Research

Switzerland may soon be facing a shortage of railway ballast. ETH geologists are heading into the wilds to track down new sources of crushed rocks.

For a long time, the development of quantum computers was concerned with theoretical and hardware aspects. But as the focus shifts towards programming, software and security issues, the classical computer sciences are coming back into play.

If only it were less prone to error, quantum physics might already be giving us instant solutions to seemingly unsolvable problems. ETH researchers are therefore working to develop systems that are more robust.

Researchers from the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF and ETH Zurich have spent four years conducting rockfall experiments, enabling them to compile the most comprehensive set of measurement data to date. Among other things, the results show that wheel-like rocks have a wider lateral spread than cube-shaped rocks. The new findings have important implications for hazard assessment and the dimensioning of protective structures. Based on the measurement data, calculation programs can be calibrated and refined to give a more accurate representation of reality.

The chaotic behaviour of vortices is one of the things that makes weather forecasting so difficult. Researchers at ETH Zurich, Eawag and WSL, together with international partners, have now developed a novel experimental method that enables more accurate analyses of the movement and energy of turbulence in fluids with much less effort.

EPFL scientists have developed a chemical method for targeting the effects of cancer-fighting immunotherapy drugs only to the tumor tissue, making the drugs less toxic to the rest of the human body.

The Italian scientist Nicola Aceto will receive the Swiss Science Prize Latsis 2021 worth CHF 100,000. Aceto is an associate professor at ETH Zurich and is being honoured for his groundbreaking discoveries in the field of cancer research.

An international research team with participation of the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI has revealed a secret about a marine animal's shell: The researchers have deciphered why the protective cover of the brachiopod Discinisca tenuis becomes extremely soft in water and gets hard again in the air. The study appears today in the journal Nature Communications.

EPFL Summer Series: How science works. Despite the many advancements in developing innovative alternative methods, animal testing still plays an important role in biological and medical research, enabling scientists to make key new discoveries. At EPFL, performing high-quality research is a priority for scientists, as is taking proper care of the mice, rats and fish in the facilities.

An Eawag study has shown that it makes good sense to recover domestic energy, for example from warm shower water. The study refutes concerns that this form of heat utilisation could have a negative impact on waste water treatment plants. In fact, utilising the energy closer to its source reduces energy losses in the waste-water system.

What makes a dwelling a place we want to call home? And why do we find it so hard to move, even when downsizing is the logical choice? To answer to these questions, a team of EPFL scientists surveyed 968 tenants in Switzerland.

At ETH Zurich researchers have observed a new state of matter: in graphene layers twisted relative to each other, two electrical conductors team up to form an insulator.

A new efficiency record of 21.4% for flexible CIGS solar cell on polymer film has been achieved by scientists at Empa. Solar cells of this type are especially suited for applications on roofs, transport vehicles or mobile devices.

The successful deployment of solar power will depend on many factors, including how well grid operators are able to balance supply and demand in order to incorporate renewable energy into their low-voltage grids. An EPFL PhD thesis looks at how power utilities can promote flexibility to achieve that goal.

Switzerland has set itself the goal to stop greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050. With this net-zero target, it wants to contribute to limiting climate warming globally to less than 1.5 degrees C. The scenarios of the Competence Centres show that the net-zero goal is technically achievable by 2050. But this requires coordinated and comprehensive adaptations across a range of areas that affect society as a whole.