Latest news with #UniversityofLausanne
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
How Switzerland's Birch glacier collapsed
A cascade of events in the Swiss Alps led to the dramatic collapse of the Birch glacier, wiping out Blatten village in the valley below, glaciologists and geoscientists told AFP on Friday. Experts knew days ahead of Wednesday's landslide that the glacier was likely to suffer a catastrophic failure. But the reasons why date back much further. There are strong theories on the causes, and to what degree the disaster is linked to climate change -- but these are yet to be confirmed by scientific analysis. "This can be considered as a cascading event, because we have different processes involved," explained Christophe Lambiel, senior lecturer at the University of Lausanne's Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics. - Mountain above the glacier - The 3,342-metre (10,965-foot) high Kleines Nesthorn mountain above the glacier was already somewhat unstable, and rockfalls accelerated dramatically around 10 days beforehand. Experts feared a total collapse within hours, but instead there were successive rockfalls over several days, which was actually the best-case scenario. - Rockfall onto glacier - Three million cubic metres of rock were deposited on the glacier. "If you put a lot of weight on an unstable foundation, it can just slip away. And this is what actually happened," Matthias Huss, the director of Glacier Monitoring Switzerland (GLAMOS), told AFP. "The glacier accelerated strongly in response to this additional loading, and then the disaster struck." - The Birch glacier - The Birch glacier was a special case: the only Swiss glacier that was advancing rather than shrinking. However, this was not because of extra snowfall. Its advance "was quite likely due to the pre-loading with rockfalls from this mountain, which has finally collapsed. So the landslide didn't start from nothing," said Huss. The glacier was on a steep slope, and even steeper at the front, worsening the dynamics. Smaller-scale falls from the front of the glacier Tuesday were expected to continue, with Wednesday's sudden total collapse considered a less-probable scenario. - How the glacier collapsed - The rockfalls altered the stress equation between the weight of the glacier and the slope, which governs its forward speed, Lambiel told AFP. Like pushing a car, it takes a lot of force to initiate movement, but less once it is on the move, he explained. Huss said the 1,000 metres of elevation between the glacier and the Lotschental valley floor added a "huge amount of potential energy", which through friction melts part of the ice, making the fall "much more dynamic than if it was just rock". - Role of melting permafrost - Permafrost conditions are degrading throughout the Alps. Ice inside the cracks in the rocks has been thawing to ever-deeper levels over the last decade, especially after the summer 2022 heatwave. "Ice is considered as the cement of the mountains. Decreasing the quality of the cement decreases the stability of the mountain," said Lambiel. Huss added: "At the moment, we can't say it's because of permafrost thaw that this mountain collapsed -- but it is at least a very probable explanation, or one factor, that has triggered or accelerated this process of the mountain falling apart." - Role of climate change - Jakob Steiner, a geoscientist at the University of Graz in Austria, told AFP: "There is no clear evidence as of yet, for this specific case, that this was caused by climate change." Huss said making such a direct link was "complicated". "If it was just because of climate change that this mountain collapsed, all mountains in the Alps could collapse -- and they don't," he said. "It's a combination of the long-term changes in the geology of the mountain. "The failing of the glacier as such -- this is not related to climate change. It's more the permafrost processes, which are very complex, long-term changes." Lambiel said of a link between climate change and the glacier moving forward over time: "Honestly, we don't know. "But the increasing rockfalls on the glacier during the last 10 years -- this can be linked with climate change." - Other glaciers - Modern monitoring techniques detect acceleration in the ice with high precision -- and therefore allow for early warning. Lambiel said around 80 glaciers in the same region of Switzerland were considered dangerous, and under monitoring. "The big challenge is to recognise where to direct the detailed monitoring," said Huss. Lambiel said sites with glacier-permafrost interactions above 3,000 metres would now need more research. But they are difficult to reach and monitor. Steiner said: "Probably the rapidly changing permafrost can play some kind of role. "This is concerning because this means that mountains are becoming a lot more unstable." rjm-burs/phz/jhb
France 24
3 days ago
- Science
- France 24
How Switzerland's Birch glacier collapsed
