news 2024
Innovation
Results 1 - 20 of 30.
Innovation - Linguistics / Literature - 25.11.2024
User Language Distorts ChatGPT Information on Armed Conflicts
When asked in Arabic about the number of civilian casualties killed in the Middle East conflict, ChatGPT gives significantly higher casualty numbers than when the prompt was written in Hebrew, as a new study by the Universities of Zurich and Constance shows. These systematic discrepancies can reinforce biases in armed conflicts and encourage information bubbles.
Innovation - Mechanical Engineering - 05.11.2024
Record broken for the longest Hyperloop trial at EPFL
As part of the LIMITLESS project, scientists from EPFL, HEIG-VD and Swisspod have completed the longest-ever vacuum capsule journey in Europe's first operational Hyperloop test facility.
Innovation - Computer Science - 21.10.2024
How law-abiding is AI? researchers put it to the test
The EU AI Act is designed to ensure that AI is transparent and trustworthy. For the first time, ETH computer scientists have translated the Act into measurable technical requirements for AI. In doing so, they have shown how well today's AI models already comply with the legal requirements. Researchers from ETH Zurich, the Bulgarian AI research institute INSAIT - created in partnership with ETH and EPFL - and the ETH spin-off LatticeFlow AI have provided the first comprehensive technical interpretation of the EU AI Act for General Purpose AI (GPAI) models.
Health - Innovation - 09.10.2024
Physio and rehab 2.0 - teletherapy with VR glasses and gamification
With the help of VR glasses and playful exercises, tele-rehabilitation of patients is to be made more effective and attractive.
Pedagogy - Innovation - 17.09.2024
Students seem to prefer teacher feedback over AI feedback
A new EPFL paper has found that students are cautious towards AI feedback, highlighting the complexity of integrating it into educational feedback systems. Feedback plays a crucial role in learning, helping individuals to understand and improve their performance, yet globally large and diverse student populations often mean that providing timely and personalized observations can be a challenge.
Computer Science - Innovation - 27.08.2024
Effects of digitalization on culture examined
Whether it's folk music, a theater festival or game design: culture thrives on encounters between people, their works and their activities. Technology has always played an important role in this. But what are the current interdependencies between digital possibilities and cultural creation? A three-part TA-SWISS project is taking a close look at the opportunities and risks of digitalization in the cultural sector.
Pedagogy - Innovation - 26.08.2024
How smart toys spy on kids: what parents need to know
Toniebox, Tiptoi, and Tamagotchi are smart toys, offering interactive play through software and internet access. However, many of these toys raise privacy concerns, and some even collect extensive behavioral data about children, report researchers at the University of Basel. The Toniebox and the figurines it comes with are especially popular with small children.
Physics - Innovation - 14.08.2024
First observation of neutrinos with prototype at the ultimate neutrino observatory DUNE
In the USA, the world's most extensive neutrino experiment, DUNE, is being built at Fermilab. The University of Bern is playing a key role in this by developing the "ND-LAr" detector, which features new technology and an innovative design to observe neutrinos. The prototype of the "ND-LAr" has now been successfully tested and has detected its first neutrinos.
Environment - Innovation - 07.08.2024
How forest trees defy extreme heatwaves
Extreme heatwaves are on the rise. When do they become critical for forest trees? In the hot summer of 2023, a research team led by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) investigated this in Switzerland, southern France and Spain.
Environment - Innovation - 30.07.2024
Digitalisation: a blessing for the energy transformation
Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have used one of the most advanced energy system models in Europe to calculate the impact of digitalisation on energy consumption. Many people now work partly or permanently from home. This saves petrol because they no longer have to drive to the office - which is good for the energy transition.
Health - Innovation - 17.07.2024
A hydrogel implant to treat endometriosis
Researchers from ETH Zurich and Empa have developed a hydrogel implant that can help prevent endometriosis, a condition that affects a great many women. This innovation also acts as a contraceptive. Hydrogels have a variety of use cases, including contact lenses, delivering doses of medication within the body, moisturisers, water storage in soil, cleaning polluted water and as gelling and thickening agents.
