Society

An EPFL study carried out in Vaud Canton has shed light on the factors that can prompt people to buy solar panels. It found that having neighbors with solar panels plays a significant role, alongside more well-known influences, such as our social circle.

Platforms like ChatGPT are already changing the world. From healthcare to the arts and the way we work, how we can ensure AI and Machine Learning benefit all of society? World renowned experts have gathered at EPFL today to explore this topic.

The safety of insecticides is predominantly evaluated based on lethal effects on other animals. However, new findings from Eawag support the notion that also lower concentrations can be problematic, because they affect the nervous systems of fish and cause changes in their behaviour. This can indirectly affect the survival of fish populations and may be one of the reasons for the fish decline that we are observing in Switzerland.

Green spaces or trees can mitigate urban heat, but it takes time for the cooling effects to develop. Modelling using satellite data can show how much time is needed.

The number of microbes that acquire antibiotic resistance depends on the time at which the antibiotic is added. This is a conclusion reached by a research group at Eawag on the basis of experiments with genetically modified bacteria that glow in different colours when they exchange genetic information with each other.

There are plenty of plant identification apps – but only few, that directly help research. The Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL has enhanced the FlorApp of the Info Flora data centre with an image recognition tool, which makes identification easier and at the same time more precise.