Research

Empa researchers are working on artificial muscles that can keep up with the real thing. They have now developed a method of producing the soft and elastic, yet powerful structures using 3D printing. One day, these could be used in medicine or robotics – and anywhere else where things need to move at the touch of a button.

New methods are making it possible to gain a more precise understanding of the role of organic molecules in the functioning of ecosystems. Researchers from Eawag and University of Zurich are therefore calling for a new “ecology of molecules”.

Snow-free slopes at 1,900 m.a.s.l.: SLF biologist Christian Rixen explains the consequences for plants and why late frost becomes a risk.

At the end of January, Empa opened a new laboratory that aims to harness quantum effects from carbon. This could pave the way for sustainable quantum technologies, including quantum computers. The project is supported by the Werner Siemens Foundation.

Scientists have identified previously unknown neural modules in the brain that control movement and adapt during skill learning. Their findings challenge long-held ideas about how the brain organizes movement.

Working in the digital age is increasingly stressful for many people. For Erika Meins, digital technologies and artificial intelligence are both the cause and part of the solution, as they can effectively help reduce stress.

For the first time, researchers have been able to observe how the pupils react during sleep over a period of several hours. A look under the eyelids showed them that more happens in the brain during sleep than was previously assumed.

Flavescence dorée, a dreaded grapevine disease among winegrowers, is spreading beyond cultivated vineyards. A joint study by the federal research institute WSL and Agroscope shows that gone-wild grapevines and related vector insects contribute to the spread of the disease in the forest.

Developed from EPFL research, in collaboration with MIT and Yale, the combination of secure computation and distributed algorithms opens a new era for data collaborations in medical research.

Polymer chemists at ETH Zurich have discovered a surprising way to virtually fully break down PMMA plastic – commonly known as Plexiglas – into its monomer building blocks. The process remains unaffected by the presence of additives.

Why does matter change when it interacts with light? What is going on with the individual molecules in this process? For physicist Dominik Sidler from the Center for Scientific Computing, Theory and Data at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, theory is anything but dull. He is searching for a new fundamental theory to describe how the chemical properties of a material can be influenced by strong light-matter interactions.

Scientists at EPFL have revealed how quantum interference and symmetry dictate molecular behavior in collisions with gold surfaces, offering new insights into molecular interactions. The findings can have important implications for chemistry and materials science.

ETH researchers have developed a low-cost sensor made of carbon nanotubes that can selectively, efficiently and reliably measure minute quantities of oxygen in gas mixtures under light. The detector could be widely used in industry, medicine and environmental monitoring

A bioinspired robot developed at EPFL can change shape to alter its own physical properties in response to its environment, resulting in a robust and efficient autonomous vehicle as well as a fresh approach to robotic locomotion.

In a four-year EU project led by Empa, eleven collaborators from research and industry succeeded in significantly improving batteries for electric cars. One of the main objectives of the project was to scale up the new materials and technologies so that they can be brought to market as fast as possible.