Experts knew days ahead of Wednesday's landslide that the glacier was likely to suffer a catastrophic failure. But the reasons why date back much further. There are strong theories on the causes, and to what degree the disaster is linked to climate change -- but these are yet to be confirmed by scientific analysis. "This can be considered as a cascading event, because we have different processes involved," explained Christophe Lambiel, senior lecturer at the University of Lausanne's Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics. Mountain above the glacier The 3,342-metre (10,965-foot) high Kleines Nesthorn mountain above the glacier was already somewhat unstable, and rockfalls accelerated dramatically around 10 days beforehand. Experts feared a total collapse within hours, but instead there were successive rockfalls over several days, which was actually the best-case scenario. Rockfall onto glacier Three million cubic metres of rock were deposited on the glacier. "If you put a lot of weight on an unstable foundation, it can just slip away. And this is what actually happened," Matthias Huss, the director of Glacier Monitoring Switzerland (GLAMOS), told AFP. "The glacier accelerated strongly in response to this additional loading, and then the disaster struck." The Birch glacier The Birch glacier was a special case: the only Swiss glacier that was advancing rather than shrinking. However, this was not because of extra snowfall. Its advance "was quite likely due to the pre-loading with rockfalls from this mountain, which has finally collapsed. So the landslide didn't start from nothing," said Huss. The glacier was on a steep slope, and even steeper at the front, worsening the dynamics. Smaller-scale falls from the front of the glacier Tuesday were expected to continue, with Wednesday's sudden total collapse considered a less-probable scenario. How the glacier collapsed The rockfalls altered the stress equation between the weight of the glacier and the slope, which governs its forward speed, Lambiel told AFP. Like pushing a car, it takes a lot of force to initiate movement, but less once it is on the move, he explained. Huss said the 1,000 metres of elevation between the glacier and the Lotschental valley floor added a "huge amount of potential energy", which through friction melts part of the ice, making the fall "much more dynamic than if it was just rock". Role of melting permafrost Permafrost conditions are degrading throughout the Alps. Ice inside the cracks in the rocks has been thawing to ever-deeper levels over the last decade, especially after the summer 2022 heatwave. "Ice is considered as the cement of the mountains. Decreasing the quality of the cement decreases the stability of the mountain," said Lambiel. Huss added: "At the moment, we can't say it's because of permafrost thaw that this mountain collapsed -- but it is at least a very probable explanation, or one factor, that has triggered or accelerated this process of the mountain falling apart." Role of climate change Jakob Steiner, a geoscientist at the University of Graz in Austria, told AFP: "There is no clear evidence as of yet, for this specific case, that this was caused by climate change." Huss said making such a direct link was "complicated". "If it was just because of climate change that this mountain collapsed, all mountains in the Alps could collapse -- and they don't," he said. "It's a combination of the long-term changes in the geology of the mountain. "The failing of the glacier as such -- this is not related to climate change. It's more the permafrost processes, which are very complex, long-term changes." Lambiel said of a link between climate change and the glacier moving forward over time: "Honestly, we don't know. "But the increasing rockfalls on the glacier during the last 10 years -- this can be linked with climate change." Other glaciers Modern monitoring techniques detect acceleration in the ice with high precision -- and therefore allow for early warning. Lambiel said around 80 glaciers in the same region of Switzerland were considered dangerous, and under monitoring. "The big challenge is to recognise where to direct the detailed monitoring," said Huss. Lambiel said sites with glacier-permafrost interactions above 3,000 metres would now need more research. But they are difficult to reach and monitor. Steiner said: "Probably the rapidly changing permafrost can play some kind of role. "This is concerning because this means that mountains are becoming a lot more unstable." rjm-burs/phz/jhb © 2025 AFP
France 24
3 days ago
- Climate
- France 24
Flood fears recede after Swiss glacier collapse
