July 2014

An interdisciplinary research team has managed to uncover clear migration and interaction patterns, applying statistical analysis to information on where notable cultural figures were born and died. Just published in the journal Science, the study shows that natural science and the humanities can enrich each other and that the humanities can profit from complex network research.

Das Fällen einzelner Bäume in tropischen Wäldern wurde bisher als relativ naturverträglich angesehen. Das ist es bei weitem nicht immer, so das Fazit einer neuen Studie. Es kommt darauf an, wie stark die Wälder genutzt werden.

And the cup goes to Poland: Mariusz Frukacz, a Post Doc in D-BAUG, won ETH Zurich’s World Cup predictor game.

In the Falling Walls Lab, participants have just three minutes to present their project. To enter the preliminary round in Zurich, you have to sign up by 12 September.

To some people, a field trip may sound an outdated concept, but at ETH Zurich this teaching method is used on many courses. Students and lecturers both agree that content learnt on field trips sticks in the mind particularly well.

They are called CoRoT-4 b or OGLE-2005-BLG-390L b – exoplanets often have scientific designations that are impossible to pronounce. Now the International Astronomical Union (IAU), working in collaboration with the citizen science project Zooniverse, has announced a public competition in which the 30 most popular exoplanets from a list of 305 will be given new names.

Google is working with various universities and other institutions on Project Tango, an initiative to develop mobile devices that can detect surroundings in three dimensions and enable navigation indoors. The first devices are expected to hit the market next year. ETH Zurich has a significant role in the project.

In May, ETH Zurich made an appearance in the USA at the “Zürich meets New York” festival. A retrospective of this event is now going on show in ETH’s Main Building from 22 July to 12 August.

An innovative filter makes it possible to purify water more quickly, simply and economically than ever before. The developers hope the device will soon play a big role development aid, and they are looking for investors to help them achieve this goal.

No fossil fuels used for heating or hot water in an entire village – that is the ambitious goal of the Zernez Energia 2020 research project. ETH scientists have studied the feasibility of the project and are presenting the initial findings in an exhibition.