Research

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.

Our visual perception depends more strongly on the utility of information than previously thought. This has been demonstrated in a series of experiments conducted by researchers at ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich. Cognitive biases can begin at the retina.

Timber construction is undergoing a renaissance in Switzerland. ETH researchers at the Hönggerberg campus are using a fire simulator to test timber components for the construction of buildings of all sizes. The custom-built oven permits simulations of realistic fire scenarios.

Floods, debris flows, landslides and rock falls caused damage of around CHF 45 million in 2022 - ten times less than in 2021. There were no fatalities. This is the result of the annual evaluation of the Swiss flood and landslide damage database by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL).

EPFL researchers have used Chat-GPT-3 to develop a robotic gripper for harvesting tomatoes, in a first demonstration of the artificial intelligence tool’s potential for collaborating with humans on robot design.

EPFL scientists have developed a new research instrument for observing biological tissue samples prepared using a method discovered about forty years ago by Nobel Prize winner Jacques Dubochet, emeritus professor at the University of Lausanne. Their instrument – the only one of its kind in the world – opens up promising new avenues of research.

8 June is World Oceans Day. The SLF is also conducting research in the ocean, namely on sea ice. In a short interview Ruzica Dadic, head of the research unit Snow and Atmosphere at the SLF, talks about the motivation for and the goals of these studies.

Sewer systems and centralised treatment plants are not a sustainable solution for managing the world’s wastewater. Environmental engineers at ETH Zurich and Eawag have been helping to develop decentralised, closed-loop modular systems.

The expansion of hydropower generation often leads to conflicts of interest, both in Switzerland and beyond. Researchers from ETH Zurich are trying to find a basis for compromise that serves the public interest.