Research

The Swiss Seismological Service at ETH Zurich has just introduced the first seismic risk model for Switzerland. It shows the potential impact of earthquakes on people and buildings in the country.

Researchers at Empa, ETH Zurich and the Politecnico di Milano are developing a new type of computer component that is more powerful and easier to manufacture than its predecessors. Inspired by the human brain, it is designed to process large amounts of data fast and in an energy-efficient way.

Switzerland has no available fossil gas reserves. It also lacks substantial domestic storage capacities, like those used by Germany. Because of this, geopolitical conflicts and crises can lead to supply shortfalls. Synthetic methane could be a way of getting around this dependency. It can be produced sustainably in Switzerland and fed directly into the existing gas grid.

Researchers have for the first time estimated how probable the accidental release of nanomaterials will be in the future. They based this on models from the nuclear industry. For a risk assessment, the results now have to be linked to information about the hazardous nature of the materials.

A new study shows what it will take for the plastics industry to become completely sustainable: lots of recycling combined with the use of CO₂ from the air and biomass. It is also the image of plastics that need to change.

ETH researchers have managed to take three-dimensional pictures of single nanoparticles using extremely short and strong X-ray pulses. In the future this technique could even be used to make 3D-movies of dynamical processes at the nanoscale.

To mark the tenth annual UN World Wildlife Day, we compiled a sample of EPFL research projects that are using technology to protect and preserve wildlife.

The federal government has just published the updated Red List of fish and cyclostomes. Eawag was involved. The list documents a further endangerment since the last listing in 2007. Prof. Ole Seehausen explains why.

Forest soils store large amounts of organic carbon. When storms devastate the forest, this carbon is lost and a large part enters the atmosphere as CO2. Mountain forests are particularly vulnerable to such carbon losses, shows a study by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL.

ETH Zurich political science researchers reveal that Swiss people are in favour of the circular economy and support measures to promote it. However, their personal willingness to contribute is low. 

Scientists from EPFL and the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF have developed a program that improves the accuracy of a widely used weather forecasting model by incorporating surface phenomena that weren’t previously taken into account.

The next unit at NEST, the research and innovation building of Empa and Eawag, goes by the name of STEP2. For about two years, partners from research and industry have been working on various innovations in the fields of circular economy, digital and industrial fabrication, building envelope and energy systems, turning them into products ready for market entry. One of them has now reached an important milestone: A worldwide unique staircase manufactured using 3D-printed formwork and prestressed with an innovation from the Empa spin-off re-fer has passed the final prototype tests.

SLF researchers chase snow crystals around in circles in the wind tunnel. This is how they track down snow phenomena.

EPFL researchers have published a method for 3D-printing an ink that contains calcium carbonate-producing bacteria. The 3D-printed mineralized bio-composite is unprecedently strong, light, and environmentally friendly, with a range of applications from art to biomedicine.

It is known that toxins in tobacco smoke can change our DNA – but where exactly in the genome they do this has been a mystery. A new approach developed by researchers at ETH Zurich now brings light into the darkness. In the future, this could make it easier than ever to determine the safety of many chemical substances.