news from the lab 2016

Switzerland's overhead power lines are showing signs of old age and can be damaged by power surges. But how long will they actually last? Empa researchers have developed a tool to keep tabs on the aging process.

Earth's magnetic field has reversed direction hundreds of times in the course of our planet's history.

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have found a way of looking inside the iron core of transformers. Transformers are indispensable in regulating electricity both in industry and in domestic households. The better their iron cores are magnetized, the less energy they lose and the more efficiently they work.

05. Summer Series on Student Projects - For his Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, Karim Ziadé assessed the feasibility of putting data centers into residential buildings for heating purposes.

20. EPFL researchers have developed an innovative cardiac support system in the form of a small ring placed on the aorta.

02. EPFL researchers have developed a shoe sole with valves that electronically control the pressure applied to the arch of the foot.

29. EPFL researchers have developed conductive tracks that can be bent and stretched up to four times their original length. They could be used in artificial skin, connected clothing and on-body sensors. Conductive tracks are usually hard printed on a board. But those recently developed at EPFL are altogether different: they are almost as flexible as rubber and can be stretched up to four times their original length and in all directions.

A small device made from everyday materials can generate enough energy to power several diodes. This clever discovery by an EPFL researcher was presented yesterday at a global conference on microand nanosystems in Shanghai.

20. Electric cars will be competitive when they can be charged in the time it takes to fill the gas tank.