Computer Science - Innovation - 09.07.2024
Navigating the labyrinth: How AI tackles complex data sampling
Researchers at EPFL have made a breakthrough in understanding how neural network-based generative models perform against traditional data sampling techniques in complex systems, unveiling both challenges and opportunities for AI's future in data generation. The world of artificial intelligence (AI) has recently seen significant advancements in generative models, a type of machine-learning algorithms that "learn" patterns from set of data in order to generate new, similar sets of data.
Physics - Innovation - 13.06.2024
Miniaturizing a laser on a photonic chip
Scientists at EPFL have successfully miniaturized a powerful erbium-based biber laser on a silicon-nitride photonic chip. Since typical erbium-based fiber lasers are large and difficult to scale down, the breakthrough promises major advances in optical communications and sensing technologies. Lasers have revolutionized the world since the 60's and are now indispensable in modern applications, from cutting-edge surgery and precise manufacturing to data transmission across optical fibers.
Chemistry - Innovation - 05.06.2024
The mystery of cathodic corrosion protection clarified
Cathodic corrosion protection is a widely used technique for protecting steel-based infrastructure from corrosion. researchers have now clarified the detailed mechanisms involved, thereby resolving a controversial issue that had preoccupied the engineering community for decades. Corrosion is a chemical reaction to which even the strongest structures fall victim.
Innovation - Economics - 28.05.2024
Retail banks: cryptocurrencies on the rise as an investment
Despite widespread skepticism, more and more retail banks are offering cryptocurrencies as a fully-fledged asset class. While some banks are specifically building up their own expertise in blockchain, most are relying on third-party providers. These are the findings of a new study by Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts.
Physics - Innovation - 16.05.2024
Artificial intelligence calculates phase diagrams
Researchers at the University of Basel have developed a new method for calculating phase diagrams of physical systems that works similarly to ChatGPT. This artificial intelligence could even automate scientific experiments in the future. A year and a half ago, ChatGPT was released, and ever since, there has been hardly anything that cannot be created with this new form of artificial intelligence: texts, images, videos, and even music.
Environment - Innovation - 15.05.2024
Using solar energy to generate heat at high temperatures
Instead of burning coal or oil to produce cement or steel, in the future solar energy could be used for this purpose. Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a thermal trap that can absorb concentrated sunlight and deliver heat at over thousand degrees Celsius. The production of cement, metals and many chemical commodities requires extremely high temperatures of over a thousand degrees Celsius.
Transport - Innovation - 15.05.2024
Researchers outsmarted EasyRide function on Swiss travel app
Experiments by ETH Zurich computer security researchers showed that smartphones can be manipulated to allow the owner to ride Swiss trains for free. The researchers also highlighted ways of curbing such misuse. It makes travelling by train, bus and tram super easy: instead of buying a conventional ticket, people using the EasyRide function in the SBB app can start their journey with a single swipe on their smartphone.
Health - Innovation - 02.05.2024
Blood diagnostics modelled on leeches
Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a safe and inexpensive device for reliable blood measurements. It works using a suction cup and could also be employed to diagnose the tropical disease malaria - even by non-medical personnel. Many people are afraid of needles, and having a doctor take a blood sample from their arm makes them uncomfortable.
Life Sciences - Innovation - 22.04.2024
Spatial-temporal detection of apoptotic cell death in live-cell imaging
Apoptotic cell death is a crucial mechanism that contributes to tissue homeostasis and prevents the onset of several diseases. However, this phenomenon is challenging to identify within microscopy movies that can encompass thousands of cells. Led by Santiago Gonzalez, the recent study carried at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB) in Bellinzona, affiliated with USI, introduces ADeS, an innovative approach based on artificial intelligence for the automatic detection of apoptotic cells in microscopy movies.
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