The huge barricade of debris formed when the Birch glacier collapsed on Wednesday has blocked the river Lonza in Switzerland's southern Wallis region, fuelling concern the dam of rubble could give way and flood the valley. But as reconnaissance flights and inspections progressed, authorities said the water from the newly formed lake, which has been slowly submerging the remaining houses in the obliterated village of Blatten, was beginning to find its way over, through and around the blockage. "This development is positive, but we remain cautious," said Stephane Ganzer, head of the regional security department. "The risk remains, even if it is diminishing," he told a press conference, stressing that "no evacuations are planned" in the villages downstream in the Lotschental valley, one of the most beautiful in southern Switzerland. The outflow "makes us optimistic and suggests that the water is finding a good path", explained Christian Studer of the Wallis canton's Natural Hazards Service. However, work to pump water from the lake has still not begun as the ground remains too unstable, particularly on the mountainside. The Lotschental valley stretches for just under 30 kilometres (20 miles) and is home to around 1,500 inhabitants. It is renowned for the beauty of its landscapes dominated by snow-capped peaks, its small traditional villages, and its spectacular hiking trails. But its face has been forever changed by the glacier collapse. One person still missing Authorities remain on alert, and communities downstream from the landslide, including in the Rhone Valley, which the Lonza flows into, are nonetheless preparing for a possible evacuation. An artificial dam in the village of Ferden, downstream in the Lotschental valley, has been emptied and should be able to contain any downward rush of water, authorities say. One 64-year-old man, believed to have been in the danger zone at the time, remains missing. The collapsed glacier destroyed most of Blatten, which had been home to 300 people and was evacuated last week due to the impending danger. "That shows the importance of early warnings and early action," Clare Nullis, spokeswoman for the World Meteorological Organization, told a press briefing in Geneva. "The landscape will never be the same again. The village will never be the same again. But it is an example of how we can use forecasts and warnings to save people's lives," she said. Nullis said the Swiss had provided a "textbook example" of what should be done, but stressed that not all countries had such highly developed early warning systems in place. The landslide was so heavy it was even picked up by Switzerland's seismographs. "This is probably the most catastrophic event for the last 150 years in Switzerland and probably in the whole Alps," in terms of a rock and ice avalanche, Christophe Lambiel, senior lecturer at the University of Lausanne's Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, told AFP. 'Erased within seconds' The glacier was below the 3,342-metre (10,965-foot) high Kleines Nesthorn peak. In the fortnight before its collapse, a series of falls from the mountain dumped three million cubic metres of rock onto the ice surface. That increased the weight, and with the glacier on a steep slope, it ultimately gave way in dramatic fashion, plunging down on Blatten, at 1,540 metres' altitude in the valley floor. Experts said it was too early to make a direct link to climate change, but told AFP that thawing permafrost in the cracks in the rock likely played a role in destabilising the mountain. Matthias Huss, the director of Glacier Monitoring Switzerland (GLAMOS), said the drastic collapse might bring global attention to the Alpine glaciers, and ultimately the impact of climate change on them. "Often a big disaster has to strike before people realise that something is going on," he told AFP. "It's very tangible: the destruction of a whole village is easily understandable to everybody. People have lived there for hundreds of years -- and everything has been erased within seconds." © 2025 AFP
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Experimental Therapy Suppresses Immune Reaction to Gluten in Mice
In a promising new study, scientists have adapted an experimental cancer treatment to control celiac disease. The method successfully quietened the gut's autoimmune reaction in tests using mice, suggesting the treatment could one day become a first-of-its-kind therapy for humans with the condition. For the millions of people with celiac disease, even a small brush with gluten can trigger intestinal nastiness. Immune cells mistake the protein for a threat and launch an attack, leading to diarrhea, pain, and other unpleasant symptoms. A team led by scientists at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland demonstrated a new immunotherapy that seems to quell this overreaction – in mice at least. The researchers engineered regulatory T cells (T regs); a type of immune tissue that calms down the symptom-causing effector T cells. When untreated mice were fed gluten, the effector T cells gathered in the intestines and proliferated, ready for battle. But in mice that had been infused with the engineered T regs, the effector T cells didn't respond to the gluten, and didn't migrate to the gut. The technique is similar to an emerging treatment for cancer called Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cell therapy, where immune cells removed from the patient are engineered to better target specific cancer cells before being returned into the