science wire

The risk of fatal heat waves has already risen sharply over the past twenty years. In the future, such extremes will become more frequent and heat-related excess mortality will increase. Europe is particularly affected by this, as researchers show . Heat waves like the one we are currently experiencing are particularly deadly for the elderly, the sick and the poor.

Work psychologist Petra Schmid studies the effects of social power. She favours an interdisciplinary approach that includes both lab experiments and surveys.

ETH students are mapping the groundwater in an area of forest near Bern. This fieldwork will give them the skills they need for a career in environmental engineering.

ETH spin-off Gaia Tech transforms waste from olive oil production into high-quality antioxidants for use in cosmetics or food.

The media uproar over wolf attacks on livestock in Switzerland and a bear attack in Italy show how charged the issue of large carnivores and humans coexisting in Europe is.

An ETH Zurich architectural centrepiece - the machine laboratory- has been renovated. The historically significant machine hall has been extensively restored to its original condition.

ETH Zurich molecular biologist Mandy Boontanrart is researching gene therapies that could be used to cure two of the most common types of inherited anaemia. She has now developed a promising approach for so-called beta-hemoglobinopathies. Many hereditary diseases have largely been considered to be incurable.

calls for more ambitious standards in the voluntary carbon offset market. While this would lead to fewer projects getting funded, the benefit for the climate would be greater overall.

Large language models such as GPT-3 are able to learn new concepts by interacting with their users. Researchers at ETH and Google may now have uncovered a key mechanism behind this capability. Despite their huge success, the inner workings of large language models such as OpenAI's GPT model family and Google Bard remain a mystery, even to their developers.

ETH Zurich and Roche are joining forces in Basel to advance the development of new methods that facilitate the search for medicines. Together, they will train specialists for the biomedical challenges of our time. ETH Zurich and Roche are to collaborate more closely in two new research and training programmes.

Mathematician Siddhartha Mishra has been awarded this year's Rössler Prize for his research on solutions for highly complex flow and wave phenomena.

Using applied mathematics, Yunan Yang finds solutions to the inverse problems that arise in seismology, weather forecasts, and machine learning.

Optical data communications lasers can transmit several tens of terabits per second, despite a huge amount of disruptive air turbulence. scientists and their European partners demonstrated this capacity with lasers between the mountain peak, Jungfraujoch, and the city of Bern in Switzerland. This will soon eliminate the necessity of expensive deep-sea cables.

Innovative production technologies are crucial to the chemical industry's net-zero endeavour - but they're not always enough, says Paolo Gabrielli. Chemical products, such as plastics, fertilisers and solvents pervade our modern lifestyle. The vast majority are derived from crude oil or natural gas - and producing them generates around 5 percent of global CO2 emissions.

Our visual perception depends more strongly on the utility of information than previously thought. This has been demonstrated in a series of experiments conducted by researchers at ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich. Cognitive biases can begin at the retina. (Photograph: Colourbox) Are our senses there to provide us with the most complete representation of the world, or do they serve our survival? For a long time, the former was the dominant view in neuroscience.

Gabriela Hug - an expert in power transmission networks - argues that securing an affordable energy supply from renewable sources is not a utopian ideal for Switzerland, but rather a practical and feasible necessity.

Sewer systems and centralised treatment plants are not a sustainable solution for managing the world's wastewater. Environmental engineers at ETH Zurich and Eawag have been helping to develop decentralised, closed-loop modular systems. Out of sight, out of mind: we've been flushing away human waste ever since sewers were invented, using copious amounts of fresh water to expel it from our homes and cities as fast as the pipes can carry it.

From tackling micropollutants in wastewater to removing plastic waste from rivers, here are five solutions based on ETH expertise.

Heavier rain, longer droughts, melting glaciers: climate change has a dramatic impact on the global water cycle.

During her doctoral studies, Liliane Ableitner developed a trading and billing tool for energy communities.

The expansion of hydropower generation often leads to conflicts of interest, both in Switzerland and beyond.

John von Neumann was one of the most important mathematicians and computer pioneers of the 20th century - and an ETH alumnus.

Security of energy supply in a fossil-free Switzerland is feasible and affordable according to a new white paper from an expert group at the Energy Science Center.

Bachelor's students at ETH Zurich were given a year to turn their original ideas into finished products.

Karin Sander, ETH Zurich Professor of Architecture and Art, and Philip Ursprung, ETH Zurich Professor of the History of Art and Architecture, are curating the Swiss pavilion at this year's Venice Biennale.

Yesterday, Swiss President Alain Berset toured the Carbfix plant in Iceland and visited the facilities where the pilot project "DemoUpCARMA" is implemented.

Professor Wendelin Stark and Nevena Paunovic were both chemistry Olympians. In 2023, they will return to the Olympiad in new roles: the former as the head of the IChO Scientific Committee and the latter as a startup founder.

To decarbonize our economy, electricity will replace oil and natural gas as the primary energy carrier.

Artificial intelligence promises to support judges in their decision-making. In fact, it renders their decisions and tasks more complex, argues .

Each year, the Center for Security Studies (CSS) at ETH Zurich analyses key geopolitical trends. Oliver Thränert, head of the think tank at the CSS, explains which new developments will impact global affairs.

Researchers from ETH Zurich created a new open-source platform and programming language called LMQL. This programming language makes it easier, cheaper, and safer to interact with large language models like ChatGPT. The language model ChatGPT is widely known by people in the tech community and the general public.

There are concerns that ChatGPT could undermine the educational system, and growing demands for rules governing its use.

Finally, a cat flap that prevents feline friends from bringing their prey indoors. Powered by artificial intelligence and backed by Swiss know-how and talent ETH Zurich start-up, Flappie Technologies is poised to become the cat's meow.

Researchers have developed a smart earpiece that helps people relearn physical actions faster and more easily after a stroke. By stimulating the brain, the earpiece helps it rewire neural circuits. Strokes are the number one cause of persistent physical impairment among adults worldwide. Sufferers often find it hard or even impossible to perform everyday physical actions like walking or reaching for something.

Political debate is vital for a functioning democracy. And when it comes to complex issues such as climate change, scientists should be able to share their expertise and help shape opinion, says Reto Knutti.

ETH Zurich is boosting its medical research and establishing a new site in Schlieren. It is leasing a new building (SSA) right next to the Bio-Technopark in Schlieren; the site is currently being set up as a laboratory building for medical research.