ETH Zurich

Robotics Audio available

Medical micro-robots automatically change shape to swim through the body

Michael Irving January 20, 2019

The human body is full of wildly different environments, so any robots exploring them need to be able to adapt on the fly. Now, researchers at EPFL and ETH Zurich have developed micro-robots that can automatically morph in response to their surroundings.

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Materials

Artificial mother-of-pearl could give carbon fiber a run for its money

Ben Coxworth December 11, 2018

Mother of pearl is the coating found on the outside of pearls, and the inside of certain mollusc’s shells. It's one of nature's hardest, stiffest, most stable materials – and scientists have now figured out how to make an artificial version of it, which can be "tuned" for different applications.

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Drones Audio available

Drones may find use in simplified motion-capture animation

Ben Coxworth December 6, 2018

​In motion-capture animation, an actor moves through a studio equipped with multiple cameras. A computer tracks markers on their body, building a 3D "skeleton" that is used to create the final animated character. Experimental new drone-based tech, however, may make the process much easier.

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Health & Wellbeing

Self-contained station recycles water for hand-washing

Michael Irving October 21, 2018

Water used for hand-washing is relatively easy to treat for reuse, and now engineers at ETH Zurich have built and tested a standalone hand-washing station for use in public places and developing countries that can do just that.

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VR

Light, thin VR gloves put wearers in touch with virtual objects

Michael Irving October 16, 2018

VR motion controllers work pretty well at syncing up the movements of digital digits with your real ones, but they aren’t all that good at recreating the sense of touch. Scientists from EPFL and ETH Zurich have developed new haptic gloves that could help users get in touch with virtual objects.

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Space

Meteorites reveal Jupiter's troubled childhood

David Szondy August 29, 2018

Jupiter may be the largest planet in the solar system, but it experienced growing pains. That's the conclusion of a team of scientists, who say that Jupiter grew in three stages with a two-million-year gap during which it grew very slowly, affecting the development of the rest of the solar system.

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Materials

Pine cone-inspired sunshades open and close without electricity

Michael Irving August 19, 2018

Retractable sunshades have long been used to adjust the amount of sunlight an area gets during the day, but these are usually driven by motors. Taking inspiration from the humble pine cone, engineers have now developed a shading system that can open and close automatically – no electricity required.

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Medical

New antibiotics found in leafy bacterial battlegrounds

Michael Irving July 30, 2018

Researchers from ETH Zurich have found a way to make use of some of the chemical weapons bacteria have developed against each other. In this case, that bacterial battleground is on the surface of thale cress leaves.

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Biology

Epigenetics study finds fathers pass cold weather "experience" down to kids

Michael Irving July 9, 2018

The way genes are expressed can be changed by environmental or lifestyle factors and these changes may be inherited from parents. A new study has found that male mice who spend time in cold environments may pass down this “experience” to their kids, in the form of higher levels of warming brown fat.

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Motorcycles

Ethec's awkward 2WD electric motorcycle packs a monster 250-mile range

Loz Blain June 13, 2018

The Ethec electric motorcycle, designed and built by Swiss university students, is a strange jumble of ideas that are individually very nice. With a massive 15-kWh battery box, it offers a range around 250 miles. And it's got a second hub motor in the front wheel to improve its regenerative braking.

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