Research

Their task is to monitor the condition of ecosystems, for instance in the forest floor – and crumble to dust when their work is done: bio-gliders modeled on the Java cucumber, which sails its seeds dozens of meters through the air. Empa researchers have developed these sustainable flying sensors from potato starch and wood waste.

Digital tools such as artificial intelligence make it possible for environmental researchers to access larger data pools and generate new scientific findings. WSL uses these tools in a wide variety of ways. For instance, they offer support with making more precise predictions about danger zones in snow and avalanche research.

Their names are Marianne Liebi Adrian Wanner. Two young researchers who make the nanostructure of macroscopic samples, such as bones or brain tissue, visible in three dimensions using high-resolution images. They achieve this using measurement data obtained with X-rays at the Swiss Light Source at PSI, which is then processed and used for imaging.

With a constellation of five satellites, the international LIFE initiative led by ETH Zurich hopes to one day detect traces of life on exoplanets. A laboratory experiment in the Department of Physics is now set to demonstrate the planned measurement method.

Professor of number theory Maryna Viazovska has solved a mathematical problem that has stumped researchers for centuries. Using a creative approach and the knowledge gained in her dissertation work, she demonstrates how spheres can be optimally and symmetrically packed into multidimensional space in a manner that fills all available space. This achievement brought her recognition with the Fields Medal, which is something like a “Nobel Prize for Mathematics”.

Until now, most studies of fungi have focused on their role in marine disease. But according to research done at EPFL, these fungi may also help protect coral reefs against climate change. 

Mining repeatedly causes water pollution. In the Global South, polluters often get away with it because the waters are seldom monitored. Satellite data can provide evidence of the origin, spread and extent of environmental disasters.

Computer simulations have helped researchers understand in detail how pharmaceutically active substances cross cell membranes. These findings can now be used to discover new drug candidates more efficiently.

For minimally invasive surgery, the instruments used must be small. ETH Zurich researchers have now developed a method to transport large devices through a narrow catheter. This expands the possibilities for designing minimally invasive surgical tools.

JUICE, the European spacecraft that is scheduled to launch later today, will explore Jupiter and its icy moons. Some of the components on board have been manufactured at Empa using a specially developed soldering process.

EPFL researchers have used a nanoplasmonics approach to observe the real-time production of cell secretions, including proteins and antibodies; an advancement that could aid in the development of cancer treatments, vaccines, and other therapies.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a model that detects workplace stress just by how people type and move their computer mouse. This might enable employees to prevent chronic stress early on.

A 3D imaging method could be beneficial for heart transplant patients. Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI and University Hospital Centre Zagreb in Croatia have shown that synchrotron radiation-based imaging of biopsy samples can reveal the extent to which the body is rejecting the transplanted organ. The new technique neatly supplements classical diagnostic methods. The researchers have published their findings in the medical journal Transplant International.

The JUICE mission of the European Space Agency ESA, which aims to explore the planet Jupiter and its three largest moons, is all set to go. The space probe will carry on board the high-tech detector RADEM developed at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI. Among other things, this will provide information about the complex radiation conditions and the highly dynamic magnetic environment of the Jupiter system.

Scientists at EPFL’s Blue Brain Project have developed a groundbreaking computational model of the thalamic microcircuit in the mouse brain, offering new insights into the role this region plays in brain function and dysfunction.