Biology

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.

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.

Cancer patients might one day benefit from being administered immune cells from healthy donors. But as things stand, receiving donor cells can cause severe or even fatal immune reactions. A researcher at ETH Zurich has now developed a technology that avoids these.

The Chinese windmill palm (Trachycarpus fortunei), a popular postcard subject in the southernmost Swiss canton, originates from Asia and is extremely resistant to cold. The Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL has now investigated the potential impact of its massive spread in the forests of Ticino and proposes targeted control measures.