ETH News
All stories that have been tagged with Research
How law-abiding is AI? ETH researchers put it to the test
News
The EU AI Act is designed to ensure that AI is transparent and trustworthy. For the first time, ETH computer scientists have translated the Act into measurable technical requirements for AI. In doing so, they have shown how well today's AI models already comply with the legal requirements.
Catching prey with grappling hooks and cannons
News
Researchers at ETH Zurich have analysed down to the smallest detail the unusual arsenal of weapons that a predatory marine bacterium has at its disposal. Perhaps one day these weapons could also be put to use in medicine.
Biofabrication should be sustainable
- News
- Zukunftsblog
While living matter can advance technology and render human activities more efficient and eco-friendly, the way in which we currently fabricate materials containing living cells is far from sustainable. Miriam Filippi calls us to rethink our biofabrication practices.
Protein interactions: who is partying with whom and who is ruining the party?
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Using a new method, researchers at ETH Zurich can measure alterations in the social network of proteins in cells. This work lays the foundation for the development of new drugs to treat diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s.
Cancer researcher Andrea Alimonti honoured
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He studies cancer cells and their cellular environment in order to new therapies. Now, ETH Zurich Professor Andrea Alimonti is being awarded the Clo?tta Prize.
Record-breaking laser pulses
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Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a laser that produces the strongest ultra-short laser pulses to date. In the future, such high power pulses could be used for precision measurements or materials processing.
A stiff material that stops vibrations and noise
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Materials researchers have created a new composite material that combines two incompatible properties: stiff yet with a high damping capacity.
How a bacterium becomes a permanent resident in a fungus
- News
- Homehero
An organism as a tenant in another - in biology, this often works quite well. ETH researchers have now shed light on how such a partnership of a cell in a cell can establish.
Crop forecasting from space
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ETH spin-off Terensis is able to forecast the harvest yield and climate risks such as droughts and frost with the help of satellites. This not only helps farmers to plan. Authorities and insurance companies can also predict damage more efficiently.
Is there a perfect diet for a long life?
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- Homehero
- Globe magazine
Nina Cabezas Wallscheid, Professor of Stem Cell Biology and Ageing, is researching the impact of nutrition on the human blood system. Her research team aims to identify the ideal diet for a long and healthy life.
Running without limits: When air creates no resistance
- Homehero
- News
- Globe magazine
ETH student and top sprinter Géraldine Frey is preparing for her races with an innovative piece of equipment. Developed at ETH Zurich, the Airshield reduces aerodynamic drag, enabling athletes to train at speeds above their normal pace.
“The way that our cities, houses and flats are built right now makes us feel dependent.”
- News
- Homehero
- Globe magazine
For many people, architectural norms create barriers to accessibility. How might we re-imagine our built environment to make it more inclusive?
From cell partitions to dams: These barriers are being investigated by ETH researchers
- Globe magazine
- Homehero
- News
Research areas at ETH Zurich span barriers in a wide variety of fields, including cell biology, drug delivery and spatial planning. Below, we look at examples from six different disciplines.
Antidepressant shows promise for treating brain tumours
Researchers at ETH Zurich have used a drug screening platform they developed to show that an antidepressant, currently on the market, kills tumour cells in the dreaded glioblastoma – at least in the cell-culture dish.
How Ukraine can rebuild its energy system
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Researchers at ETH Zurich have been working with researchers from Ukraine and Germany to investigate how to rebuild Ukraine’s destroyed energy infrastructure based on renewable energy. They have determined that solar and wind energy would quickly deliver a distributed power supply system and prevent corruption.
For UN Agenda: data gaps detected in 193 countries
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To make informed decisions, governments and international organisations need data. The United Nations has been analysing the global availability of such data together with ETH Zurich. This has brought to light some surprising insights.
Printing with earth-based materials
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ETH Zurich researchers have developed a fast, robot-assisted printing process for earth materials that does not require cement.
Artificial muscles propel a robotic leg to walk and jump
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Researchers at ETH Zurich and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems have developed a robotic leg with artificial muscles. Inspired by living creatures, it jumps across different terrains in an agile and energy-efficient manner.
One-way street for sound waves
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Researchers at ETH Zurich have managed to make sound waves travel only in one direction. In the future, this method could also be used in technical applications with electromagnetic waves.
Flexible tentacle electrodes precisely record brain activity
Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed ultra-flexible brain probes that accurately record brain activity without causing tissue damage. This opens up new avenues for the treatment of a range of neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders.?
