Research

The U.S. start-up Cryptosat has taken the EPFL developed Drand protocol, the internet’s first production grade, publicly verifiable randomness beacon, into space for an historic experiment.

The slab avalanche modelling that Alexander Puzrin and Johan Gaume, two researchers from ETH and EPFL, used to explain the so-called Dyatlov Pass mystery has triggered a variety of responses around the world. In a follow-up article, the two researchers reflect on the impact of their research findings in science and the media and describe the follow up expeditions to the Dyatlov Pass that supported the slab avalanche theory.

A team of ETH researchers led by Athina Anastasaki have succeeded in breaking down plastic into its molecular building blocks and in recovering over 90 percent of them. A first step towards genuine plastic recycling.  

On 21 March, the PASTURE project, which will explore glacier retreat in the Andes, was launched simultaneously online and live at the Alpine Museum of Switzerland in Bern. The joint project between WSL and the National Institute for Glacier and Mountain Ecosystem Research in Peru aims to assess the impact of climate change on water resources and mountain ecosystems and to facilitate countermeasures.

EPFL engineers have discovered that increasing the temperature of cartilage in the knee during physical exertion could prevent the cartilage from degenerating.

In an interview with ETH News, ETH Professor Emeritus and former State secretary Michael Ambühl outlines possible cornerstones of a diplomatic solution for the war in Ukraine.

Cryo-electron microscopy is still a comparatively new method for elucidating the three-dimensional structure of biomolecules. It can help researchers resolve many open questions about light-sensitive proteins, rapidly and with high precision.

Engineers at EPFL and ETH Zurich developed a variable stiffness catheter made of nontoxic threads that can transition between soft and rigid states during surgery. It may make minimally invasive surgical interventions, including the treatment of cardiac arrhythmia, simpler and more effective.

Two EPFL scientists are putting their expertise in coral reefs to work in Mauritius and Seychelles. The pair has joined a United Nations program that aims to restore reefs affected by human and environmental pressure using a method known as seascape genomics.

On World Water Day, we discussed this with hydrogeologist Christian Moeck, who, as an employee of the Eawag Hydrogeology Research Group, deals with the pressing challenges surrounding groundwater and researches how groundwater can be protected as a resource.

To meet the challenges in cities related to climate change and increasing urbanization, new approaches to transforming urban space are needed. One possibility are so-called Superblocks, large-scale city blocks with little or even no motorized through traffic inside them. An Empa study has analyzed the potential of different cities to be redesigned according to this principle.

EPFL engineering student Lucas Froissart designed an exoskeleton capable of propelling robot explorers into subsurface tunnels on the moon.

To benefit from stability and security in Asia, Europe must rethink its relations and engagement with this region. But, as Linda Maduz points out, it is worth taking a nuanced look at the various Asian countries.

PSI scientists have developed a ground-breaking achromatic lens for X-rays. This allows the X-ray beams to be accurately focused on a single point even if they have different wavelengths. The new lens will make it much easier to study nanostructures using X-rays, according to a paper just published by the researchers in the scientific journal Nature Communications.

EPFL researchers have discovered that gadolinium-doped cerium oxide, a compound they created in the lab, could be a promising alternative to certain piezoelectric materials: it has the same proprieties yet may be 100 times more effective. It’s also lead-free, unlike the best piezoelectric materials, which means that it could be employed in bio-compatible medical applications. Further research will be conducted on this highly promising compound and similar materials.