ETH Zurich

Gathering genetic material from treetops in tropical rainforests would be a near-impossible task to perform safely by hand. That's why scientists have developed a system that allows a drone to do the job, without even touching the trees itself.

While clay is widely used to build basic structures such as huts, we typically don't see it being utilized in large-scale construction projects. That could soon change, however, thanks to a recently developed process known as impact printing.

Doctors have successfully operated on a pig – from 9,300 km (5,780 miles) away. Surgeons in Switzerland used a game controller to perform an endoscopy in Hong Kong, paving the way for remote procedures in humans where local expertise isn’t available.

Researchers at Switzerland's ETH Zurich have devised a cheap and safe way to store hydrogen in ordinary steel-walled containers for months without losing it into the atmosphere – using iron.

We’ve all spent time and effort on pointless tasks so we look busy when the boss walks past. But now scientists have discovered a new type of fat cell in the body that does the same thing, burning energy and producing heat with pointless busywork.

When you live on the Moon, your only option for commuting back to Earth or on to Mars will be some kind of rocket. But each launch will kick up a hellstorm of debris. Building walls to contain the mess could be a perfect job for autonomous rovers.

If you want to run faster, it definitely helps if you know what it feels like to run faster. The Airshield was designed with that fact in mind, as it allows runners to train without experiencing any air resistance.

Bored of the regular chocolate varieties in your grocery store? Swiss scientists have invented a brand new kind of chocolate made of “cocoa fruit jelly.” The new concoction uses more of the cocoa fruit, making it healthier and more sustainable.

If you enjoy having a drink with friends every so often but don't want to get drunk, then a new gel may be just what you're looking for. The ingestible substance is said to help keep alcohol from entering the bloodstream, and from damaging the liver.

Leeches may be creepy, but many people find hypodermic needles even creepier. That's one of the reasons why scientists have developed a new leech-inspired blood collection device, which draws blood samples without the need for a big jab.

A three-legged robot could one day be hopping across the surface of asteroids, searching for valuable minerals. Known as the SpaceHopper, the bot was recently put to the test on a zero-gravity aircraft flight.

ANYmal is a truly remarkable robot, capable of standing and lifting things like a humanoid, or slinking around on all fours like a quadruped, with or without wheels. But what's really surprised us now is the eerie grace it's starting to move with.