The "Jungfrau" on top of the world

One of the most exclusive attractions in Switzerland lies tucked away in woodland in Würenlingen. “If there's one thing they're jealous of us for in Japan or the USA, it's this,” says Professor...

The robotics artist

The word ‘robotics’ makes you think of little mechanical men or rotating metal arms, but certainly not of something like this: an unusual backpack with two pressure cylinders, tubes and rods,...

A seismometer flies to mars

Mars Seismological Service. The name conjures up a lot of images: a dome somewhere in the red dust, a pioneering project to explore and colonise the desert planet? It might sound like the stuff of...

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...