By studying sulphur in magmatic fluids at extreme pressures and temperatures, a team from the University of Geneva is revolutionising our understanding of gold transport and ore deposit formation. When one tectonic plate sinks beneath another, it generates magmas rich in volatiles such as water, sulphur and chlorine.

Sustainable, renewable and good for the climate: Wood is the material of the future. But how much of it do we actually have and how do we make best use of it? Researchers from Empa and WSL have now analyzed the material flows of wood in Switzerland in detail - and discovered untapped opportunities. Switzerland has set itself a goal that is as ambitious as it is necessary: net zero by 2050.

A team from the universities of Basel and Geneva has assessed which policy measures provide the best incentives for green technologies. How can we ensure that as many Swiss households as possible install solar panels, their own battery to store solar energy, a heat pump or adopt an electric car? Scientists from the universities of Basel and Geneva have been looking into this question.

To achieve net zero, we need to reduce our CO2 emissions quickly and efficiently. An EU project involving Empa has selected Zurich as one of three pilot cities in Europe to accurately measure and model their carbon dioxide emissions. The findings will help cities to achieve their climate targets. Cities are the largest source of greenhouse gases in the world.

Plants and water can mitigate heat in cities. Using Zurich as a case study, researchers tested a climate model which indicates how large the effect of green and blue spaces is. The model supports urban planning and shows where improvements would be particularly effective. As a result of climate change, heatwaves are becoming more frequent - with particularly harmful effects on human health, livelihoods and infrastructure in cities.

Rats release trapped companions, subsequently enabling them to collaborate for acquiring food. Experiments conducted at the University of Bern established this connection between obliging liberation behaviour and coordinated cooperation. These results may point towards a biological basis for empathy, presenting new perspectives on the evolutionary origins of compassionate behaviour.

A UNIGE study reveals how mechanics, linked to tissue growth, help generate the diversity of biological structures. How can we explain the morphological diversity of living organisms? Although genetics is the answer that typically springs to mind, it is not the only explanation. By combining observations of embryonic development, advanced microscopy, and cutting-edge computer modelling, a multi-disciplinary team from the University of Geneva demonstrate that the crocodile head scales emerge from the mechanics of growing tissues, rather than molecular genetics.

An international team of researchers involving the University of Bern has investigated the consequences of deforestation and degradation of tropical forests. They were able to show that there are "winner" and "loser" species, whereby the displacement of the "losers" can lead to a decline in the ecological functions of tropical forests.

These small particles are reminiscent of paper flowers or desert roses. Physicians can use them to guide medicines to a precise destination within the body. Better yet, the particles can easily be tracked using ultrasound as they scatter sound waves. How can medicines be directed to the precise location within the body where they need to act? Scientists have been researching this question for a long time.

A study by the University of Geneva and the United Nations suggests that we should focus on citizen participation processes to achieve sustainability and strengthen multilateralism Using collective intelligence to solve a problem: that's what hackathons are all'about. Historically dedicated to developing IT solutions, these events now also focus on global issues, particularly those related to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

An interdisciplinary study from the University of Bern reveals that gut bacteria play a crucial role in converting arsenobetaine into toxic arsenic compounds. Results show that arsenobetaine, commonly found in seafood and previously considered harmless, is partly transformed into toxic arsenic compounds by the action of gut bacteria in the mammalian body.

Researchers have built a drone that can walk, hop, and jump into flight with the aid of birdlike legs, greatly expanding the range of potential environments accessible to unmanned aerial vehicles. "As the crow flies" is a common idiom referring to the shortest distance between two points, but the Laboratory of Intelligent Systems , led by Dario Floreano, in EPFL's School of Engineering has taken the phrase literally with RAVEN (Robotic Avian-inspired Vehicle for multiple ENvironments).

Earthworms are the "master builders" of the soil. They make nutrients available and sequester the greenhouse gas CO2 in the form of leaves in deep soil layers. A Swiss-German research team is investigating their work in Rendzina soils, the Swiss soil of the year 2025, which was chosen by the Swiss Soil Science Society on Soil Day, December 5.

For millennia humans have been inspired by the stars but this may soon be a thing of the past due to a significant increase in the numbers of satellites, potentially limiting our view of the night sky.

A new generation of wearable sensors will fundamentally change medicine. Researchers at ETH Zurich have now published an overview showing what is possible with such sensors and what questions their developers should consider to ensure their successful future use. Using a smartwatch to measure pulse, and a smartphone app to monitor blood pressure: wearable sensors already track some of the body's vital functions fairly reliably, and some of these devices can already be used in clinical diagnostics.

In a paper published today in the journal Nature , the CLOUD collaboration at CERN reveals a new source of atmospheric aerosol particles that could help scientists to refine climate models. Aerosols are microscopic particles suspended in the atmosphere that arise from both natural sources and human activities.

Researchers have uncovered a serious side effect of using the CRISPR-Cas gene scissors. A molecule designed to make the process more efficient destroys parts of the genome. Genome editing with various CRISPR-Cas molecule complexes has progressed rapidly in recent years. Hundreds of labs around the world are now working to put these tools to clinical use and are continuously advancing them.

Understanding how proteins interact is essential to decoding cellular processes and communication. In a groundbreaking study, researchers at the Friedrich Miescher Institute (FMI) have explored how every possible mutation in a protein affects its ability to bind with its partners, shedding light on how mutations influence cellular functions and the evolution of proteins.

From smart textiles to self-driving cars: researchers are developing new types of detectors for infrared radiation that are more sustainable, flexible and cost-effective than conventional technologies. The key to success is not (only) the composition of the material, but also its size. The ubiquity of infrared detectors What do motion detectors, self-driving cars, chemical analyzers and satellites have in common' They all contain detectors for infrared (IR) light.

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