science wire

In an open letter, tech luminaries from the worlds of science and industry are calling for a freeze on training new AI models that are more powerful than GPT-4. ETH AI experts Andreas Krause and Alexander Ilic from the ETH Zurich AI Center consider this to be difficult to enforce and associated with risks.

ETH Zurich researcher Luca Dal Zilio offers an insightful summary of the recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, shedding light on the complex nature of this event.

More effective, reusable and self-repairing: a new kind of corrosion protection developed by the researchers Marco D'Elia, Walter Caseri, Mirko Magni und Markus Niederberger has been honoured with ETH Zurich's Spark Award 2023.

Focusing exclusively on new housing developments to counter the housing crisis is not sustainable, says David Kaufmann.

Cancer patients might one day benefit from being administered immune cells from healthy donors. But as things stand, receiving donor cells can cause severe or even fatal immune reactions. A researcher at ETH Zurich has now developed a technology that avoids these. Edo Kapetanovic is a medical doctor, but for a while now he has devoted himself entirely to research in synthetic immunology.

Researchers at ETH Zurich, Empa and EPFL are developing a 3D-printed insole with integrated sensors that allows the pressure of the sole to be measured in the shoe and thus during any activity.

ETH student Luca Hasler developed a new set of handlebars for para-athlete Flurina Rigling. The cyclist hopes these will boost her chances of qualifying for future events - including the 2024 Paralympics in Paris.

Life is a constant stream of decisions that pit sober reflection against powerful emotions, conscious deliberation against gut instincts. Using complex models and sophisticated experiments, researchers study how we combine these different decision-making strategies. One mention of insects is enough to draw a sceptical smile from Michael Siegrist.

Peter Schmidt has been working in development aid for over 30 years, constantly seeking ways to help people help themselves.

Gregor Weiss is fascinated by the inner workings of our cells and is driven by the hope of finding a non-antibiotic therapy for urinary tract infections.

By Michael Hagner (Photograph: ETH Zurich / Silvia Schöning) Recently, Nature caused quite a stir with an article that suggested science is becoming less disruptive.

Psychologist Verena Zimmermann joins computer scientists Joachim Buhmann and Elgar Fleisch to discuss whether our feelings can be measured, what role they play in human-machine interactions, and the use of smart technologies.

The Swiss Seismological Service at ETH Zurich has just introduced the first seismic risk model for Switzerland.

ETH Zurich political science researchers reveal that Swiss people are in favour of the circular economy and support measures to promote it. However, their personal willingness to contribute is low. Reuse, share, collect and recycle - in times of faltering supply chains, circular economies are in great demand.

Europe's energy transition will not succeed without access to essential metals like rare earths, says security researcher Julian Kamasa.

The LOOP Zurich research centre is creating a central platform for the exchange of health data between the University of Zurich, ETH Zurich and the four university hospitals. This will allow data to be utilised quickly and easily to the benefit of patients. When a patient is in intensive care, there are numerous instruments to monitor their state of health.

Atmospheric chemist Thomas Peter retired at the end of January. A profile of a man who taught us about the properties and processes of suspended particles and helped shape the second-largest department at ETH Zurich.

Whether rooftop solar panels are worth the cost is largely dependent in Switzer-land on local compensation rates for solar power and on electricity prices in gen-eral - these are the findings of a study by researchers at ETH Zurich and the University of Bern.

Efforts to restore degraded ecosystems have so far fallen short of meeting global targets. Sound restoration must better incorporate social processes promoting equity in order to effectively benefit people, climate and biodiversity, says Sara Löfqvist. The United Nations Biodiversity Conference in Montreal closed this past December with an unprecedented agreement to place 30 percent of global degraded landscapes under protection by 2030, especially emphasizing the need to respect indigenous and local communities rights in the process.

One of the greatest unknowns in climate change is the question of how particulate matter affects clouds. Yu Wang is using machine learning and satellite data to investigate the surprising role of these tiny particles in the atmosphere. In autumn 2014, Iceland's Holuhraun volcano erupted, spewing daily about 120,000 tonnes of sulphur dioxide into the air at its peak.

Christophe Girot brought landscape architecture into the digital world and taught a generation of architects how to think on a larger scale.

Researchers at ETH Zurich and the Swiss Federal research institute WSL have developed a flying device that can land on tree branches to take samples. This opens up a new dimension for scientists previously reserved for biodiversity researchers. Ecologists are increasingly using traces of genetic material left behind by living organisms left behind in the environment, called environmental DNA (eDNA), to catalogue and monitor biodiversity.

Are we witnessing the rise of a different, adaptive artificial intelligence (AI) that works with humans and supports them with smart decisions? Computer scientist Niao He is investigating how this kind of AI can be theoretically underpinned so that it really does provide benefits. As a researcher, Niao He has both people and technology in mind.

There has been a great deal of media focus on the near-total lack of snow in Swiss ski resorts at the beginning of the year.

Life has existed on Earth for billions of years. Stabilising mechanisms have helped our planet remain habitable to this day.

A new study by researchers reveals that if Europe fails to immediately invest 302 billion euros in climate-relevant infrastructure, it will not reach its target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Vira Bondar is fascinated by the fundamental questions of physics. She conducts research with ultracold neutrons and is working to make exercise sessions at ETH Zurich even more exciting.

A special year is soon coming to an end. In 2022, much has been researched, developed and invented at ETH Zurich. ETH News looks back on an eventful past year. January Robot ANYmal can walk over hill and dale - thanks to its visual perception and sense of touch, made possible by artificial intelligence.

The lander's team has tried to contact the spacecraft twice without response, leading them to conclude it has run out of energy. NASA's InSight mission has ended after four years of collecting unique science on Mars.

Ukrainian building materials professor Viacheslav Troian left his homeland with his family because of the war.

A nature-based economy that regenerates ecosystems and stops species extinction? Christoph Küffer believes this is possible if we strengthen ecology in research and education and make ecological expertise a basic skill for society.

Nobel laureate and astrophysicist Didier Queloz and earth scientist Cara Magnabosco on the origin of life on Earth, complex life beyond our planet, and the inevitable end of every life. You're both tackling the big questions about the universe. Doesn't it sometimes make you feel small and insignificant? Didier Queloz: Yes, it does indeed.

We posed this question to researchers. In return, we got five intriguing answers from the perspectives of biomedicine, computer science, biology, robotics and philosophy. Life and death within us ''DNA is the building block of life. It contains all the information necessary for life, from reproduction and metabolism to growth and the ability to respond to stimuli.

Students from ETH and the Ghanaian university KNUST came up with some creative solutions for sustainable waste management at the Rethinking Waste summer school, where knowledge sharing and intercultural exchange topped the agenda.

Elvis Nava teaches robots to carry out oral and written commands. To this end, he sends them to "training camps" where they learn to combine image, text and motion data.

The LOOP Zurich research center combines expertise from ETH Zurich, the University of Zurich and the four university hospitals in Zurich with the aim of developing more personalized therapies.

The ETH Board has appointed Christian Wolfrum as Vice President for Research at ETH Zurich effective 1 January 2023.

Daniel Angerhausen believes that fundamental research is essential, especially in the current crisis.