Environment
Urban planning helps mitigate extreme weather effects in Haut-Valais
Teaching
EPFL
Olivier Lalancette, an EPFL Master’s student in architecture, has come up with some development proposals for the Brig-Visp-Naters conurbation. His suggestions, relatively modest in scope, could help these cities better withstand the droughts and heavy rainfall that are expected to intensify by 2050. Lalancette hopes his study will start a conversation about the region’s future.
Searching for plastic gobblers in alpine soils
Research
WSL
Can microbes from cold alpine soils break down plastic? This has been investigated in a study carried out by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL. Such organisms could help break down and recycle plastic in the future.
Unraveling the secrets of microplastics released by tires
Research
EPFL Eawag
In Switzerland, tire and road wear particles are one of the biggest sources of microplastics released into the environment, yet the chemical compounds contained in those particles – and their effects – remain largely a mystery. To remedy that knowledge gap, scientists at EPFL and two other Swiss research institutes are conducting a study of the toxicity of tire-particle compounds and how readily they’re absorbed by living organisms. The first phase of the study has just been completed.
Finding the pulse of avalanches and volcanoes
Research
WSL
Despite their differences, cold powder avalanches and hot pyroclastic flows during volcanic eruptions do have a number of things in common, not least their immense destructive power. Completely independently of one another, researchers from both fields have discovered that pulsating flows are responsible for the destructive power of these two natural hazards. A research project supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation is aiming to uncover the origin of this still unknown phenomenon.  
The Swiss water turnaround: wait and see or take a proactive approach?
Politics
Eawag
New technologies in the water sector can contribute to the flexible and sustainable development of urban water management and the sustainable utilisation of water as a resource. In a recent article in the journal Aqua & Gas, a team of researchers from the aquatic research institute Eawag shows what opportunities and risks are associated with this.
The roman history of the chestnut culture
Research
WSL
The sweet chestnut and the walnut are an economically important tree species in Europe. It is thanks to the ancient Romans that we find their fruits and wood so widespread today. Scientists at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL and the University of Bern have retraced the history of their distribution based on pollen and archaeological evidence.
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