Research

In urban India, rising water scarcity and increasing pressure on water supply utilities have prompted the use of treated wastewater as an alternative source. A study of Eawag together with Indian partners explains how the use of sensors and automated chlorination can improve microbial water quality in on-site water reuse systems for increased user safety.

Coral reefs are under a growing threat from climate change and human activity, making it more important than ever to understand their strengths and vulnerabilities. A team of EPFL scientists has now taken an important step in this direction with the new RECIFS open-access database on reef environments.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have created the heaviest Schrödinger cat to date by putting a crystal in a superposition of two oscillation states. Their results could lead to more robust quantum bits and help to explain why quantum superpositions are not observed in everyday life.

Wood is a trump card for the energy transition because it is very versatile and easy to store. Compared to today, up to a third more energy could be obtained from wood, not only in the form of heat, but also in the form of electricity and fuels. However, current use is not efficient enough, Swiss bioenergy researchers have shown in a new report.

ETH Zurich researchers have developed a smart earpiece that helps people relearn physical actions faster and more easily after a stroke. By stimulating the brain, the earpiece helps it rewire neural circuits.

Their task is to monitor the condition of ecosystems, for instance in the forest floor – and crumble to dust when their work is done: bio-gliders modeled on the Java cucumber, which sails its seeds dozens of meters through the air. Empa researchers have developed these sustainable flying sensors from potato starch and wood waste.

Digital tools such as artificial intelligence make it possible for environmental researchers to access larger data pools and generate new scientific findings. WSL uses these tools in a wide variety of ways. For instance, they offer support with making more precise predictions about danger zones in snow and avalanche research.

Their names are Marianne Liebi Adrian Wanner. Two young researchers who make the nanostructure of macroscopic samples, such as bones or brain tissue, visible in three dimensions using high-resolution images. They achieve this using measurement data obtained with X-rays at the Swiss Light Source at PSI, which is then processed and used for imaging.

With a constellation of five satellites, the international LIFE initiative led by ETH Zurich hopes to one day detect traces of life on exoplanets. A laboratory experiment in the Department of Physics is now set to demonstrate the planned measurement method.

Professor of number theory Maryna Viazovska has solved a mathematical problem that has stumped researchers for centuries. Using a creative approach and the knowledge gained in her dissertation work, she demonstrates how spheres can be optimally and symmetrically packed into multidimensional space in a manner that fills all available space. This achievement brought her recognition with the Fields Medal, which is something like a “Nobel Prize for Mathematics”.

Until now, most studies of fungi have focused on their role in marine disease. But according to research done at EPFL, these fungi may also help protect coral reefs against climate change. 

Mining repeatedly causes water pollution. In the Global South, polluters often get away with it because the waters are seldom monitored. Satellite data can provide evidence of the origin, spread and extent of environmental disasters.

Computer simulations have helped researchers understand in detail how pharmaceutically active substances cross cell membranes. These findings can now be used to discover new drug candidates more efficiently.

For minimally invasive surgery, the instruments used must be small. ETH Zurich researchers have now developed a method to transport large devices through a narrow catheter. This expands the possibilities for designing minimally invasive surgical tools.

JUICE, the European spacecraft that is scheduled to launch later today, will explore Jupiter and its icy moons. Some of the components on board have been manufactured at Empa using a specially developed soldering process.