news 2020

Ten years ago, the former Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM) within the University of Basel's Faculty of Medicine was integrated into the Swiss Tropical Institute (STI). Since then, topics such as air pollution, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes have been high on the agenda at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH), as it is called today.

In Switzerland, fresh drinking water springs from the tap whenever it is needed. After use, it flows through the sewage system into the central wastewater treatment plants, where it is cleaned and reintroduced into the water cycle. This system has proven itself over many decades. But growing cities, climate change, environmental protection and scarce resources pose new challenges for urban water management.

Ten years ago, the former Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM) within the University of Basel's Faculty of Medicine was integrated into the Swiss Tropical Institute (STI). Since then, topics such as air pollution, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes have been high on the agenda at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH), as it is called today.

Canalisation, sewage disposal and hydropower exploitation - rivers are among the most heavily impacted ecosystems worldwide. At the same time, rivers and streams are highly dynamic systems of exceptional biological diversity and social importance. In this area of conflict between protection and exploitation, Switzerland will implement numerous restoration and mitigation projects in the coming decades.

EPFL chemists have developed sponges to capture various target substances, like gold, mercury and lead, dissolved in solution. The sponges are actually porous crystals called metal organic frameworks, and now one exists for capturing toxic hexavalent chromium from water. Hexavalent chromium continues to contaminate water sources around the world, with one US company fined just this February for having put employees at risk.

Global warming has affected the entire planet's surface, except for one particular area of the ocean, which has bucked the trend. A research team comprising scientists from ETH Zurich and Princeton University has unravelled the causes of this conundrum. Climate and marine scientists are observing pervasive warming of the ocean and the land surfaces across the globe.

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have collaborated with British economists to study how energy consumption by Swiss industry develops depending on energy pricing. To this end, they examined in particular the prices and consumption of both electricity and natural gas over the past decades.

ETH researchers have analysed individual marine bacterial cells to show that metabolic processes inside them determine the amount of gas they release, which is involved in cloud formation. Meteorologists have known for almost 50 years that the proverbial flapping of a butterfly's wings can trigger a hurricane in a completely different location.

What effect does extinction of species have on the evolution of surviving species' Evolutionary biologists have investigated this question by conducting a field experiment with a leaf galling fly and its predatory enemies. They found that losing its natural enemies could make it more difficult for the prey to adapt to future environments.

EPFL researchers, working in association with the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), have developed a method for detecting the novel coronavirus in wastewater samples. Their method has been tested successfully on samples collected during the first phase of the pandemic, paving the way to an early-stage warning system.

"Detection and quantification of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater" - research projects on this scale generally take several years. But now, thanks to major efforts, a group of scientists led by Professor Tamar Kohn (Environmental Chemistry Laboratory) at EPFL and Dr Christoph Ort (Urban Water Management) and Dr Tim Julian (Environmental Microbiology) at Eawag have shown that an idea like this can be realised within a matter of weeks.

Every day, several tons of pharmaceutical ingredients are released into bodies of water worldwide. These originate mainly from domestic wastewater, because most substances are excreted again after ingestion - in part unchanged. Since many wastewater treatment plants do not retain all substances without leaving any residues, the rest ends up in the aquatic environment.

The diversity of food plants for insects in the canton of Zurich has dramatically decreased over the past 100 years or so.

Researchers from Basel have identified the genetic basis of rapid adaptation using a native fish species. They compared threespine stickleback fish from different habitats in the Lake Constance region. Their study reveals that changes in the genome can be observed within a single generation. The results were published Communications.

The abundance of large orb web spiders in the Swiss midland has declined drastically over the last 40 years. The main reason for this is the shrinking food supply available to these insectivorous animals. This is demonstrated in a study conducted by researchers from the University of Basel and Ghent University (Belgium), as reported in the scientific journal Insects.

To control pests without pesticides, genetically modified organisms of the same species could be used. The latter carry a gene that is passed on with above-average frequency via sexual reproduction. This gene possesses traits that directly weaken the pest, or prevent pathogens from being transmitted.

The CHEOPS space telescope has exceeded scientists' expectations for accuracy. CHEOPS has reached its next milestone: Following extensive tests in Earth's orbit, some of which the mission team was forced to carry out from home due to the coronavirus crisis, the space telescope has been declared ready for science.

Naturally occurring (geogenic) arsenic contamination in groundwater is a problem of global significance, with noteworthy occurrences in large parts of the alluvial and deltaic aquifers in South and Southeast Asia. Computer models are necessary to analyse field observations, to unravel which chemical and physical processes play a role, and to predict the behaviour of arsenic within aquifers - namely where and when pollution may occur in the future.

The use of dirty coal as a heat source makes life tough in the Mongolian winter. ETH geophysicists are helping to develop geothermal energy as a clean alternative. Many Europeans have an idyllic view of Mongolia as a land of wide, empty spaces and pristine nature. But the truth is more complicated, especially in winter.

A new nationwide study being conducted jointly by EPFL, the Idiap Research Institute and the University of Lausanne (UNIL) aims to understand the emotional effects of the lockdown on Swiss residents and what steps they are taking to cope with it. The findings will be used to develop better support strategies for the future.