New pharmaceutically active substances from billions of newly combined molecules
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Pharmaceutical researchers often find new pharmaceutically active substances only by sifting through large collections of chemical compounds. Chemists at ETH Zurich have now made critical progress on a specific process for generating and searching these collections.
Iron as an inexpensive storage medium for hydrogen
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Researchers at ETH Zurich are using iron to store hydrogen safely and for long periods. In the future, this technology could be used for seasonal energy storage.
Chemical plastics recycling is ready to go
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Scientists around the world can now go full throttle in their research into chemical plastics recycling. Researchers at ETH Zurich have laid important foundations for this by showing that it’s all about the stirring.
Operating from 9,300km away
Press release
Researchers at ETH Zurich and The Chinese University of Hong Kong have succeeded for the first time in using remote control to perform a magnetic endoscopy on a live pig. The researchers controlled the probe from Zurich while the animal was on the operating table in Hong Kong.
ETH researchers receive SNSF grants
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Four researchers from ETH Zurich have successfully applied for Consolidator Grants funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation.
Separating the physical and psychosocial causes of pain
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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.
Planets contain more water than thought
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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.
Beige fat cells with a “Sisyphus mechanism”
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A new class of fat cells makes people healthier. The cells consume energy and produce heat through seemingly pointless biochemical reactions.
Millions of years for plants to recover from global warming
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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.
Sport or snack? How our brain decides
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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.
How researchers turn bacteria into cellulose-producing mini-factories
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ETH researchers have modified certain bacteria with UV light so that they produce more cellulose. The basis for this is a new approach with which the researchers generate thousands of bacterial variants and select those that have developed into the most productive.
How we can cool our cities
- Zukunftsblog
- News
Southern Europe is currently battling a heat wave. Jan Carmeliet explains how cities can tackle the summer heat. It is a balancing act that calls for finely tuned measures.
Preventing cancer cells from colonising the liver
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Researchers at ETH Zurich have uncovered how colorectal cancer cells colonise the liver. Their findings could open up new ways to suppress this process in the future.
How satellite images help to protect forests
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Earth seen from space: ETH spin-off askEarth facilitates access to satellite images for environmental and climate monitoring. It supports businesses in combatting deforestation.
We should not underestimate the increasingly warm summer temperatures
- News
- Zukunftsblog
Despite a wet and grey June, summers in Switzerland are getting hotter than expected. The increased summer temperatures harbour risks that we are not well prepared for, says Dominik Schumacher.
A hydrogel implant to treat endometriosis
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Researchers from ETH Zurich and Empa have developed a hydrogel implant that can help prevent endometriosis, a condition that affects a great many women. This innovation also acts as a contraceptive.
How climate change is altering the Earth’s rotation
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When the Earth’s ice masses melt, the way the planet rotates also changes. Researchers at ETH Zurich have now been able to show how climate change is altering the Earth’s axis of rotation and the length of the day. The speed of rotation, which was hitherto mainly influenced by the moon, will now also depend much more on the climate.
Running without air resistance
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A newly developed airshield supports track and field athletes such as Mujinga Kambundji with overspeed training.
Mining rare earth metals from electronic waste
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ETH researchers are developing a process inspired by nature that efficiently recovers europium from old fluorescent lamps. The approach could lead to the long-awaited recycling of rare earth metals.
Training for the transport of the future
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- Homehero
This year’s European Hyperloop Week is being held in Zurich. Student engineering teams will present their prototypes to a jury and compete against each other in different categories. ETH Zurich is represented with the Swissloop project.
Innovative battery design: more energy and less environmental impact
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A new electrolyte design for lithium metal batteries could significantly boost the range of electric vehicles. Researchers at ETH Zurich have radically reduced the amount of environmentally harmful fluorine required to stabilise these batteries.
Light green hydrogen will do
Whether sustainably produced hydrogen needs to be 100 percent green is currently under debate. Using the production of ammonia and artificial fertiliser as examples, researchers have calculated that "nearly sustainable" hydrogen would be better in the end.
New class of Mars quakes reveals daily meteorite strikes
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An international team of researchers combine orbital imagery with seismological data from NASA’s Mars InSight lander to derive a new impact rate for meteorite strikes on Mars. Seismology also offers a new tool for determining the density of Mars’ craters and the age of different regions of a planet.
Researchers at ETH Zurich develop the fastest possible flow algorithm
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- News
Rasmus Kyng has written the near-perfect algorithm. It computes the maximum transport flow at minimum cost for any kind of network – be it rail, road or electricity – at a speed that is, mathematically speaking, impossible to beat.
