ETH News

Instead of burning coal or oil to produce cement or steel, in the future solar energy could be used for this purpose. Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a thermal trap that can absorb concentrated sunlight and deliver heat at over thousand degrees Celsius.

Experiments by ETH Zurich computer security researchers showed that smartphones can be manipulated to allow the owner to ride Swiss trains for free. The researchers also highlighted ways of curbing such misuse.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a safe and inexpensive device for reliable blood measurements. It works using a suction cup and could also be employed to diagnose the tropical disease malaria – even by non-medical personnel.

In collaboration with University Hospital Basel, researchers from ETH are investigating the early stages of bladder cancer. Their findings show that future research should also focus on mechanical changes in tumour tissue.

A new computer process developed by chemists at ETH Zurich makes it possible to generate active pharmaceutical ingredients quickly and easily based on a protein’s three-dimensional surface. The new process could revolutionise drug research.

Monitoring and treating a case of multiple sclerosis requires reliable and long-term data on how the disease is progressing in the person in question. Fitness trackers and smartphones can supply this data, as a research team led by ETH Zurich has now shown.

A new molecular test method helps to prove the authenticity of works of art. The new method could also help to make passwords secure against quantum computers.

The quadrupedal robot ANYmal went back to school and has learned a lot. ETH Zurich researchers used machine learning to teach it new skills: the robot can now climb over obstacles and successfully negotiate pitfalls.

ETH Zurich researchers have recovered the precious metal from electronic waste. Their highly sustainable new method is based on a protein fibril sponge, which the scientists derive from whey, a food industry byproduct.

ETH researchers have teamed up with Kantonsspital Baden to find ways of preventing patients from becoming dependent on opioid painkillers.

There are some striking parallels between how skin wounds heal and how malignant tumours grow. Cell culture can help us understand the mechanisms involved – but animal testing still has a role to play.

Researchers at ETH Zurich are developing a new method to remove CO₂ from the atmosphere. It involves molecules that become acidic when exposed to light. Their new process requires much less energy than conventional technologies.

ETH Zurich researchers have shown for the first time that microvehicles can be steered through blood vessels in the brains of mice using ultrasound. They hope that this will eventually lead to treatments capable of delivering drugs with pinpoint precision.

Of the 13 scientists receiving an SNSF Starting Grant for projects at ETH Zurich this year, 11 are women.

For the first time, researchers have succeeded in printing a robotic hand with bones, ligaments and tendons made of different polymers using a new laser scanning technique.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a method that lets them genetically modify each cell differently in animals. This allows them to study in a single experiment what used to require many animal experiments. Using the new method, the researchers have discovered genes that are relevant for a severe rare genetic disorder.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have demonstrated the use of a specially coated metal mesh to harvest water from fog and simultaneously remove pollutants. People living in dry but foggy areas should benefit from this technology.

ETH Zurich professors Mustafa Khammash and Marc Pollefeys are each recipients of a prestigious Advanced Grant currently awarded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, rather than the European Research Council.

A new method allows large quantities of muscle stem cells to be safely obtained in cell culture. This provides a potential for treating patients with muscle diseases – and for those who would like to eat meat, but don’t want to kill animals.

Science often runs ahead of legislation – and this is now also true for research on embryo-like cell aggregates from human stem cells. Bioethicist Alessandro Blasimme of ETH Zurich explains why this controversial topic calls for legal clarity.

Swiss engineers are training legged robots for future lunar missions that will search for minerals and raw materials. To ensure that the robots can continue to work even if one of them malfunctions, the researchers are teaching them teamwork.

ETH Zurich and Roche are joining forces in Basel to advance the development of new methods that facilitate the search for medicines. Together, they will train specialists for the biomedical challenges of our time.

Urea reacts extremely quickly under the conditions that existed when our planet was newly formed. This new insight furthers our understanding of how life on Earth might have begun.

Researchers have managed to produce slow electrons in a solution. In the future, such electrons could help make certain chemical reactions more efficient.

If European countries collaborate, they can avoid severe energy scarcity due to a gas shortage. This is the finding of a new study by ETH Zurich researchers.

Researchers from Basel and Zurich are creating a high-resolution atlas that depicts the development of the human retina. One technique they use is a new method that allows them to visualise more than 50 proteins simultaneously.

The cells of our body interact with their immediate environment. Researchers have now studied this interaction in detail. In time, they hope to use these findings for improved diagnosis and treatment of wound-healing disorders and cancer.

