science wire

Macroscopic crystal structures can absorb unwanted vibrations or filter noise - without any electronics or electricity whatsoever.

EPFL scientists have developed a new type of composite thread that varies in stiffness depending on its temperature.

with Daniel Grolimund At the Swiss Light Source SLS, researcher Daniel Grolimund is responsible for a beamline where the arrangement of chemical bonds in different objects can be determined. These capabilities prove valuable to researchers in the most diverse disciplines: to battery researchers as well as biologists, archeologists, and many more.

Several peptides have an antibacterial effect - but they are broken down in the human body too quickly to exert this effect.

A new type of atomic force microscope (AFM) uses nanowires as tiny sensors. Unlike standard AFM, the device with a nanowire sensor enables measurements of both the size and direction of forces. Physicists at the University of Basel and at the EPF Lausanne have described these results in the recent. Nanowires are extremely tiny filamentary crystals which are built-up molecule by molecule from various materials and which are now being very actively studied by scientists all around the world because of their exceptional properties.

From fibre swelling in paper by way of computer vision to efficient electric auxiliary drives: three new Christian Doppler Laboratories were launched at TU Graz in 2016.

The Paul Scherrer Institute PSI was formed in 1988, in part from the Swiss Federal Institute for Reactor Research.

Empa has launched Switzerland's first hydrogen station for passenger cars on its campus in Dübendorf.

Empa is delighted to acknowledge the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2016 to Bernard L. Feringa, Fraser Stoddart and Jean-Pierre Sauvage - as it made a major contribution in 2011 to a research project carried out by Bernard L. Feringa.

The nanoparticles in the droplet encounter obstacles, they detach from the liquid and are captured by the holes©Valentin Flauraud/ 2016 EPFL 04. EPFL researchers have developed a method to place and position hundreds of thousands of nanoparticles very precisely on a one centimeter square surface. This will open new doors in nanotechnologies Whether it has to do with making pens or building space shuttles, the manufacturing process consists of creating components and then carefully assembling them.

Anna Maria Coclite is the first woman to be awarded an ERC Starting Grant at TU Graz. Her research project deals with developing a hybrid material to produce an artificial skin with multi-responsive sensors.

Rosetta's mission is over: After the last signal at 13:20, the spacecraft was crash-landed on comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko, with the ROSINA instrument from Bern taking measurements right until the very end.

30. EPFL scientists have stabilized perovskite solar cells by integrating rubidium into them. The innovation pushes power-conversion efficiency to 21.6%, ushering a new generation of perovskite solar cells.

The much-travelled European research satellite Eureca was taken from the aerospace exhibition in the Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne and loaded onto a truck before setting off on yet another adventure.

From high-end products for aerospace and engines to power plant construction and medical engineering - electron beam technology is an innovative method that straddles the border between basic research and application.

Materials researchers at the Swiss Paul Scherrer Institute PSI in Villigen and the ETH Zurich have developed a very simple and cost-effective procedure for significantly enhancing the performance of conventional Li-ion rechargeable batteries.

An international team of researchers headed by the University of Zurich and with participation of Empa has developed a system that enables them to electrically switch back and forth between adhesion and stiction (static friction) of a water drop on a solid surface.

The direct and efficient conversion of chemically stored energy into electrical energy using fuel cells requires durable, corrosion-resistant and electrochemically highly active materials.

An ingenious measurement chamber Natural-gas vehicles are on the way, and they need catalytic converters for the exhaust too. So far, catalytic converters for gasoline-powered vehicles have been modified to fill this gap; however, these are not geared towards removing the climate-harmful methane that the exhaust from natural-gas vehicles contains.

Numerical simulation of the movement of the mantle and the surface of a virtual Earth. The boundaries of the calculated surface plates are white.

Fritz Prinz from Stanford University wants to convert and store energy more efficiently using new materials and methods.

27. La course aux «ERC Grants» a souri à l'EPFL ces deux dernières années. Entre 2014 et 2015, onze chercheurs ont reçu un «Advanced grant» dans le cadre du programme «Horizon 2020». Ils obtiendront chacun un financement de l'ordre de 2,5 millions d'euros sur cinq ans. C'est peut-être une forme de baroud d'honneur, tant l'avenir de la participation de la Suisse aux programmes de recherche et de financement européens est incertain.

27. EPFL fared well in the competition for European Research Council (ERC) grants in 2014 and 2015 within the Horizon 2020 framework, with 11 researchers winning an Advanced Grant. That translates into 2.5 million euros over five years for each of them. This may be Switzerland's last stand, since its eligibility for European research and funding programs is in jeopardy.

