science wire

Where should radioactive waste be packaged before it is stored in a deep geological repository? Daniela Scherer explains how stakeholders are being brought on board to tackle this thorny question.

Making agriculture climate-neutral has a high cost - which some rich countries might be willing to accept, ETH Zurich researchers find. Emissions of methane and nitrogen oxides from agriculture are Europe's second most important contributor to climate change, after CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels.

We look for certainty in uncertain times. But that is not something statistics can necessarily provide.

Electricity providers have a simple way of encouraging households and companies to procure power from sustainable sources. This can help lower CO2 emissions. People often choose the standard option. Choosing to be an organ donor, printing on both sides of the page - such decisions are influenced by which is the standard setting, or default.

The technology developed by the ETH spin-off Mithras Technology wouldn't be out of place in a science fiction movie: the user's own body heat powers what is known as a thermoelectric generator to charge wearables and other electronic devices.

Katharina Fellnhofer researches how intuitive decision-making influences personal success. She is convinced that people who follow their intuition tend to be more successful in their decision-making.

Without animal experiments there would be no COVID-19 vaccine: animal testing is essential for medical research. A ban on testing - even a gradual phase-out - would be extremely damaging for research policy, writes Detlef Günther. The Swiss National Council is currently debating the popular initiative for a ban on experiments on animals and humans.

For Switzerland to become climate neutral, there's no way around electric mobility. But to get e-cars going, the public must push for charging stations where people live, argues Anthony Patt.

Chemical pollution is a global threat that demands for global action, says Zhanyun Wang. An interface body similar to the IPCC could help bridge the gap between science and policy. Chemicals are at the heart of our modern world. But the way the world deals with chemicals is highly inadequate. Over the last decades, the number and diversity of chemicals produced and traded have increased drastically, reaching several hundred thousands.

The turbulence created by speculation in GameStop shares has highlighted the lack of transparency on trading platforms.

Students at ETH used innovative technology to create an extremely lightweight and filigree pavilion using bamboo.

Tanja Stadler, ETH Professor of Computational Evolution, is working at the forefront in the fight against the coronavirus.

Researchers from EPFL and ETH Zürich have conducted an original scientific study that puts forth a plausible explanation for the mysterious 1959 death of nine hikers in the Ural Mountains in the former Soviet Union.

Widespread and repeated testing, including of healthy people, is an effective tool in the fight against COVID-19, write Patrick Jenny and Wolf-Dietrich Hardt.

Mental illnesses do not receive the attention they deserve and they are treated as taboo, writes Gerhard Schratt.

More and more ETH Zurich researchers are taking the plunge into entrepreneurship. By launching spin-offs, they hope to turn their lab findings into solutions that can help stem the rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide. There is no shortage of evidence for what the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) describes as an "unequivocal warming of the climate system".

ETH climate researcher Daniela Domeisen has documented how the stratosphere influences extreme weather events.

In recent years, nationalist leaders have staked claims on lost territories in order to restore the glory of former empires.

A recent study in South Africa and Ghana shows people support government steps to combat Covid-19 but lack the infrastructure and financial security required to maintain social distancing.

There is little to suggest we'll be eating less meat any time soon. In the last post of 2020, Lukas Fesenfeld explains why a sustainable food supply system is still possible. Christmas is just around the corner, along with a string of festive meals - though probably on a smaller scale this year. I promise, I don't want to deny you your Christmas roast! However, the end of the year is a good opportunity to reflect on some fundamental questions and to become aware of one's own attitudes.

An extraordinary year is drawing to a close. ETH News takes a look back at the highlights that emerged amidst difficult and unsettling times, at ingenious ideas, fascinating science and solidarity in action during - and despite - the coronavirus pandemic.

Roman Stocker, member of the Swiss National COVID-19 Science Task Force, explains why it is so important in this pandemic that experts exchange information across national borders. SARS-CoV-2 has spread around the world. However, the course of the pandemic and how individual countries deal with it differ.

Meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement means embracing a sustainable transition to renewables. Yet analyses suggest that decarbonisation can only be achieved with targeted government support for the right technologies. Tobias Schmidt vividly recalls attending the 2009 UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen as a doctoral candidate.

Daniela Latorre wanted to be a scientist since she was a child. At the Institute for Research in Biomedicine, affiliated to the USI in Bellinzona and the Institute of Microbiology, she is finding evidence that narcolepsy is an autoimmune disease. She has now received the Pfizer Prize for Research 2020 for her pioneering work.

Quantum research has long since ceased to be an exclusive domain of physics. The purpose of the new ETH Quantum Center is to ensure ETH Zurich's various competences and activities in this area are networked even more closely and to raise their public profile.

Coral reefs are in acute danger of disappearing due to climate change. An artist and a marine biologist have taken up the challenge of rebuilding the reefs by harnessing the power of 3D printers.

Civil society and governments struggle to take action when it comes to climate change. So what's the solution? We asked climate researcher Reto Knutti and climate strike advocate Marie-Claire Graf for their perspectives.

On the road to a sustainable energy system, technologies for the flexible conversion and efficient storage of energy are becoming increasingly important.

The COVID-19 pandemic is putting Swiss crisis management to the test. ETH Professor Andreas Wenger and his team from the Center for Security Studies have investigated in detail how well Switzerland coped with the first phase of the crisis.