Led by ETH Zurich and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), three ETH research groups are collaborating with several US universities to investigate microbial ecosystems, with a special focus on the oceans. The research project, named Theory of Microbial Ecosystems (THE-ME), is supported by the Simons Foundation, which will provide 15 million US dollars over a period of at least five years.

Almost all living creatures have evolved mechanisms to remove toxins that have entered their cells: molecular pumps located in the cell membrane recognise harmful substances in the cell interior and transport them outside. Researchers from ETH Zurich and the Biozentrum of the University of Basel have now defined the three-dimensional structure of such a transport protein in humans (the protein ABCG2) at the atomic level. This is the first ti...

Accurate frequency measurements are of crucial importance in many scientific and technological applications. To analyse biologically relevant molecules, for instance, one measures the frequencies at which the atomic nuclei react to electromagnetic waves. Using new measurement procedures based on quantum mechanics, it is now even possible to do such analyses with tiny probes that can be placed in the immediate vicinity of tissues and cells.

The most well-known use of high voltage pulses is in electric fences on farms. However, particle accelerators in large-scale research facilities such as CERN in Geneva also rely on high voltage pulse generators – but these produce pulses with much higher energies and voltages than those used in agricultural fences. Preparatory work is currently underway at CERN for the next large-scale research project from 2025.

ETH Zurich researchers and alumni now working in high-tech industries or running their own companies met with other experts in New York City to talk about the disruptive technology of Blockchain and how machine learning brings both collaboration and consequences. Bringing together diverse perspectives, the ETH Meets New York symposia revealed the fascinating potential of these technologies as well as the ethical questions society faces as it adop...

A group of physicists at ETH in Zurich led by Ursula Keller at the Institute for Quantum Electronics have now demonstrated a seminal method that could lead to simpler and faster spectroscopic investigations in the future. For that purpose, they developed a novel technique for creating so-called dual frequency combs. The results have now been published in the scientific journal Science.

Scientists use the term 4D printing to refer to the simple production of objects that can transform their shape at different times. Researchers at ETH Zurich have now taken this approach one major step further by developing a construction principle that can produce load-bearing and predictable structures. 3D printers have become a standard fixture in many research laboratories – and now a select number of researchers are alre...

Around 1.2 billion people worldwide suffer from iron deficiency, with women worse affected than men. In Europe, one in five women around the age of 20 suffers from iron deficiency. Symptoms include diminished work performance, fatigue, anaemia and headaches. Boosting iron levels through the diet or supplements is tricky, as the iron must be in a form that the body is able to absorb successfully. Iron is also a trace element that can alter th...

The nanotech industry is booming. Every year, several thousands of tonnes of man-made nanoparticles are produced worldwide; sooner or later, a certain part of them will end up in bodies of water or soil. But even experts find it difficult to say exactly what happens to them there. It is a complex question, not only because there are many different types of man-made (engineered) nanoparticles, but also because the particles behave differently in t...

  A team of researchers led by ETH Zurich professor David Norris has developed a model to clarify the general mechanism of nanoplatelet formation. Using pyrite, they also managed to confirm their theory.

  Ten years ago, ETH Zurich established its first and only department outside Zurich: the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering in Basel. ETH will soon expand its outpost. The construction of a new department building on the Schällemätteli campus will bring it right next to the University of Basel.

  Brain researchers at ETH Zurich and other universities have shown for the first time that a region of the brain associated with empathy only activates very weakly in autistic people. This knowledge could help to develop new therapies for those affected by autism.

  An international team of researchers led by chemists from ETH Zurich have developed a method for depositing single magnetisable atoms onto a surface. This is especially interesting for the development of new miniature data storage devices.

In industry and in ETH Zurich’s research laboratories, intelligent robots are now being developed and used for transport, health care and manufacturing applications, and you already can find offers for security, maintenance and service robots on the market. What’s more, there are now also less obvious uses for artificial intelligence, such as for financial trading, social networks and digital advertising.

Hydrogen is a problem for many metals. If hydrogen atoms are included in a metal, the material properties can be severely affected, causing it to become brittle or cracked. To improve materials, it is thus important to quantify the hydrogen inclusions, which means that these deposits need to be located. However, until now it has not been possible to three-dimensionally locate individual hydrogen atoms in a material sample.

Researchers at ETH Zurich and IBM Research Zurich have built a tiny redox flow battery. This means that future computer chip stacks – in which individual chips are stacked like pancakes to save space and energy – could be supplied with electrical power and cooled at the same time by such integrated flow batteries. In a flow battery, an electrochemical reaction is used to produce electricity out of two liquid electrolytes, wh...

In modern information technology there is a rather clear division of labour between light particles (photons), used for transmitting data fast and reliably over large distances, and electrons, which are responsible for data processing in computer chips. One reason why photons are not used for data processing is that they cannot be steered as easily as electrons. Since they have no electric charge they cannot be straightforwardly controlled using ...

Solid, liquid or gas – we encounter these three clearly defined states of matter every day. It is difficult to imagine that substances could simultaneously exhibit properties of two of these states. Yet, precisely such a phenomenon is possible in the realm of quantum physics, where matter can display behaviours that seem mutually exclusive. Supersolidity is one example of such a paradoxical state.

Physicists and engineers at CERN replaced the heart of the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment, one of the two general purpose particle physics detectors that discovered the Higgs boson in 2012. The discovery completed a missing link in the Standard Model of particle physics anticipated by several theoretical physicists in the 1960s. Built at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) - the world’s largest and most powerful high-energy particle acc...

In recent years, IT experts have developed sophisticated image-based digital reconstruction methods for modelling the human face. These methods capture highly detailed images of the face or specific areas of the face – such as hair, eyes or eyelids – and create a digital model of them. In the past, however, very little attention has been given to the mouth cavity in general, and the teeth in particular.