AI reality lags the hype in Swiss tech industries
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Everyone talks about Artificial Intelligence but its current adoption rates are low in the Swiss tech industry, especially in manufacturing-related applications. This is one conclusion of a survey conducted by ETH Zurich in collaboration with Swissmem and Next Industries. Professor Torbj?rn Netland, responsible for the report, explains why Swiss tech companies are still faring well in an international comparison and how they can release the potential.
Why people resort to lynching
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Why do civilians take the law into their own hands? Using Mexico as an example, ETH researcher Enzo Nussio shows how it’s a combination of a weak state and strong local communities.
"Anyone who wants to do research in Singapore should get in touch now!"
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Manu Kapur has been Director of the Singapore ETH Centre (SEC) since the beginning of the year. In this interview, he talks about which research programmes will be continued in Singapore, which new programmes will be created, and how researchers from across the ETH Domain can get involved in the SEC.
Gold membrane coaxes secrets out of surfaces
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Using a special wafer-thin gold membrane, ETH researchers have made it significantly easier to study surfaces. The membrane makes it possible to measure properties of surfaces that are inaccessible to conventional methods.
This researcher reads rivers
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- Homehero
Jessica Droujko’s start-up, Riverkin, measures the water quality of freshwater ecosystems and helps quantify and respond to risks such as floods and pollution. Thanks to an ETH Pioneer Fellowship, her work is now picking up speed.
At the intersection of robotics and machine learning
- Homehero
- News
Marco Hutter, a pioneer in mobile robotics, has been awarded this year’s R?ssler Prize, the most highly endowed research award at ETH Zurich.
An alternative way to manipulate quantum states
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Researchers at ETH Zurich have shown that quantum states of single electron spins can be controlled by currents of electrons whose spins are evenly aligned. In the future, this method could be used in electronic circuit elements.
Gaining a better understanding of brittle bone disease – without animal experiments
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Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a cell-based bone model to help investigate the cause of this genetic condition.
Electrifying industry with flexible heat pumps
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- Homehero
Researchers from ETH Zurich and the Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences have developed a novel solution for heat pumps. Using this new approach, companies can generate carbon-free process heat at temperatures of up to 200 degrees Celsius while also drastically reducing the number of different heat pumps required.
The future of medicine begins in the Gloria Cube
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The Gloria Cube is ETH Zurich’s newest building in the Zurich City university district. Teaching, research and translation are all carried out in the service of health and medicine here. At the end of last week, ETH Zurich celebrated the laboratory and research building’s inauguration.
How can we tax electric cars without slowing down the electromobility transition?
- Zukunftsblog
- News
The federal government has plans to tax electric vehicles to secure funding for road infrastructure. However, a new levy could delay the switch to electromobility. Alessio Levis explains how this dilemma could be resolved.
Researchers identify key differences in inner workings of immune cells
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Using machine-learning methods, researchers at ETH Zurich have shown that more than half of all killer T cells exhibit nuclear invaginations, or folds in the cell’s nuclear envelope. Thanks to this particular cellular architecture, such cells are able to mount a faster and stronger response to pathogens.
The mystery of cathodic corrosion protection clarified
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Cathodic corrosion protection is a widely used technique for protecting steel-based infrastructure from corrosion. ETH researchers have now clarified the detailed mechanisms involved, thereby resolving a controversial issue that had preoccupied the engineering community for decades.
ETH Zurich again in seventh place
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ETH Zurich maintains its excellent ranking from the previous year in the QS rankings just published. Alongside top scores for its academic reputation and international outlook, the university’s efforts in the area of sustainability have also helped it to retain seventh place. The faculty-student ratio remains the indicator in which the university scores lowest.
When stones start rolling
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- News
The landslide in Brienz (GR) in 2023 kept Switzerland on tenterhooks for weeks. Researchers from ETH Zurich, WSL and SLF used a model to provide a highly accurate blind prediction of where the sliding mass would come to rest. ETH Professor Johan Gaume explains how the model works and where its limitations lie.
"AI helps us to grasp more and more complex facts"
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Since 2003, when Joachim Buhmann became an ETH professor, he has helped shape the explosive development of machine learning. It is not technical progress that worries him, but how society deals with it. Shortly before his retirement, he looks back on his academic career.
ETH Zurich sets course for Net Zero
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ETH Zurich announces its expedition towards climate neutrality today with pop-up events by students and the first Net Zero Day. The "ETH Net Zero" programme supports the reduction of emissions by 2030 and offers people plenty of ways to get involved.
Innovative materials and remarkable people
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Paolo Ermanni researched novel composite materials at ETH for over a quarter of a century. His enthusiasm for materials was rivalled only by his passion for teaching. He will also go down in ETH history as the first Vice Rector for Continuing Education. To mark his retirement, we take a look back at his storied career.