body to bolster the defence response. Early results have shown promise against some forms of cancer, although it's not without its own risks. Ironically, using immunotherapy against celiac disease works almost the opposite way to cancer – suppressing immune responses rather than boosting them. In the new study, the team engineered mice to have a particular genetic variation known as HLA-DQ2.5, which the majority of human celiac patients carry. They then developed effector T cells that reacted to gluten, as well as T regs that responded to those effector cells. Both types were then infused into the mice. Interestingly, the mice that received the treatment not only seemed to be protected against the gluten antigen that their effector T cells were primed to attack, but the reaction was also suppressed for immune cells targeting a similar but distinct gluten antigen. Hopes of a functional 'cure' should of course be tamped down for now – there's still a long road before human trials could begin. "Although it looks promising, the study has several limitations," says Cristina Gomez-Casado, an immunologist at the University of Düsseldorf in Germany who was not involved in this research. "1) it only studies the action of T regs against the wheat protein gliadin, so in the future it should be studied if they work against barley and rye proteins; "2) it is not determined when T regs should be used as therapy (before developing the disease or once it has been diagnosed?); "3) the mice used are not celiac, so gluten does not damage their gut, and are only offered once, so the long-term effect of gluten cannot be studied; "4) it is known from other studies that the number of T regs is limited in celiac patients and, in some, they have been found to be non-functional." Future work will need to address these issues, but still, the study lays some intriguing groundwork that could lead to new treatments for celiac disease. Patients could eventually be freed from carefully studying labels and menus, and being punished for days for slight slip-ups. The research was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine. Humans Are Evolving Right in Front of Our Eyes on The Tibetan Plateau Nanoplastics Stick to Toxic Bacteria, Forming a Deadly Combination Expert Explains FDA's New COVID Vaccine Rules in The US
Arab Times
15-05-2025
- Health
- Arab Times
By 2050, 30% Of Kuwait's Population Expected To Suffer From Diabetes
KUWAIT CITY, May 15: The Swiss Embassy in Kuwait, in cooperation with the Kuwaiti-Swiss Business Platform, organized a scientific conference entitled 'Diabetes Research: An International Partnership' at the residence of Swiss Ambassador Tiziano Balmelli. A group of experts and researchers from Switzerland and Kuwait attended the conference to discuss developments in diabetes research and strengthen scientific cooperation to curb its spread. During the conference, Dr. Abdullah Al-Kandari revealed that the percentage of people with diabetes in Kuwait has reached 20 percent and is expected to reach 30 percent by 2050 -- up from only seven percent in the 1990s. He warned about the accelerating spread of the disease, especially among those over the age of 60, as about two-thirds of this age group is affected. He attributed the increase to unhealthy lifestyle, including inactivity, poor diet and smoking. He stressed the need to adopt effective prevention methods like regular exercise and a healthy diet. He also recommended that everyone aged 40 or 45 should undergo an annual test for glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) or fasting blood sugar. Regarding treatment methods, Al-Kandari stated that traditional medicine has been proven effective, but he was quick to underscore the need to follow doctors' recommendations and prescribed medications, rather than relying on alternative medicine as the primary option. Medical Director of Dasman Diabetes Institute Dr. Ebaa Ozeri gave a presentation on the institute's ongoing research projects, affirming the fruitful collaboration with the Kuwaiti Danish Dairy Company (KDD). Executive Manager of Research and Innovation at KDD Wolfram Alderson shed light on the efforts of the company to develop nutritional products that support diabetes control in collaboration with the institute. Professor Pedro Marques-Vidal announced a collaborative project between the University of Lausanne in Switzerland and the institute to study genetic factors and their impact on the effectiveness of treatments. He is hoping that this collaboration will expand to include other medical fields. Balmelli expressed his satisfaction with the level of existing cooperation. 'We are not just promoting improved management of diabetes, but also the effective bilateral cooperation between research institutions in both countries, such as Dasman Diabetes Institute, KISR, and the University of Lausanne,' he added. He then emphasized the importance of building lasting institutional partnerships that contribute to providing innovative scientific solutions to common health challenges.
