News
Thinking climate action, biodiversity and energy supply together
![Portrait picture of Cyril Brunner](/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2024/05/reimagining-climate-action-biodiversity-and-energy-supply-together/_jcr_content/pageimages/imageSmall.imageformat.contentteaser.1801193770.jpg)
Renewable energies are not the main driver of biodiversity loss. It is rather the other way round: renewables can limit climate change in order to preserve biodiversity. Cyril Brunner contextualises the trade-offs from a scientific perspective.
An architectural gem and cutting-edge research facility in Basel
![View into the inner courtyard of ETH's new BSS teaching and research building](/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2024/05/press-release-new-teaching-and-research-facility-basel/_jcr_content/pageimages/imageSmall.imageformat.contentteaser.937627419.jpg)
ETH Zurich’s new BSS teaching and research building on the Sch?llem?tteli life science campus in Basel will officially open its doors today. The building will host ETH researchers from the fields of experimental biology, bioinformatics, and bioengineering as they work together with outside partners on innovative medical solutions.
Medical Engineering block course wins prize for innovative teaching
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Medical students at ETH Zurich build a gripper hand for elbow exoskeletons in a crash course lasting just one week. This course has now been honoured with the 2024 Kite Award, the ETH prize for particularly innovative teaching.
Using solar energy to generate heat at high temperatures
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Instead of burning coal or oil to produce cement or steel, in the future solar energy could be used for this purpose. Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a thermal trap that can absorb concentrated sunlight and deliver heat at over thousand degrees Celsius.
Researchers outsmarted EasyRide function on Swiss travel app
![Smartphone in one hand, when using the Easyride function of the SBB app](/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2024/05/researchers-outsmarted-easyride-function-on-swiss-travel-app/_jcr_content/pageimages/imageSmall.imageformat.contentteaser.242382997.jpg)
Experiments by ETH Zurich computer security researchers showed that smartphones can be manipulated to allow the owner to ride Swiss trains for free. The researchers also highlighted ways of curbing such misuse.
Mosaic grassland landscapes are the most beneficial
![Three cows in a pasture](/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2024/05/mosaic-grassland-landscapes-are-the-most-beneficial/_jcr_content/pageimages/imageSmall.imageformat.contentteaser.1516902199.jpg)
Like forests, grassland provides numerous ecological, economic and social benefits. Researchers have investigated ways to maintain and improve these benefits in the Swiss canton of Solothurn.
New gel breaks down alcohol in the body
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Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a protein-based gel that breaks down alcohol in the gastrointestinal tract without harming the body. In the future, people who take the gel could reduce the harmful and intoxicating effects of alcohol.
Electron vortices in graphene detected
![Representation of an electron vortex in graphs](/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2024/05/electron-vortices-in-graphene-detected/_jcr_content/pageimages/imageSmall.imageformat.contentteaser.318934233.png)
Researchers at ETH Zurich have, for the first time, made visible how electrons form vortices in a material at room temperature. Their experiment used a quantum sensing microscope with an extremely high resolution.
Solving physics puzzles with coloured dots
![Painting “A Sunday afternoon on the island of La Grande Jatte*](/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2024/05/solving-physics-puzzles-with-coloured-dots/_jcr_content/pageimages/imageSmall.imageformat.contentteaser.1794739894.jpg)
By analysing images made of coloured dots created by quantum simulators, ETH researchers have studied a special kind of magnetism. In the future this method could also be used to solve other physics puzzles, for instance in superconductivity.
Demonstration at ETH Zurich dissolved
![Protesters sitting and standing in the main hall of ETH Zurich on 7 May 2024](/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2024/05/pro-palestinian-demonstration-dissolved/_jcr_content/pageimages/imageSmall.imageformat.contentteaser.779521578.jpg)
This morning at 11.30 a.m. around 100 people from pro-Palestinian, Marxist groups set up a protest in the main hall in the main building of ETH Zurich. After repeated requests to leave the building, which the demonstrators did not comply with, the demonstration was broken up by the police at the request of ETH Zurich.
Digi, Nano, Bio, Neuro – or why we should care more about converging technologies
![Portrait picture of Dirk Helbing](/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2024/05/digi-nano-bio-neuro-or-why-we-should-care-more-about-converging-technologies/_jcr_content/pageimages/imageSmall.imageformat.contentteaser.1013779620.jpg)
Dirk Helbing expects future digital technologies to penetrate the human body even more in the future. However, he believes that society is not prepared for the risks involved. He puts forward a new legal framework to protect our most intimate data from misuse.
Blood diagnostics modelled on leeches
![Finger with a leech hanging from it](/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2024/05/blood-diagnostics-modelled-on-leeches/_jcr_content/pageimages/imageSmall.imageformat.contentteaser.888477193.jpg)
Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a safe and inexpensive device for reliable blood measurements. It works using a suction cup and could also be employed to diagnose the tropical disease malaria – even by non-medical personnel.