Research

Urea reacts extremely quickly under the conditions that existed when our planet was newly formed. This new insight furthers our understanding of how life on Earth might have begun.

While the use of pesticides in industrial countries is being questioned more and more critically, less is known about their consequences on human health and the environment in tropical countries. The interdisciplinary project “Pestrop” is now changing this and also shows where the necessary measures need to be taken.

Researchers from Empa and Imperial College London are developing a heat-resistant drone that can analyze the source of danger at close range in the event of a building or forest fire. This allows firefighters to optimize the strategy of a high-risk operation before entering the danger zone.

Using applied mathematics, Yunan Yang finds solutions to the inverse problems that arise in seismology, weather forecasts, and machine learning. The key to her success is something called optimal transport.

Trichodesmium, a common and ecologically important bacterium, fertilises nutrient-poor regions of the oceans and thereby enables higher life. Crucial to its success is its ability to form aggregates in order to react quickly to changes in its environment. ETH Zurich researchers have shown how the microbes organise themselves in this process.

Jamie Paik and her team of researchers at EPFL’s School of Engineering have created an origami-like robot that can change shape, move around and interact with objects and people.

When Microorganisms decompose organic material in the soil, they actively release CO₂ into the atmosphere. This process is called heterotrophic respiration. A novel model shows that these emissions could surge by up to 40 percent by the end of the century – most significantly in the polar regions.

Researchers from EPFL and the University of Geneva (UNIGE) have gained new insights into a mechanism regulating the early-stage development of mouse embryos. Instead of using an animal model, the team carried out their research on pseudo-embryos grown in the lab from stem cells.

Optical data communications lasers can transmit several tens of terabits per second, despite a huge amount of disruptive air turbulence. ETH Zurich scientists and their European partners demonstrated this capacity with lasers between the mountain peak, Jungfraujoch, and the city of Bern in Switzerland. This will soon eliminate the necessity of expensive deep-sea cables.

EPFL researchers have published a first study on the mechanics of surgical knots, with results that could be used to train surgeons to tie stronger, safer sutures – a skill that usually requires years of practice to master.

To ensure that wounds remain tightly sealed in the abdomen after surgery, researchers at Empa and ETH Zurich have developed a patch with a sensor function. The polymer patch warns before the occurence of dangerous leaks on sutures in the gastrointestinal tract take hold, while closes the areas on its own. A new material now enables a fast, easy and non-invasive leak diagnosis. The team recently published their findings in the journal Advanced Science.

Researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL have found numerous places in Switzerland with large numbers of wild bee species or species worthy of protection. The problem: They are often located outside of protected areas.

The federal government’s Energy Strategy 2050 envisages a substantial expansion of photovoltaic systems. But where will the electricity come from when the sun isn’t shining? The solution could be hydrogen.

A new AI algorithm developed at EPFL and University Hospital Geneva (HUG) will power an intelligent stethoscope - Pneumoscope - with the potential to improve the management of respiratory disease in low-resource and remote settings.

Plastic particles less than five millimeters in size, also known as microplastics, often settle far away from their point of origin. Empa researchers have now developed a model that can be used to calculate the concentration of microplastics in Swiss lakes and rivers.