of Colombia to extract toxins by rubbing the skin onto arrowheads for the purposes of hunting and fighting. Allobates femoralis frogs are not poisonous. Like many other animal species, however, they have distinct personality traits. Both the males and females, for example, may be particularly bold, aggressive, or eager to explore. Poison frogs mate with several partners over the course of a reproductive period and their character traits have a considerable influence on the reproductive strategies employed by individual animals. 

Most of the previous studies in other animal taxa have examined the effect of personality traits on a single measure of reproductive success. In two recently published studies, researchers in the Institute of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Bern have presented new results on the effects of different combinations of personality traits in both males and females on different components of reproductive success. They examined the influence of personality on mating success, the number of clutches produced, as well as the numbers of offspring that survive into adulthood. The researchers were able to show that certain personality traits are already present in poison dart frogs at tadpole stage and that they also persist after the subsequent metamorphosis. 

Precision oncology helps prostate cancer patients

Brain metastasis of prostate cancer with selected intratumoral areas (pink and white circles) for undergoing molecular analyses.
Credit: Antonio Rodriguez, Dept. of Pathology and DBMR

Researchers at the University of Bern and University Hospital Bern have achieved a breakthrough in a particularly aggressive form of prostate cancer. In tissue samples from advanced brain metastases, they were able to establish the genetic profile of the cancer cells. These findings show for the first time that affected patients could benefit from target treatment, from which they have so far not been eligible.

Around 6,600 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer in Switzerland every year. It is the second most common cause of cancer-related death in men after lung cancer. Dangerous are advanced stages in which cancer cells have spread to other organs and form so-called metastases. However, unlike other cancers such as breast or lung cancer, the extremely dangerous metastases in the brain are very rare in prostate cancer. Only 1.5 percent of advanced cases have been diagnosed as brain metastatic prostate cancer (PCBM), according to a 2020 review study. As a result, PCBM cases have been poorly studied.

New technology revolutionizes the analysis of old ice

The oldest ice in the world is being drilled for here as part of the European “Beyond EPICA – Oldest Ice” project: the camp at Little Dome C in Antarctica.
Photo Credit: © PNRA/IPEV

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.

The search for the oldest ice on earth has taken an important step forward. The Beyond EPICA – Oldest Ice project, a European consortium that includes the University of Bern, completed its second field season at the end of January. The drilling reached a depth of 808 meters. The project objective is to look back 1.5 million years into the past and obtain data on the development of temperature, the composition of the atmosphere and the carbon cycle. A depth of around 2700 meters must be reached in the Antarctic ice sheet and an ice core recovered. If everything goes as planned, this should be the case in 2025. Only then will the complex analysis of the oldest ice in this core follow, which new methods are currently being developed for.

Asteroid Impact Shaped Mars's Moon Deimos

Mars and Deimos viewed by Hera's Hyperscout H. The red planet appears light blue in this near-infrared Hyperscout H image from ESA’s Hera spacecraft.
Image Credit: © ESA

Scientific Frontline: Extended "At a Glance" Summary: The Surface Evolution of Deimos

The Core Concept: A recent study demonstrates that a single, sub-catastrophic asteroid impact formed the distinctive south pole depression and smooth, dusty regolith layer on Mars's moon Deimos.

Key Distinction/Mechanism: Unlike its heavily cratered sister moon, Phobos, Deimos features a smooth surface created when a 320-meter asteroid struck at a 45-degree angle. The highly porous, rubble-pile internal structure of Deimos dampened the impact, allowing material to be globally redistributed without shattering the moon.

Major Frameworks/Components:

• Bern Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) Code: A specialized computational framework utilized to simulate celestial collisions by modeling the complex interaction of gravity, density, and material strength.
• Rubble-Pile Asteroid Model: The structural hypothesis that Deimos possesses an exceptionally weak and porous internal composition, preventing catastrophic fragmentation during high-velocity impacts.
• Regolith Redistribution: The physical mechanism by which ejected collision material settles across the celestial body, creating a smooth debris layer up to 200 meters deep over existing surface features.

Decomposition under the microscope

Lara Indra photographically documenting an animal cadaver. Attached to the tree trunk and behind the researcher are camera traps; an insect trap is positioned to the left.
Photo Credit: Sandra Lösch / Dept. of Anthropology, IRM, University of Bern

Scientific Frontline: Extended "At a Glance" Summary: Regional Porcine Decomposition and Total Body Score Models

The Core Concept: A forensic methodology used to estimate the post-mortem interval by scoring the decomposition stages of specific body regions, requiring region-specific adjustments to account for local climatic and ecological factors.

Key Distinction/Mechanism: Unlike universal or dry-climate models, regional temperate models incorporate localized variables such as frequent rainfall, rapid maggot colonization, and scavenger activity that alter standard decomposition rates.

