A false step on the stairs, a moment of inattention on a wet bathroom floor, or a stumble over the edge of the carpet – and the deed is done. A heavy fall results and the victim, very frequently an elderly person, suffers a fracture of neck of the femur at the hip joint. Can this type of injury be prevented by the use of hip guards? The answer to this topical question was revealed in the latest Science Apéro at the Empa Academy in Duebendorf recently.