November 2015

Machines will become not just more intelligent in the future, but also more capable of learning. To promote research in this field, ETH Zurich and the Max Planck Society officially open the Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems today. The scientists want to understand the theoretical principles of learning and how these can be applied to real machines.

A working group headed by Michael Ambühl, Professor of Negotiation at ETH Zurich, held an introductory event this week for 14 of the newly elected members of the federal parliament from the different parties and cantons.

In order to divide, cells in the intestinal wall have to leave their densely packed environment and migrate to the surface. ETH researchers have now discovered how they do this – using a tiny bed of nails.

Studying peculiar properties of a long known metallic material researchers have chanced upon a new particle. It is related to the so-called Weyl fermions that the mathematician Hermann Weyl predicted almost ninety years ago. Weyl had overlooked the particle, which could have interesting applications in electronics.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have created a new type of foam made of real gold. It is the lightest form ever produced of the precious metal: a thousand times lighter than its conventional form and yet it is nearly impossible to tell the difference with the naked eye. There are many possible applications.

Russland sorgt in der Arktis immer wieder für Aufsehen. Mit viel Muskelspiel und Symbolpolitik will Moskau seinen Einfluss in dieser ressourcenreichen Region vergrössern. Doch die Ambitionen Russlands allein auf seinen Rohstoffhunger zurückzuführen, greift zu kurz. Das Land verfolgt in der Arktis eine hundertjährige Priorität.

The Ruzicka Prize 2015 has been awarded to Henning Jessen, Professor of Bioorganic Chemistry at the University of Freiburg in Breisgau. The 36-year-old German scientist has been highly successful in researching how secondary messengers can be chemically modified or even artificially produced in the laboratory.

On the 160th anniversary of ETH Zurich, Rector Sarah Springman described how she wants to provide students with the tools they need for their future careers in a rapidly changing professional world. In her address, Mayor Corine Mauch emphasised how important open-mindedness is for the future of ETH and for the city of Zurich.

Every year at the SC conference, the Gordon Bell Prize is presented to recognise outstanding work in the field of high-performance computing. This year, two research groups from ETH Zurich competed in the finals, a remarkable achievement considering only five teams have been preselected world-wide.

Im Entwurf des Bundesrats zum ersten Massnahmenpaket für die Energiestrategie 2050 sind verbindliche Effizienzziele für Stromversorger vorgesehen. Das würde einen Anreiz schaffen, vermehrt Demand-Side-Management Programme umzusetzen, um den Stromverbrauch der Konsumenten zu beeinflussen. Doch sind solche Programme sinnvoll für die Schweiz?