Empa

​It was just this Wednesday that we heard about a non-toxic flame-retardant solution created by scientists at Texas A and M University. Well, researchers at Switzerland's Empa institute have also come up with one, which could be used to keep wood and wood-based building materials from burning.

Windows let light, warmth and a view into rooms, but we don’t always want all three of those at once. That’s why researchers in Switzerland are developing a relatively simple method to smarten up windows by embedding tiny mini-mirrors in them and keep rooms comfortable all year round.

​While there are already various types of winter sportswear textiles that are claimed to draw sweat away from the skin while still keeping the wearer warm, HYDRO_BOT is certainly unique. Developed by a consortium that includes Switzerland's Empa research group, it utilizes gold and electricity.

Why bother adding a layer of insulation to a brick wall, if you can just build that wall using hollow bricks that are stuffed with insulation? That's the thinking behind bricks which incorporate materials such as perlite. Now, scientists have created the best-insulating brick yet, using aerogel.

Mining is inherently dirty work, but it is set to get a little cleaner on the back of a heavy duty electric vehicle currently under development. Some time in the next few months, the Komatsu HD 605-7 will start carting materials down from a Swiss mountain powered by a mammoth 4.5-ton battery pack.

​When fruit is being transported from the field to the supermarket, it's vitally important that it remain refrigerated. With that in mind, scientists have developed temperature sensors that could ride along with fruit shipments, replicating the fruit's size, shape and structure.

Scientists have now found a way to improve the fire-resistance of self-compacting concrete by doping it with a special polymer that they say better equips it to withstand high temperatures and in turn, maintain the integrity of a structure. ​​

Using "fools gold" nanocrystals to form part of a larger sodium-magnesium battery, scientists have created a storage cell that not only uses cheap and abundant materials but has the potential to be scaled up to store many terawatt-hours of energy.

The cast iron brake rotors currently used in most vehicles are quite heavy. Lighter ceramic rotors certainly do exist, although they're pricey. Soon, however, ceramic-coated aluminum rotors may be a cost-effective lightweight alternative for economy cars.

Scientists from the Swiss research institution Empa have created an air-conditioned bulletproof vest.

Scientists are developing a method of treating wood with fungus, so that violin-makers could use it to build Stradivarius-quality instruments.

Researchers at the Swiss institution Empa have developed a lightweight, translucent curtain material which is excellent at absorbing sound.