Research

Empa researchers have achieved a milestone in the search for a solid electrolyte, the conductive medium for future solid-state batteries. On the one hand, this material must be highly conductive for lithium ions, and on the other hand manufacturing costs should be as low as possible. Ultra-thin layers of a special ceramic (chemically speaking, LI₇La₃Zr₂O₁₂) should make the production of high-performance solid-state batteries possible in the near future.

Bioengineers at EPFL have created miniature intestines in a dish that match up anatomically and functionally to the real thing better than any other lab-grown tissue models. The biological complexity and longevity of the new organoid technology is an important step towards enabling drug testing, personalized medicine, and perhaps, one day, transplantations.

Artificial intelligence is having a growing impact on our daily lives and is also revolutionising research. ETH Zurich recognises its responsibility in this area and is striving to promote innovation and trust in this fast-evolving technology.

A bioethicist and a neuroinformatics scientist discuss how machines are becoming more intelligent and why the advances in technology are leading to new ethical challenges.

Leading AI researchers from 30 top institutions across Europe are joining forces to form the European AI network ELLIS. Today, it celebrates its launch, with ETH Zurich as a founding member. The ETH Zurich ELLIS Unit is set on establishing the foundations for reliable and trustworthy artificial intelligence.

Even if we succeed in combatting the COVID crisis, the challenges for the health system will not simply disappear. Digital technologies can be developed to help meet ongoing challenges; Nicole Wenderoth explains what should be borne in mind here.

Researchers at ETH Zurich and the University of Bern have discovered a mechanism by which the corona virus manipulates human cells to ensure its own replication. This knowledge will help to develop drugs and vaccines against the corona virus.

Within the framework of an international project, researchers from the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI are helping to save a valuable environmental and climatic archive. During an expedition 4,000 metres above sea level on Grand Combin in the Alps, they are drilling ice cores from melting glaciers to preserve them in Antarctica.

ETH researchers have discovered that they can use light-sensitive molecules to switch genetic networks on and off as required. Their finding gives rise to an easy method for dynamically controlling biotechnological substance production.

Immunologist Emma Wetter Slack develops innovative oral vaccines against pathogenic intestinal bacteria in farm animals – and against coronaviruses in humans.

Using algorithms to analyse the whole-genome sequence of a tumour can make treatment more successful – and can even help determine how cells become cancerous.

EPFL researchers have created a single chip that combines a transistor and micro-fluidic cooling system. Their research, which has been published in Nature, should help save energy and further shrink the size of electronic components.

EPFL scientists have developed a non-invasive technique for unraveling the complex dynamics generated by spinal cord circuits to unprecedented detail, a first in functional magnetic resonance imaging that may one day help diagnose spinal cord dysfunction or injury.

When wolves consume an ungulate (i.e. a hoofed mammal), little is left except bones, skin and gut contents. However, a surprisingly species-specific microbial community thrives beneath these remains, according to a study led by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL). This is significant not only for our understanding of ecosystem interactions but also, potentially, for forensic scientists.

Using computer simulations powered by machine-learning algorithms EPFL scientists have made an important breakthrough in understanding how hydrogen behaves on Saturn and Jupiter. Their research has just been published in Nature.