news 2020

This week, scientists of the Institute of Bee Health of the University of Bern have published an article in the peer-reviewed journal Communications Biology, which shows how even low doses of neonicotinoid insecticides, as they may realistically occur in contaminated soils, adversely affect the development of black garden ants (Lasius niger).

Researchers from the Swiss Seismological Service SED and ETH Zurich are working with the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre CSCS to develop a way of utilising geothermal energy safely with the help of supercomputers. According to Switzerland's Energy Strategy 2050, the plan is for deep geothermal energy to contribute to the expansion of renewable energies in the country.

The amount and location of available terrestrial water is changing worldwide. An international research team led by ETH Zurich has now proved for the first time that human-induced climate change is responsible for the changes observed in available terrestrial water. Water is the lifeblood of ecosystems and one of the most important natural resources for human beings.

Lorenz Keysser believes that in order to overcome ecological crises, we must recognise affluence as a main driver and fundamentally reconsider our economy and lifestyle. A new mobile phone here, a new dress there, heading on holiday by SUV or further afield by plane, and - for those who can afford it - a big house.

NRP 69 recommends that the government develop a Swiss Food Strategy for 2050. This strategy should enable the entire population to eat healthy food sourced from a sustainable production and distribution system. Is it possible to follow a healthy diet that includes more vegetables, fruit and nuts while still reducing the environmental impact that consumption has both in Switzerland and abroad? Funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), the National Research Programme "Healthy Eating and Sustainable Food Production" (NRP 69) believes it is.

Environmental problems are generally complex, and the ecological processes and actors involved are often closely interlinked. Social-ecological networks make it possible to untangle such complex relationships. In these networks, social and ecological components and the interactions between them are represented as nodes and links.

The Arctic Ocean will take up more CO2 over the 21st century than predicted by most climate models. This additional CO2 causes a distinctly stronger ocean acidification. These results were published in a study by climate scientists from the University of Bern and École normale supérieure in Paris. Ocean acidification threatens the life of calcifying organisms - such as mussels and "sea butterflies" - and can have serious consequences for the entire food chain.

The live images from the Aquascope reveal an amazing underwater world. Lake Greifen is home to a smorgasbord of wonderful creatures - star-shaped, cylindrical, horned or extravagantly coiffed. But as well as stimulating the imagination, the phytoand zooplankton floating in water serves as an indicator of the ecological status of surface waters.

Rain enables crops to grow, but it also causes the run-off of pesticides to rivers and streams. Concentrations of these substances in surface waters can be monitored by means of regular sampling. However, with the traditional approach - grab sampling and determination of mean values - it is rarely, if ever, possible to measure the peak concentrations associated with heavy rainfall.

Cement production has to drastically reduce its environmental footprint. Empa researchers are, therefore working on alternative cement recipes that cause significantly fewer emissions or can even bind the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. It is the most widely used product in the world. Cement is indispensable yet its reputation has become quite tainted in the course of the ongoing climate debate.

EPFL scientists just published an open tool for predicting the dynamics of ground beetle populations - important bioindicators for sustainable park management and for monitoring ecosystems - in Italy's Gran Paradiso National Park. The tool incorporates satellite and other remote sensing data. Ground beetles may be creepy, but their presence is usually a sign of a healthy ecosystem and is appreciated for pest control in agriculture.

Humans are exposed to numerous harmful environmental influences, and it is an international concern to quantify these emissions as accurately as possible in order to be able to take measures to contain them. Empa is also part of these efforts and has, among other things, developed a drone equipped with state-of-the-art measuring instruments which can detect methane leaks.

If different types of vegetables and fruits are stored together, they influence each other in the ripening process. This is due to ethylene, which is emitted by some plant-based foodstuff and accelerates ripening. To prevent excessive food waste due to accelerated ripening Empa and ETH Zurich researchers are developing a new catalyst that degrades ethylene into water and carbon dioxide.

At 3500 meters above sea level, research is sometimes quite adventurous. In order to be able to supply Empa's air analysis station on the Jungfraujoch with "clean" samples, a team of researchers and professional climbers installed a new air intake - 50 meters outside the station on a narrow ridge above the abyss.

When pollen is in short supply, bumblebees damage plant leaves in a way that accelerates flower production, as an ETH research team headed up by Consuelo De Moraes and Mark Mescher has demonstrated. Spring has sprung earlier than ever before this year, accompanied by temperatures more typical of early summertime.

Today, one third of the world's population obtains its drinking water and water for irrigation from groundwater reserves. Global population growth and water scarcity due to climate change mean that the pressure on this resource is continually increasing. However, many wells are contaminated with naturally occurring arsenic.

The "PaNDiv" experiment, established by researchers of the University of Bern on a 3000 m2 field site, is the largest biodiversity-ecosystem functioning experiment in Switzerland and aims to better understand how increases in nitrogen affect grasslands. The first article from this experiment has just been published in the scientific journal Functional Ecology after more than four years of work.

A fundamental characteristic of ecological communities is that small animals are more abundant than large ones. These "ecological pyramids" are found in both terrestrial and aquatic systems. Depending on the position of the organisms in the pyramid, their ecological functions differ and they react differently to human impact.

Decision support for car buyers: Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute have developed a web tool called the Carculator that can be used to compare the environmental performance of passenger cars in detail. The program determines the environmental balance of vehicles with different size classes and powertrains, and presents the results in comparative graphics.

The rock laboratory on the Grimsel Pass in the Bernese Oberland lies 400 metres deep in the mountain. There, geophysicists from the ETH Zurich have installed an experimental setup with which they agitate the rock, thereby systematically causing it to break. They want to find out how geothermal energy projects in Switzerland, for example, can be implemented safely in the future.