It is not easy to make batteries cheap, efficient, durable, safe and environmentally friendly at the same time. Researchers at ETH Zurich have now succeeded in uniting all of these characteristics in zinc metal batteries.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have analysed the bird flu epidemic caused by the H7N9 strain that affected China from 2013 to 2017. New phylogenetic trees will help to improve monitoring of future bird flu epidemics.

Computer simulations have helped researchers understand in detail how pharmaceutically active substances cross cell membranes. These findings can now be used to discover new drug candidates more efficiently.

For minimally invasive surgery, the instruments used must be small. ETH Zurich researchers have now developed a method to transport large devices through a narrow catheter. This expands the possibilities for designing minimally invasive surgical tools.

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.

Emotional trauma can have far-reaching ripple effects and may even reverberate across generations. Professors Isabelle Mansuy and Katharina Gapp study how the effects of trauma can be inherited through epigenetic mechanisms.

A new study shows what it will take for the plastics industry to become completely sustainable: lots of recycling combined with the use of CO₂ from the air and biomass. It is also the image of plastics that need to change.

It is known that toxins in tobacco smoke can change our DNA – but where exactly in the genome they do this has been a mystery. A new approach developed by researchers at ETH Zurich now brings light into the darkness. In the future, this could make it easier than ever to determine the safety of many chemical substances.

New research offers potential benefits for those affected by the hereditary metabolic disease methylmalonic aciduria. By combining the results of multiple molecular analyses, scientists can better diagnose this rare and severe disease. In the future, an improved understanding of the disease might also improve treatment options.

Until now, microscopic robotic systems have had to make do without arms. Now researchers at ETH Zurich have developed an ultrasonically actuated glass needle that can be attached to a robotic arm. This lets them pump and mix minuscule amounts of liquid and trap particles.

ETH researchers have developed a modular system for the simple and inexpensive production of security inks. It is based on polymers and could also be used in solar power plants and screens in the future.

Ukrainian building materials professor Viacheslav Troian left his homeland with his family because of the war. At ETH Zurich, he is researching the role that recycled concrete might play in future reconstruction.

Researchers at ETH Zurich and the Carnegie Institution for Science have shown how nitrogen fertiliser could be produced more sustainably. This is necessary not only to protect the climate, but also to reduce dependence on imported natural gas and to increase food security.

Researchers from ETH Zurich have developed a new transparent gold nanocoating that harnesses sunlight to heat the lenses of glasses, thereby preventing them from fogging in humid conditions. This coating could potentially also be applied to car windshields.

Nine scientists are receiving SNSF Starting Grants for projects they plan to carry out at ETH Zurich starting next year.

On the current list of Highly Cited Researchers, 21 have a connection to ETH Zurich. Four of these appear on the list for the first time.

ETH postdoc Olivier Gröninger is improving the drinking water supply for people in rural areas of South America with his Openversum project. This benefits not only the families but also the local economy and the climate

Researchers at ETH Zurich are planning to use magnetic bacteria to fight cancerous tumours. They have now found a way for these microorganisms to effectively cross blood vessel walls and subsequently colonise a tumour.

It is not only classical genes that determine our predisposition to obesity. Researchers at ETH Zurich have now shown that microRNA molecules play a central role in the regulation of body weight.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a method to explore the possibilities of how the pandemic virus could evolve. Thanks to their work, it may be possible to develop antibody therapies and vaccines that are more likely to be effective also against future viral variants.

The Swiss National Science Foundation has awarded Advanced Grants to make up for the loss of European support. Researchers at ETH Zurich did particularly well, with 6 of the 24 grants going to the university.

Researchers from ETH Zurich, the University of Zurich and Empa have developed a new material for an electronic component that can be used in a wider range of applications than its predecessors. Such components will help create electronic circuits that emulate the human brain and that are more efficient at performing machine-learning tasks.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have conducted a detailed study of neurulation – how the neural tube forms during embryonic development. They conclude that this happens less actively than previously thought. This also has implications for understanding defects such as spina bifida.

Researchers from ETH Zurich, University Hospital of Bern and the University of Bern have equipped gut bacteria with data logger functionality as a way of monitoring which genes are active in the bacteria. These microorganisms could one day offer a noninvasive means of diagnosing disease or assessing the impact of a diet on health.

Researchers have developed a new method that uses artificial intelligence to analyse animal behaviour. This opens the door to longer-term in-depth studies in the field of behavioural science – while also helping to improve animal welfare. The method is already being tested at Zurich Zoo.