Major Frameworks/Components:

• Total Body Score (TBS) point-value system dividing the body into the head and neck, trunk, and extremities.
• Porcine animal models serving as controlled proxies for human decomposition.
• Environmental and ecological variables, including ambient temperature, rainfall, insect colonization, and scavenger incursions.

Caring glass frog fathers have smaller testes

Males of the glassfrog species Hyalinobatrachium valerioi are very dedicated fathers.
Photo Credit: © Francesca Angiolani

An international team of researchers including the University of Bern shows in a new study that male glass frogs that care for their offspring have smaller testes than males of species that do not provide any brood care. This indicates an evolutionary trade-off between sperm production and parenting.

Living in the tropical rainforests of Central and South America, frogs of the glass frog family are fascinating because of their transparent skin on their belly, which reveals their internal organs. However, it is not only the appearance of these amphibians that is remarkable, but also their social behavior. In many - but not all - glass frog species, the males remain with the clutch after mating and guard and care for their offspring. In a new study, an international team, including researchers from the Institute of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Bern, shows that there is a link between this paternal care and the testes size of glass frogs. The results were recently published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

AI unveils: Meteoroid impacts cause Mars to shake

High-resolution CaSSIS image of one of the newly discovered impact craters in Cerberus Fossae. The so-called "blast zone", i.e. the dark rays around the crater, is clearly visible.
Image Credit: © ESA/TGO/CaSSIS
(CC-BY-SA 3.0 IGO)

Meteoroid impacts create seismic waves that cause Mars to shake stronger and deeper 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.

Meteoroid impacts have a significant influence on the landscape evolution of solid planetary bodies in our solar system, including Mars. By studying craters – the visible remnants of these impacts – important properties of the planet and its surface can be determined. Satellite images help to constrain the formation time of impact craters and thus provide valuable information on impact rates.

A recently published study led by Dr. Valentin Bickel from the Center for Space and Habitability at the University of Bern presents the first comprehensive catalog of impacts on the Martian surface that took place near NASA's Mars lander during the InSight mission between December 2018 and December 2022. Bickel is also an InSight science team member. The study has just been published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

CHEOPS detects a new planetary "disorder"

Artist impression of the planetary system around the star LHS 1903
Image Credit: © ESA

Scientific Frontline: "At a Glance" Summary

• Main Discovery: Identification of LHS 1903 e, a rocky planet located beyond gas giants in the LHS 1903 system, contradicting the standard inner-rocky/outer-gas planetary hierarchy.
• Methodology: Utilized high-precision photometry from the ESA CHEOPS satellite to detect the planet, followed by planetary formation simulations to confirm an "inside-out" formation sequence and exclude migration or collision hypotheses.
• Key Data: Located 116 light-years from Earth around an M-type red dwarf; the fourth planet shares a similar mass with the inner third planet (a gas giant) yet possesses a rocky composition.
• Significance: Provides observational evidence for the inside-out planet formation theory, indicating that planets can form sequentially after the dissipation of protoplanetary disk gas rather than simultaneously.
• Future Application: Refinement of planetary accretion simulations to incorporate asynchronous formation timelines and better characterization of atypical planetary system architectures.
• Branch of Science: Astrophysics and Exoplanetology
• Additional Detail: Analysis indicates LHS 1903 e formed significantly later than its gas giant siblings, occurring only after the protoplanetary disk had been depleted of gas.

Elusive planets play “hide and seek” with CHEOPS

Artist's impression of CHEOPS.
Illustration Credit: ESA / ATG medialab

Scientific Frontline: Extended "At a Glance" Summary: Exoplanetary Detection and Mini-Neptunes via CHEOPS and TESS

The Core Concept: Astronomers have confirmed the existence of four new mini-Neptune exoplanets—including TOI 5678 b and HIP 9618 c—by combining targeted follow-up observations from the CHEOPS space telescope with survey data from NASA's TESS satellite. 

Key Distinction/Mechanism: Unlike massive, ultra-hot "Hot Jupiters" that are easily detected due to close orbits and high temperatures, mini-Neptunes are smaller, cooler, and possess longer orbital periods, requiring a strategic "hide-and-seek" observational methodology to eliminate incorrect orbital period hypotheses. 

Major Frameworks/Components:

• Synergy of space-based satellites: Utilizing NASA's TESS for rapid sky scanning and initial single-transit detection, combined with ESA's CHEOPS for precise targeted follow-up observations.
• Targeted orbital period verification software: Algorithmic prioritization and testing of candidate transit windows to resolve unknown orbital periods.
• Radial velocity measurements: Ground-based follow-up techniques used to determine planetary masses once orbital periods are constrained.