Research

Due to climate change, many deciduous trees leaf-out earlier. However, the risk of late spring frosts remains high and the frequency of extreme droughts is clearly increasing. Tree species able to quickly recover after frost damage may be advantaged in the future, shows a study by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL.

A team led by ETH Zurich chemical engineers Chih-Jen Shih and Andrew deMello have developed a rapid test system made of smart graphene paper. It only costs a few cents per test strip, is easy to use but is as accurate as lab measurements. The approach will impact more than just disease monitoring.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed an electronic yarn capable of precisely measuring how a person’s body moves. Integrated directly into sportswear or work clothing, the textile sensor predicts the wearer’s exhaustion level during physical exertion.

Thanks to a unique data set from lakes, Eawag has succeeded in determining how plankton networks respond to climate change and phosphate levels.

EPFL researchers have developed a temperature-modulating robotic system that can be seamlessly integrated into notoriously sensitive honeybee hives, providing both a never-before-seen view of honeybee behaviour and a means to influence it.

Prof. Andrea Rinaldo, an EPFL expert in hydrology, has been selected as the 2023 winner of the Stockholm Water Prize – the world’s most prestigious award in water research, handed out by the king of Sweden.

UN International Day of Forests on 21 March is the perfect opportunity to showcase some of the important forest research being done at EPFL. For instance, one recent study found that the changes in relative humidity caused by higher temperatures are having a significant impact on trees.

The elimination of daylight-saving time is a frequently – and heatedly – discussed topic. Often, only the aspect of electricity consumption due to artificial lighting is considered. In a new study, Empa researchers have now analyzed whether daylight saving also has an impact on the heating and cooling energy required for office buildings, and what role climate change might play in this. The results should delight supporters of daylight-saving time.

In the Forest Laboratory "Waldlabor" on Hönggerberg, ETH Zurich researchers investigate the storage and transport processes of water in the forest. Recently they showed that forest-floor litter and deadwood have a far larger influence on the forest water balance than expected.

Focusing exclusively on new housing developments to counter the housing crisis is not sustainable, says David Kaufmann. His research group has been able to show that vulnerable persons are displaced to a much greater extent than previously thought in the Swiss canton of Zürich.

A study by researchers at ETH Zurich shows for the first time how a relaxation of Swiss spatial planning policy would affect the locations of wind turbines. If the aim is to have as few wind turbines as possible in the Alps and in Switzerland in general, it would be worth considering using windy agricultural areas on the western Swiss Plateau.

The UN Water Conference will be held in New York from 22 -24 March 2023. In addition to Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis, Eawag researchers will also be present. Together with partners, the conference presents a commitment that contributes to the 2030 Water Action Plan. It will also illustrate with projects how research approaches can be directly applied in practice through multilateral cooperation. One of these approaches is the Water Flow Diagram (WFD), which was developed under the lead of Eawag.

Increasingly dense cell clusters in growing tumours convert blood vessels into fibre-filled channels. This makes immune cells less effective, as findings by researchers from ETH Zurich and the University of Strasbourg suggest.

Black Soldier Flies and the transformation of organic waste into marketable products has been a main research area of the Municipal Solid Waste Management group at Eawag for more than 12 years. Now, the Sustainable Waste-based Insect Farming Technologies project has received funding from the Swiss National Science Foundation and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.

EPFL researchers have studied Vernier, a city in the canton of Geneva, as the pilot site for an interactive map that explores our relationship with the built and natural environments.