A new generation of microsensors could provide the vital link between food products and the Internet of Things. ETH researchers have developed an ultra-thin temperature sensor that is both biocompatible and biodegradable. Nowadays microsensors are already used in many different applications, such as the detection of poisonous gases. They are also integrated into miniaturised transmitter/receiver systems, such as the ubiquitous RFID chips.

By performing large-scale proteomics analysis of liver proteins, ETH researchers have discovered a protein that is essential for liver regeneration. They have also figured out the mechanism of the protein’s function. The liver is a wonderful thing: it’s the only organ able to fully regenerate with no scar tissue formation, even after major injury. In the case of organ donation, it is therefore generally possible to remove part of...

  Scientists at ETH Zurich and Roche have developed a completely new method for the analysis of molecules in liquids on a chip. The possible applications of this technology are immense. It has the potential, inter alia, to revolutionise medical diagnostics.

  Concentrating solar power (CSP) has the potential to play a key role in balancing renewable energy production, but today the technology is living in the shadow of photovoltaics. A closer look at the cost trends and the history of the industry may give new hope for CSP.

  For the first time, ETH researchers have succeeded in applying a millennia-old method for making fabrics to create a completely organic nanoweave. The structure of the trihexagonal “kagome” weave is based on the sophisticated design of the molecules that make up the threads.

  Researchers from ETH Zurich and Disney Research have developed a software that makes it easier to animate characters in the entertainment industry. In the future, the software could also allow inexperienced users to design compelling motion cycles.

  Ingo Scholtes from the Chair of Systems Design has developed an analytical method that takes account of the chronological order of connections within networks. This not only makes it possible to more accurately identify links between topics on the internet, but also makes it easier to predict the spread of epidemics, for example.

  Dehydration is one of the most common causes of death among young children in the developing world – particularly during the hot summer months. ETH Professor Walter Karlen and his team of researchers have developed an inexpensive mobile device that could be used by laypeople to more effectively treat dehydration.

  Science and the IT industry have high hopes for quantum computing, but descriptions of possible applications tend to be vague. Researchers at ETH Zurich have now come up with a concrete example that demonstrates what quantum computers will actually be able to achieve in the future.

  Fifty students from ETH Zurich and other Swiss universities want to revolutionise transport. For a race set up by Elon Musk, they have developed a zero emission capsule that could in future transport people and goods through a vacuum tube at almost the speed of sound.

  Climate change is leading to ever higher temperatures and aridity in many areas, making efficient room cooling increasingly important. An ETH doctoral student at the Functional Materials Laboratory has developed an alternative to electrically powered air conditioning: a cooling curtain made of a porous triple-layer membrane.

  ETH researchers from the Functional Materials Laboratory have developed a silicone heart that beats almost like a human heart. In collaboration with colleagues from the Product Development Group Zurich, they have tested how well it works.

A quarter of energy consumption worldwide occurs in the home, and this percentage is increasing, even in OECD countries, despite more efficient fridges and better insulation. The amount of energy a household requires is strongly dependent on the behaviour and purchase decisions of the inhabitants – and both are rarely based on well-informed assessments. On the one hand, households often invest considerably less in economical appli...

Robots that build walls, and 3D printers that print entire formworks for ceiling slabs – digital fabrication in architecture has developed rapidly in recent years. As part of the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) Digital Fab-rication, architects, robotics specialists, materials scientists, structural engineers and sustainability experts from ETH Zurich have teamed up with business partners to bring several new digital bu...

A tiny sphere and a laser beam inside of which it hovers as if by magic: with these simple ingredients Martin Frimmer and co-workers at the Photonics Laboratory of ETH Zurich have developed a highly sensitive sensor. In the future this device is expected to measure, amongst other things, extremely weak forces or electric fields very precisely. Now the researchers have taken a major step in that direction, as they write in a recently publishe...

  Genomics, digital patient files and real-time health surveillance – never before have we had access to so much health data. ETH researchers explain how they extract relevant information from this sea of data and the potential benefits for personalised medicine.

In January 2016 ETH researchers Professor Raffaele Mezzenga and his senior researcher Sreenath Bolisetty published a study in the journal Nature Nanotechnology about a type of membrane developed in their laboratory. They showed that this membrane could effectively filter out heavy metals, radioactive waste, other toxic substances, and bacteria from polluted water.

  ETH Professor Martin Vechev is automating computer programming: he is one of the first researchers ever to teach computers how to write their own software. This makes him one of the founders of a new field of research that is growing rapidly.

At times of technological revolution, fear of change is not new. In fact, it is astonishing how current apprehensions about digitalisation resemble the past: information overload due to the invention of radio and later of television; unemployment caused by the rise of industrial robots in the 1970s and 1980s. When it comes to digitalisation in the agro-food sector, things are not that different. The disruption in the whole value chain is unavoida...

The use of immunotherapy to treat cancer is celebrating its first successes – but there are still many knowledge gaps in the underlying mechanisms of action. In a study of mice with soft tissue tumours, ETH researchers have now shown how endogenous killer cells track down the tumours with the help of dormant viruses. The promising drug is known as F8-TNF. When injected into the bloodstream, it lures killer cells from the body’s i...