Research

Playgrounds in the universe

Nobel laureate and astrophysicist Didier Queloz and earth scientist Cara Magnabosco on the origin of life on Earth, complex life beyond our planet, and the inevitable end of every life.

From molecules to organisms

How did life on Earth first emerge? And how was it able to prosper and evolve? ETH researchers are involved in the quest to find answers to these fundamental questions.

Empa and EPFL to join a 120+ Mio EU Priority Program

EuPRAXIA is the first European project that develops a compact particle accelerator research infrastructure based on novel plasma acceleration concepts and laser technology. An Empa Team led by Davide Bleiner and scientists from EPFL are able to contribute thanks to the compensation funding by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).

Security robotics for Switzerland

ETH Zurich and armasuisse Science and Technology are launching a joint security robotics programme. Over the course of five years, armasuisse will be investing 2.5 million Swiss francs in selected research projects.

More Precise Treatment

The LOOP Zurich research center combines expertise from ETH Zurich, the University of Zurich and the four university hospitals in Zurich with the aim of developing more personalized therapies. Two new projects supported by The LOOP Zurich target urinary tract infections and obesity respectively.

Blue-green infrastructure for liveable cities

The Aqua Urbanica symposium, co-organised by Eawag, explored the question of what is needed to implement the sponge city concept. With the help of this concept, cities should be able to mitigate the consequences of climate change.

Preparing for energy shortages and blackouts

Peter Burgherr is head of the Technology Assessment Group at the PSI Laboratory for Energy Systems Analysis. He and his team analyse technologies and scenarios for a sustainable energy future. He takes a rational view of possible power shortages in the coming winter and offers some helpful suggestions.

Global Warming Causes Changes in Swiss Insect Fauna

How has the distribution of insects in Switzerland changed over the past 40 years? The range of many species has expanded, while that of a similar number has contracted. In particular, cold-adapted species have lost ground. These are the findings published in the journal Nature Communications.

Gold-based passive heating for eyewear

Researchers from ETH Zurich have developed a new transparent gold nanocoating that harnesses sunlight to heat the lenses of glasses, thereby preventing them from fogging in humid conditions. This coating could potentially also be applied to car windshields.

New materials for the computer of the future

Novel materials could revolutionise computer technology. Research conducted by scientists at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI using the Swiss Light Source SLS has reached an important milestone along this path.

Watching viruses fail

Using a new analytical method, Empa researchers have tracked viruses as they pass through face masks and compared their failure on the filter layers of different types of masks. The new method should now accelerate the development of surfaces that can kill viruses, the team writes in the journal Scientific Reports.

50 years of recording storm damage in Switzerland

For 50 years, the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL has been collecting information on damage caused by extreme weather. Since then, it has recorded 27,000 severe weather events with estimated damage costs of around 15 billion Swiss francs. By far the greatest damage is caused by floods, hardly any municipality has been spared.

Chip lets scientists study biocement formation in real-time

Scientists from EPFL and the University of Lausanne have used a chip that was originally designed for environmental science to study the properties of biocement formation. This material has the potential to replace traditional cement binders in certain civil engineering applications.

A space telescope, please – but a sustainable one, if possible

Daniel Angerhausen believes that fundamental research is essential, especially in the current crisis. Still, he wonders if we shouldn’t extend the idea of sustainability into the infinite reaches of outer space.

Searching for plastic gobblers in alpine soils

Can microbes from cold alpine soils break down plastic? This has been investigated in a study carried out by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL. Such organisms could help break down and recycle plastic in the future.

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