Research

Microorganisms in biofilms in rivers can break down harmful substances. Some are also able to degrade biocides, including the insect repellent diethyltoluamide (DEET) - or so it is thought. Researchers at the aquatic research institute Eawag have now discovered that DEET is degraded better when the proportion of treated wastewater in the water is high. They attribute this to specific enzymes that occur primarily where wastewater treatment plants return the water to the aquatic environment. However, the enzymes involved are not straightforward to predict.

Not all pain is the same. Depending on the cause, it requires different therapies. A team led by ETH Zurich has now developed a method that enables physicians to better distinguish between physical and psychosocial pain.

Methane-oxidizing bacteria could play a greater role than previously thought in preventing the release of climate-damaging methane from lakes.

Most of a planet’s water is generally not on its surface but hidden deep in its interior. This affects the potential habitability of distant worlds, as shown by model calculations of researchers at ETH Zurich and Princeton University.

Sabine Süsstrunk, an expert in scientific photography, has seen first-hand the amazing progress in imaging technology over the past 40 years. And now her field is being upended by artificial intelligence (AI).

Are you concerned about hackers stealing your fingerprint and face data for accessing your smartphone? EPFL researchers have found numerous security flaws in Android’s most privileged components before hackers do and give advice to users on how to reduce risks.

Thanks to sensor technology and mathematical modeling, smart dummies provide new insights into how workplaces can be brought to a comfortable temperature in an energy-efficient way and how to prevent patients from getting cold feet in the operating theater.

Cities need to become more sustainable and use their water resources more efficiently. Managing water in small-scale cycles is one possible solution. A new white paper shows how this can be achieved.

Starting today, the Earth will be passing through a meteor shower. But in astronomy, the human eye is very much a limited tool. But increasingly powerful instruments are allowing us to peer ever deeper into the cosmos and ever further back in time, shedding new light on the origins of the universe. 

The joint campus of Empa and Eawag in Dübendorf has grown by three buildings in the past three years. These offer employees and guests more comfort, attractiveness and security – and provide significantly more space for research and innovation. Innovations from the Empa and Eawag laboratories have also been implemented during their construction, for instance in the field of energy generation and storage as well as wastewater treatment and recycling. The campus extension bears the evocative name co-operate – because that is what Empa is all about.

A team of scientists from EPFL and other research institutes have identified just how an Alpine flower is surviving by adapting its genes to local habitats. This discovery has important implications for the protection of ecosystems under threat.

Catastrophic volcanic eruptions that warmed the planet millions of years ago shed new light on how plants evolve and regulate climate. Researchers reveal the long-term climate effects of disturbed natural ecosystems - its implications both in geological history and for today.

Extreme heatwaves are on the rise. When do they become critical for forest trees? In the hot summer of 2023, a research team led by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) investigated this in Switzerland, southern France and Spain.

The brain chemical orexin is crucial when we choose between sport and the tasty temptations that beckon everywhere we turn. This research finding could also help people who find it difficult to motivate themselves to exercise.

New EPFL research has found that the exchange of comments between members and non-members of fringe communities (fringe-interactions) on mainstream online platforms attracts new members to these extremist groups. It has also suggested potential ways to curtail this growth.