Engineering

Twelve years of intense work are now bearing fruit – researchers at Empa have developed unique carbon materials with quite astonishing, hitherto unattained electronic and magnetic properties, which one day could be used to build quantum computers with novel architectures. A million-dollar grant from the Werner Siemens Foundation for the next ten years now gives this visionary project an unusually long research horizon, greatly increasing the prospects for success.

Hydropower delivers renewable electricity, but comes with massive fish mortality – a global dilemma that can only be addressed by true compromises, says Luiz Silva, and outlines how to find them.

A PhD student at EPFL studied the use of automated control systems for blinds and electric lighting to regulate the amount of daylight in an office, and found that such systems can cut a building’s energy demand and stimulate occupants’ circadian rhythms, improving their health and well-being.

Shared e-scooters and e-bikes transport the image of a climate-friendly mobility solution. ETH researchers have now shown that shared micromobility solutions in Zurich emit more CO₂ emissions than the alternatives they replace.

Scientists in Switzerland and Germany have achieved efficient electron-beam modulation using integrated photonics – circuits that guide light on a chip. The experiments could lead to entirely new quantum measurement schemes in electron microscopy.

Like bridges and tall buildings, large mountains are constantly vibrating, excited by seismic energy form the Earth. An international team of researchers has now been able to measure the resonant swaying of the Matterhorn and make its motion visible using computer simulations.