Chocolate that harnesses the full potential of the cocoa fruit
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Researchers at ETH Zurich have teamed up with the food industry to produce a whole-fruit variety of chocolate. This helps increase the value creation of cocoa farming – and is healthier.
Thinking climate action, biodiversity and energy supply together
- Zukunftsblog
- News
Renewable energies are not the main driver of biodiversity loss. It is rather the other way round: renewables can limit climate change in order to preserve biodiversity. Cyril Brunner contextualises the trade-offs from a scientific perspective.
Medical Engineering block course wins prize for innovative teaching
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Medical students at ETH Zurich build a gripper hand for elbow exoskeletons in a crash course lasting just one week. This course has now been honoured with the 2024 Kite Award, the ETH prize for particularly innovative teaching.
Using solar energy to generate heat at high temperatures
News
Instead of burning coal or oil to produce cement or steel, in the future solar energy could be used for this purpose. Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a thermal trap that can absorb concentrated sunlight and deliver heat at over thousand degrees Celsius.
Researchers outsmarted EasyRide function on Swiss travel app
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Experiments by ETH Zurich computer security researchers showed that smartphones can be manipulated to allow the owner to ride Swiss trains for free. The researchers also highlighted ways of curbing such misuse.
Mosaic grassland landscapes are the most beneficial
Like forests, grassland provides numerous ecological, economic and social benefits. Researchers have investigated ways to maintain and improve these benefits in the Swiss canton of Solothurn.
Electron vortices in graphene detected
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Researchers at ETH Zurich have, for the first time, made visible how electrons form vortices in a material at room temperature. Their experiment used a quantum sensing microscope with an extremely high resolution.
Solving physics puzzles with coloured dots
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By analysing images made of coloured dots created by quantum simulators, ETH researchers have studied a special kind of magnetism. In the future this method could also be used to solve other physics puzzles, for instance in superconductivity.
Digi, Nano, Bio, Neuro – or why we should care more about converging technologies
- Zukunftsblog
- News
Dirk Helbing expects future digital technologies to penetrate the human body even more in the future. However, he believes that society is not prepared for the risks involved. He puts forward a new legal framework to protect our most intimate data from misuse.
Blood diagnostics modelled on leeches
News
Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a safe and inexpensive device for reliable blood measurements. It works using a suction cup and could also be employed to diagnose the tropical disease malaria – even by non-medical personnel.
How the plant world shapes the climate cycle
News
In order to understand the Earth's resilience, researchers at ETH Zurich are modelling climate changes from times long past. And they show: Plants are not simply victims of circumstances, but have helped to shape climate conditions on Earth.
ETH Zurich spin-offs develop high performance batteries
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- Homepage
The electrification of many areas of life is leading to an increased demand for high-performance batteries. Two ETH spin-offs are making waves in this field: while BTRY develops high-performance solid-state batteries, 8inks is working on a new standard for production.
AI designs new drugs based on protein structures
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A new computer process developed by chemists at ETH Zurich makes it possible to generate active pharmaceutical ingredients quickly and easily based on a protein’s three-dimensional surface. The new process could revolutionise drug research.
Bacteria for climate-neutral chemicals of the future
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Researchers at ETH Zurich have engineered bacteria in the laboratory to efficiently use methanol. The metabolism of these bacteria can now be tapped into to produce valuable products currently made by the chemical industry from fossil fuels.
Surprising reversal in quantum systems
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Researchers at ETH Zurich have studied topological effects in an artificial solid, making surprising observations. The new insights into topological pumping could be used for quantum technologies in the future.
Antisemitism in the history of Raiffeisen?
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On behalf of Raiffeisen Switzerland Cooperative, ETH Zurich researchers examined the beginnings of the Raiffeisen movement in Switzerland. Their focus was on antisemitism as well as Raiffeisen during National Socialism.
How data provided by fitness trackers and smartphones can help people with MS
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Monitoring and treating a case of multiple sclerosis requires reliable and long-term data on how the disease is progressing in the person in question. Fitness trackers and smartphones can supply this data, as a research team led by ETH Zurich has now shown.
Twisted pollen tubes induce infertility
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Plants with multiple sets of chromosomes have advantages over their relatives with a double set. But why they often start out infertile was only partially understood. Biologists at ETH Zurich have now discovered a new reason for the initial difficulties.
