Teaser channel

As the speaker at this year's Paul Bernays Lectures, Michel Devoret, Chief Scientist at Google Quantum AI, discussed quantum information processing with superconducting circuits – and took the time to find out about the variety of research activities in the ETH physics department.

Researchers have further developed the use of light to control cell functions. This allows them to control cells in culture in a more specific, precise and dynamic way than before. For example, it is now possible to grow tissue in specific patterns or shapes, both in conventional cell culture and in three-dimensional tissue culture. This enables the production of more sophisticated tissue and organ models for research.

Exporting agricultural products from tropical regions to China, the USA, the Middle East, and Europe is three times more harmful to biodiversity than previously assumed. Researchers from the Technical University of Munich and the ETH Zurich have shown this by tracking agricultural exports.

The EU wants to increase offshore wind energy capacity from the current 12 gigawatts (GW) to 450 GW by 2050. The international research initiative HIPERWIND involving ETH researchers is developing innovative simulation models that reduce the levelized cost of energy for wind turbines by up to 9 percent.

Researchers at PSI and ETH Zurich have pioneered a new X-ray-technique, which probes the orientation of a material’s building blocks at the nanoscale in three-dimensions. First applied to study a polycrystalline catalyst, the technique allows the visualisation of crystal grains, grain boundaries and defects - key factors determining catalyst performance.