Research

In view of the coronavirus pandemic, the Paul Scherrer Institute changed to the extraordinary situation in spring 2020. By then, only a maximum of 20 percent of all PSI employees work at PSI. Five pictures show how research and operations at PSI nevertheless continued.

An EPFL PhD student has calculated the maximum amount of geothermal energy that could theoretically be extracted using ground-source heat pumps in the Cantons of Vaud and Geneva. In a study combining data on the area available for such systems with computer modeling techniques, she found stark differences between geothermal energy’s potential in urban versus rural areas.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a technique for manufacturing micrometre-long machines by interlocking multiple materials in a complex way. Such microrobots will one day revolutionise the field of medicine.

Behavioral scientists at EPFL have developed a virtual reality test that assesses a person’s vulnerability to stress while exploring immersive environments. The resulting model offers the field of stress research one of the first such tools that does not rely on subjective evaluations.

ETH scientists have generated a huge true random number using DNA synthesis. It is the first time that a number of this magnitude has been created by biochemical means.

Why is gravity the most mysterious force of nature? Lavinia Heisenberg studies how the universe was formed, and how it is changing. She has now been awarded the ETH Zurich Latsis Prize for her outstanding achievements in the field of theoretical physics.

Skin and cartilage are both strong and flexible – properties that are hard to replicate in artificial materials. But a new fabrication process, developed by scientists at EPFL, brings lifelike synthetic polymers a step closer.

A factsheet from the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT) shows: Too much nitrogen and phosphorus is released into the Swiss environment. There they damage biodiversity, forests and water bodies, exacerbate climate change and affect human health. Actually the causes are known.

The composition of particulate matter can influence its harmfulness to human health just as much as the amount, PSI researchers show in a newly published study. Experiments and computational modelling showed that in Europe high concentrations of particulate matter harmful to human health occur mainly in metropolitan areas.

Researchers Juliane Hollender, Ole Seehausen, Bernhard Truffer and Urs von Gunten from the aquatic research institute Eawag are among the "highly cited researchers 2020".

Every year, those scientists whose publications have been cited most frequently and who are thus considered particularly influential in their field are selected. As was the case last year, Empa researchers Bernd Nowack and Maksym Kovalenko are again among these «Highly Cited Researchers».

Splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen is an important chemical reaction, especially considering that the use of hydrogen as an energy source in sustainable mobility in the future. An international research team has now decoded how one of the catalysts used in this reaction works.

Fiber optic sensors – used in critical applications like detecting fires in tunnels, pinpointing leaks in pipelines and predicting landslides – are about to get even faster and more accurate.

At its annual event yesterday, the University Medicine Zurich initiative presented its new flagship project ImmunoPhage: a groundbreaking endeavor that aims to develop bacteriophages for treating urinary tract infections.

Coral reefs are extremely sensitive to temperature, making them particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. But some corals seem able to adapt. Researchers from EPFL and the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD) studied a reef in New Caledonia, combining approaches from environmental science and genomics to characterize their adaptive potential and develop targeted conservation strategies.