July 2020

The COVID-​19 pandemic has created a worldwide demand for affordable ventilators. As part of the «Give a Breath Challenge», an initiative of Munich Re and Fraunhofer, ETH Zurich is testing new respiratory systems to alleviate the effects of the pandemic for those affected worldwide.

Olga Fink develops artificial intelligence algorithms for industrial assets, rolling stock and power plants. The 37-year-old researcher's goal is to predict rare events before they even occur. By doing so, she improves the reliability and service life of complex industrial assets.

Biologists have known for some time that RNA interference can silence genes in far-off cells. They suspected that a messenger substance “transmits” RNA interference. Now, ETH researchers have definitively shown that these messengers in plants are short double-stranded RNA fragments.

Research recently published in the journal “Science” has shown that lockdown measures to combat the spread of COVID-19 lead to a 50% reduction in seismic noise observed around the world in early to mid-2020.

About 40 percent of children around the globe suffer from anaemia because they do not consume enough iron. Now, studies by ETH researchers show that iron deficiency also reduces the protection provided by vaccinations.

Making tumours visible so that surgeons can cut only as much as necessary: this is the goal of an invention by chemical biologists Helma Wennemers and Matthew Aronoff. For their achievement they have received the Spark Award, with which ETH recognises the most innovative invention with the most commercial potential of the past year.

ETH researchers used computer simulations to classify the current activity of corona structures on the surface of Venus. To their surprise, they found a previously undiscovered ring of fire on our neighbouring planet.

During the coronavirus pandemic the government is relying more than ever on scientific expertise and has set up the "Swiss National COVID-19 Science Task Force" in response to the crisis. In August the Task Force will have a new mandate and a new Chair: Martin Ackermann, Professor of Molecular Microbial Biology at ETH Zurich and Head of Eawag's Environmental Microbiology Department.

Many countries are turning to digital aids to help manage the COVID-19 pandemic. ETH researchers are now pointing out the ethical challenges, that need to be taken into account and the issues that need careful consideration when planning, developing and implementing such tools.

The way people move around in cities gives us clues as to when many crimes are committed and in which hotspots, as ETH researchers have demonstrated using anonymised data from  location technology plattforms.