Aerosols in the atmosphere react to incident sunlight. This light is amplified in the interior of the aerosol droplets and particles, accelerating reactions. ETH researchers have now been able to demonstrate and quantify this effect and recommend factoring it into future climate models.

In experiments on mice, researchers at ETH Zurich show that non-essential amino acids act as appetite suppressants and promote the urge to move. Their research provides insight into the neural mechanism that controls this behaviour.

ETH Zurich researchers have created artificial colours by 3D printing certain nanostructures inspired by those of a butterfly. This principle can be used in the future to produce colour screens.

ETH Zurich and the other Swiss universities are committed to reducing the stress and suffering experienced by laboratory animals. However, an outright ban on animal testing – being put to the vote in a popular initiative this coming February – would put an end to progress in medical research.

Scientists at ETH Zurich have developed a new method to determine how proteins are organised on the surface of cells. Insights gained with the technology could lead to the development of novel drugs to fight cancer.

Stanisa Raspopovic connects the digital world of sensors and electrical circuits with the nervous system and its cellular circuits. Now he is the recipient of the 2021 ETH Zurich Latsis Prize.

Tom Edwardson modified a tiny artificial protein structure so it could be used as a vehicle for RNA molecules and other active substances. He now aims to create a spin-off to bring his development to market.

In recent years, there have been several incidents of hacked databases, and the hackers published the stolen data on the internet. Are scientists allowed to use such data for their research? ETH Zurich bioethicists Marcello Ienca and Professor Effy Vayena have addressed this question in a paper published in the journal Nature Machine Intelligence. ETH News spoke with Ienca.

ETH Zurich Professor Katrien De Bock and her team have discovered a certain type of blood vessel cell in muscles that multiplies rapidly upon exercise, thereby forming new blood vessels. Researchers can use this to find novel therapies for vascular disorders of the muscle.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a molecule that fluoresces where new tissue is forming in the body. Alongside helping to detect tumours, the molecule could play a significant role in research of wound healing disorders.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a cell culture test to detect substances that are directly or indirectly harmful to embryos. Based on an existing test used for developing new drugs and chemicals, the augmented version is designed to help reduce the number of animal experiments.

Niko Beerenwinkel, a Professor at the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering at ETH Zurich in Basel, is working with colleagues from other research institutions to examine wastewater for traces of the coronavirus. He has detected the Delta variant in five out of six Swiss wastewater treatment plants examined, including ones in Zurich and Bern. Recently he spoke with ETH News.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a condenser for countries where water is in short supply. Theirs is the first zero-energy solution for harvesting water from the atmosphere throughout the 24-hour daily cycle. It relies on a self-cooling surface and a special radiation shield.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have recreated a key step in the evolutionary history of viruses in a laboratory experiment. They succeeded in remodeling a natural protein to create capsids capable of storing genetic material.

Researchers at ETH Zurich and the University of Basel have developed a vaccine that protects animals from Salmonella. These bacteria often escape the effects of vaccination by genetically modifying their protective coat. The researchers have succeeded in manipulating this process to lure the bacteria into an evolutionary trap.

Researchers from ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich deciphered the cellular mechanisms through which tendons can adapt to mechanical stresses. People who carry a certain variant of a gene that is key to this mechanism show improved jumping performance.

During an inflammatory response, things need to happen quickly: ETH Zurich researchers have recently discovered that certain immune cells that function as security guards can use a shortcut to get from the tissue to lymph nodes.

The climate action potential of carbon capture during the processing of biomass feedstock is considerable, ETH Zurich researchers have calculated. If this potential is to be fully exploited in practice, however, there are challenges to overcome.

Machine learning methods help to optimise the development of antibody drugs. This leads to active substances with improved properties, also with regard to tolerability in the body.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed fluorescent polymers whose colour can be easily tuned. Depending on their length, the polymers emit a different colour. Potential applications include biomedicine, security printing and solar energy.

Scientists at ETH Zurich are working to develop information-processing switching systems in biological cells. Now, for the first time, they have developed an OR switch in human cells that reacts to different signals.

ETH researchers are among the first scientists to have succeeded in propelling microvehicles against a fluid flow using ultrasound. In future, these tiny vehicles are set to be introduced into the human bloodstream, thereby revolutionising the field of medicine.

Researchers at ETH Zurich and the University of Mainz developed a new method to replace molecular chlorine and bromine in chemical synthesis with less toxic molecules. The technology helps to make chemical processes safer and more sustainable and to remediate contaminated soils.

