Mounting extremes

Mr Stähli, Mr Rigling, summer 2018. How did you find it from a technical point of view? S — For a start, we should mention the winter, which was very snowy. That actually created the perfect...

Sharp visions with neutrons

We all know about X-rays or photon beams. Re-searchers at the PSI also experiment with X-rays. However, Christian Rüegg, Head of the Neutrons and Myons Research Department, is responsible for another...

Ancient ecosystems in a rugged landscape

It's cold up here at 2,300 meters, but fortunately the sun is shining. The first snow of this year is already lying on the Corbassière glacier in mid-November. While the team is setting up at the...

When the back hurts

"We are mechanical engineers and we want to know how the joints in the spine work," explained Ameet Aiyangar, who is studying the human locomotor system at Empa using an innovative method. He does...

Innovative impetus for skin research

"I have been at ETH Zurich for eighteen years and I have enjoyed being here since day one," explains Sabine Werner. "However, SKINTEGRITY has given my research a further, strong boost." The ETH...

Digitisation in the sewers

Crossing the street in Fehraltorf, you would never know that there is a constant stream of data being recorded and transmitted up underfoot. The water level in the drainage canals, which run under...

Brilliant X-ray light for leading edge research

Radar waves have a very long wavelength. One of the physicists, Oliver Bunk, explained that "this enables them to track the arrival of a ship or aircraft. You need X-ray light with a very short...

Reaching new targets more quickly

Gunnar Rätsch, a professor at ETH Zurich, combines data science with biomedicine. Together with his team, he is developing an early warning system for patients on ITUs, for instance. It is designed...

Lasers and Lidar in the snow

Weather permitting, a group of researchers drive to the Dischma valley in Davos early in the morning, from April to June, often on a quad-bike. The evening before, together with the responsible...

A machine unique in the world

“We have instruments that are unique in the world”, says Elvezio Morenzoni, director of the laboratory where the muons are used to investigate the microscopic properties of materials. Muons are...