Materials research as a foundation for innovative products. More than 1,200 experts in high-performance materials of the future are coming to Graz for the THERMEC convention starting on 29 May.

04. Cargo ships are among the leading sources of pollution on the planet. Starting in 2020, however, stricter sulfur emission standards will take effect.

Empa scientists have developed a technique that can repair old, cracked asphalt. They got their inspiration from a method used in cancer treatment based on nanoparticles.

At Empa's new Coating Competence Center, which has just opened, tailor-made surface technologies find their way from the research labs to marketable industrial applications.

Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories have recently conducted plutonium experiments using Sandia's pulsed power Z Machine. "With Z we have very carefully reached pressure, temperature and density regimes that are relevant to those seen during a nuclear weapon detonation," said Russell Olson.

Researchers of the University of Basel and Empa have gotten a step closer to engineering artificial muscles: they have developed a method to generate nanometer-thin silicone films.

Researchers from Empa and the University of Basel have developed a new method of electrospraying which enables artificial muscles to be fabricated from nanometer-thin silicone layers.

Wood is robust and versatile. But even the best material has its limits. Empa researchers are thus looking to transform wood into a high-tech material and broaden the range of applications for this natural resource. The trick: they give wood additional, unexpected properties. Over the millennia, our ancestors have improved the properties of wood by developing varnishes, paints or other methods.

Enzymes from fungi, bacteria and plants render wood resistant to decomposing and pathogenic microorganisms.

Wood has one particular property that tends to cause problems: it swells when it gets wet. As this occurs according to strict rules, however, a team of Empa researchers is looking to produce wooden building components that move automatically.

For centuries, wood has been a popular light, solid building material. Moreover, it is a renewable and easily recyclable raw material - with one drawback: wood burns. But this doesn't necessarily have to be that way, as researchers from Empa demonstrate. Ecological construction is all the rage. Aspects such as the sustainability and energy efficiency of buildings are crucial.

Bamboo is a feat of nature. After all, this member of the grass family contains fibers that are as strong as steel.

About 18 months ago, Davide Bleiner took over the helm at Empa's Laboratory for Advanced Analytical Technologies.

There will be a new face at the helm of the Empa "Technology and Society" laboratory, with Patrick Wäger heading up the department from May 2016.

In the FFG project SolaBat, TU Graz is entering almost new research territory. Photovoltaic cells are to be combined into one device with electrochemical energy storage systems.

Proteins are important indicators in diagnosing diseases. A young ETH researcher has developed a method by which it is possible to test minute amounts of blood for different proteins in parallel. He has received an ETH Zurich Pioneer Fellowship for his work. Together with a fellow student, he wants to turn his test into a marketable product.

Varnishes protect works of art and wooden instruments from environmental damage. However, until recently, little research had been carried out into the effects of varnish on the sound of violins. Empa researchers have now investigated this relationship and have published their initial findings. Leonardo da Vinci's oil painting "Mona Lisa" looks rather gloomy with its dark green and brown colours.

In more than three years of work european scientists finally made future lighting technology ready to market. They developed flexible lighting foils that can be produced roll-to-roll - much like newspapers are printed. These devices pave the path towards cheaper solar cells and LED lighting panels. The project named TREASORES was led by Empa scientist Frank Nüesch and combined knowhow from nine companies and six research institutes in five european countries.

Noise is disturbing and can be harmful to health. Empa researchers have now succeeded in simulating road noise by means of «auralisation». The aim is to make noise audible along traffic routes that are merely in the planning stage - and thus include countermeasures at the same time. Auralisation is understood as making audible those sound events that will only occur in the future.

27. A group of international researchers led by Berkeley scientists create a high-efficiency silicon device in seven steps. The core part of the prototypes have been built at EPFL's Photovoltaics Lab, led by Christophe Ballif, in Neuchâtel. Researchers have simplified the steps to create silicon solar cells that convert sunlight to electricity with high efficiency by applying a new mix of materials to a standard design.

The major fire in Steckborn on December 21, 2015, was probably started by a lithium polymer battery in a model car, as the Thurgau cantonal police department recently announced.

08. The Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology has announced the appointment of four professors at EPFL. Jürgen Brugger as Full Professor of Microtechnology in the School of Engineering (STI) Jürgen Brugger is an innovator in the field of microsystems. His research focuses in particular on microand nano-manufacturing techniques as well as on the integration of novel functional materials such as microlenses and conductive inks into the latest generation of microsystems.