As part of a clinical study involving patients from the University Hospitals in Zurich and Basel, researchers are conducting a thorough and highly precise investigation into the molecular and functional properties of tumours. Their goal is to help physicians to better determine which treatment will best match every patient’s cancer and thus be most effective.

ETH Zurich researchers conducted an experiment to investigate the initial steps in the formation of aerosols. Their findings are now aiding efforts to better understand and model that process – for example, the formation of clouds in the atmosphere.

Carbon-neutral aviation is possible, but in future, aircraft are likely to continue to be powered by fossil fuels. The CO₂ they emit must be systematically stored underground. This is the most economical of various approaches that ETH researchers have compared in detail.

Transmitting sensory signals from prostheses to the nervous system helps leg amputees to perceive prosthesis as part of their body. While amputees generally perceive their prostheses as heavy, this feedback helps them to perceive the prostheses as significantly lighter, ETH researchers have shown.

ETH scientists use magnetic bacteria to control liquids at the micro level. They are already thinking about using them in the human bloodstream for precision delivery of cancer drugs to a tumour.

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.

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.

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.

In 2003, the painkiller paracetamol (acetaminophen) became available in Switzerland in tablets with a higher dose of the active ingredient. This correlates with an increase in cases of paracetamol poisoning in the country, as a data analysis by ETH researchers shows.

ETH researchers have developed a new generation of microelectrode-array chips for measuring nerve impulses, enabling studies of how thousands of nerve cells interact with each other.

Using algorithms to analyse the whole-genome sequence of a tumour can make treatment more successful – and can even help determine how cells become cancerous.

ETH Zurich researchers can predict how tightly a cell’s protein synthesis machinery will bind to RNA sequences – even when dealing with many billions of different RNA sequences. This binding plays a key role in determining how much of a specific protein is produced. The scientists are developing their prediction model using a combination of synthetic biology experiments and machine learning algorithms.

Electrons are able to move within molecules, for example when they are excited from outside or in the course of a chemical reaction. For the first time, scientists have now succeeded in studying the first few dozen attoseconds of this electron movement in a liquid.

ETH Zurich scientists have developed an RNA molecule that can be used in bone marrow cells to correct genetic errors that affect protein production. Patients suffering from a rare hereditary disease that causes a painful hypersensitivity to sunlight could benefit in future.

The Executive Board of ETH Zurich now has an Associate Vice President for Medicine: ETH Professor Christian Wolfrum. ETH News asked him about his goals, the university’s potential and where he sees the greatest need for action.

Soya and clover have their very own fertiliser factories in their roots, where bacteria manufacture ammonium, which is crucial for plant growth. Although this has long been common knowledge, scientists have only recently described the mechanism in detail. With biotechnology, this knowledge could now help make agriculture more sustainable.

ETH researchers are using a new mathematical model to calculate a possible second wave of the pandemic in Switzerland. Even though such a wave would probably grow more slowly than the first without overloading hospitals, its death toll may turn out to be significantly higher.

ETH researchers are developing and improving methods to detect the pandemic virus or virus-specific antibodies. With the help of such tests, the scientists are also investigating the details of how the pathogen is spreading. A project overview.

The “lockdown light” decreed by the Swiss Federal Council has led to each person infected with Sars-CoV-2 going on to infect only one person on average instead of two or three prior to the lockdown, as calculations by a team from ETH Zurich have shown. This means the situation is stable, but the epidemic has yet to be contained.

ETH researchers analysed various possibilities for reducing the net CO₂ emissions of the chemical industry to zero. Their conclusion? The chemical industry can in fact have a carbon-neutral future.

With the help of machine learning, ETH researchers have developed a novel yet low-cost tactile sensor. The sensor measures force distribution at high resolution and with great accuracy, enabling robot arms to grasp sensitive or fragile objects.

Analyses of publicly available genome data provide clues to the beginnings of the coronavirus epidemic in China. Researchers from the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering at ETH Zurich in Basel used a statistical model they had developed in recent years.

The calcification of blood vessels and other soft tissues is problematic. Researchers at ETH Zurich and ETH spin-off Inositec have discovered a substance that prevents vascular calcification.

ETH scientists have further developed QLED technology for screens. They have produced light sources that for the first time emit high-intensity light in only one direction. This reduces scattering losses, which makes the technology extremely energy efficient.

Researchers from ETH Zurich and the National University of Singapore have developed a new kind of bandage that helps blood to clot and doesn’t stick to the wound. This marks the first time that scientists have combined both properties in one material.