Tropical forests can't recover naturally without fruit eating birds
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Natural forest regeneration is hailed as a cost-effective way to restore biodiversity and sequester carbon. However, the fragmentation of tropical forests has restricted the movement of large birds limiting their capacity to disperse seeds and restore healthy forests.
Using a hopping robot for asteroid exploration
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As part of the SpaceHopper project, ETH Zurich students are developing a robot that can navigate very low gravity environments using a jumping-like mode of locomotion.
What can cities do to promote acceptance of densification?
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Swiss cities are more likely to accept densification when densification projects provide affordable housing and green spaces compared to densification that is implemented through reduced regulations for housing construction. By prioritizing a socio-ecological densification, extensive planning procedures and delays might be minimized.
Computer science made accessible to over 10,000 children
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Juraj Hromkovic has been Professor of Information Technology at ETH Zurich for the past 20 years. During this time, he has been a leading advocate of teaching computer science in schools. He’s now giving his farewell lecture.
Protecting art and passwords with biochemistry
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A new molecular test method helps to prove the authenticity of works of art. The new method could also help to make passwords secure against quantum computers.
Knocking cloud security off its game
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Public cloud services employ special security technologies. Computer scientists at ETH Zurich have now discovered a gap in the latest security mechanisms used by AMD and Intel chips. This affects major cloud providers.
Strengthening Swiss hydropower with science
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Researchers at ETH Zurich led by Robert Boes are developing specific solutions to optimise electricity production from Swiss hydropower plants. This will ensure that hydropower remains the backbone of Switzerland’s electricity supply in the future.
How micro- and nanoplastics are infiltrating the Arctic ice
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Environmental scientist Alice Pradel cultivates ice cores in the lab to investigate the transport and accumulation of micro- and nanoplastics. Her aim in doing so is to better understand material flows in the Arctic ice.
Climate-friendly renovations using straw and hemp
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- Homehero
Renovating buildings to improve their energy efficiency is a crucial step towards Switzerland achieving its climate targets. ETH Zurich researchers can now reveal the most effective renovation strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions: replace fossil-fuel heating systems and harness the potential of bio-based building materials like straw and hemp.
Detecting storms thanks to GPS
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Researchers at ETH Zurich have succeeded in detecting heavy precipitation events directly with GPS data. The results of their study could significantly improve meteorological monitoring and forecasting.
Pesticide-free as a new pathway for agriculture
- News
- Zukunftsblog
We can transition to pesticide-free agriculture without converting to organic farming. Robert Finger outlines the advantages and challenges involved.
ANYmal can do parkour and walk across rubble
News
The quadrupedal robot ANYmal went back to school and has learned a lot. ETH Zurich researchers used machine learning to teach it new skills: the robot can now climb over obstacles and successfully negotiate pitfalls.
A new ion trap for larger quantum computers
News
Researchers at ETH have managed to trap ions using static electric and magnetic fields and to perform quantum operations on them. In the future such traps could be used to realize quantum computers with far more quantum bits than have been possible up to now.
Cutting-edge research from Basel
- Globe magazine
- Homehero
From new tests and therapies to the fundamental principles of biology: five compelling examples of the benefits of new bioengineering technologies.
Recycling plastic is not a quick fix
- News
- Zukunftsblog
Recycling is an accepted formula for sustainable resource use, but in the case of plastic it can have serious side effects, says Helene Wiesinger – and uses the example of plastic flooring in Switzerland to illustrate the dilemma.
The man for freak events
News
Christoph Sch?r is one of the Swiss climate scientists who have shaped high-resolution climate modelling. He is now retiring after more than 35 years at ETH Zurich. In this portrait, he explains why he himself never tires of researching climate change.
ETH students accelerate private sector innovation
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Students at ETH Zurich are working together with engineers from the technology firm Bühler to accelerate innovation and minimise the attendant risks. It's a fruitful collaboration that other companies are also poised to benefit from.
Cost of direct air carbon capture to remain higher than hoped
News
The cost of removing large quantities of CO2 from the air will fall in the medium term, but not as much as previously hoped. This is the conclusion reached by ETH researchers on the basis of new calculations. Efforts to reduce carbon emissions should therefore continue at pace, says the research team.
Turning waste into gold
News
ETH Zurich researchers have recovered the precious metal from electronic waste. Their highly sustainable new method is based on a protein fibril sponge, which the scientists derive from whey, a food industry byproduct.
Do we have cosmic dust to thank for life on Earth?
News
It might be that what set prebiotic chemistry in motion and kept it going in the early days of the Earth was dust from outer space accumulating in holes melted into ice sheets. Researchers at ETH Zurich and the University of Cambridge have used a computer model to test this scenario.