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Seventy percent of soils in Europe are contaminated with pesticides. A Europe-wide study co-led by researchers of the University of Zurich now shows that their effects on soil life are substantial, as pesticides suppress various beneficial soil organisms. To protect soil biodiversity, the findings should be taken into account in current pesticide regulations.

Researchers have deciphered the diet of an important nomadic people in Eastern European history. By analyzing dental calculus, they have provided the first direct evidence that the diet of the Scythians included milk from various ruminants and horses. For centuries, the Scythians have been regarded as a nomadic horsemen people who roamed the vast steppes of Eurasia during the Iron Age.

A study carried out under the direction of the University of Fribourg in collaboration with the University of Lausanne and the University of Geneva shows that the majority of food supplements based o

Thanks to a project by the organizations newTree and tiipaalga, which is supported by the Swiss Ornithological Institute, migratory birds in Africa are finding suitable habitats - and people are also benefiting.

For decades, the oat variety 'Hative des Alpes'  had been all but forgotten. Now, its genetic information is being incorporated into the first gene atlas for oats - and will one day contribute to the cultivation of new oat varieties. Oats are currently undergoing a renaissance and are becoming an increasingly important item on our plates (or in our cereal bowls).

In a new study using AI and machine learning, researchers have found that it's not only what we eat, but how consistently we eat it that plays a crucial role in gut health. The gut microbiota is the community of microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, fungi and other microbes, that lives in our digestive systems - some of these microbes are helpful and others can be harmful.

In a groundbreaking study, researchers from the University of Bern and ETH Zurich have shown how climate change is intensifying supercell thunderstorms in Europe. At a global temperature increase of 3 degrees Celsius, these powerful storms are expected to occur more frequently, especially in the Alpine region.

A study from the University of Geneva shows that European hunter-gatherers and Anatolian farmers coexisted and gradually interbred. The transition to agriculture in Europe involved the coexistence of hunter-gatherers and early farmers migrating from Anatolia. To better understand their dynamics of interaction, a team from the University of Geneva , in collaboration with the University of Fribourg and Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, combined computer simulations with ancient genetic data.

The cultivation of thick muscle fibres from bovine cells in the lab has long been a challenge for scientists.

A study by EPFL and the Swiss Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO) has found that tire additives enter into and pass through the food chain. Further research is needed to establish the implications for human health. Traces of the additives typically used in tire manufacturing have been detected in all'of the most common types of fruits and vegetables eaten in Switzerland.

Swiss farmers report lower levels of wellbeing than their urban and rural counterparts in the general population, with psychosocial hazards such as stress and poor sleep identified as the strongest negative influences. These are the baseline findings of the FarmCoSwiss cohort study, published today in Swiss Medical Weekly by researchers at Swiss TPH.

At the slightest sign of rot on an apple or pear, little flies start swirling around it. No wonder! Drosophila and their larvae love rotting fruit. Researchers at the University of Fribourg have discovered how they can sense when a fruit is 'ripe '. Thanks to taste cells called mechanoreceptors, fly larvae can not only taste food, but also appreciate its consistency.

A new study shows that increasing plant diversity in agriculture can be used to improve the carbon sequestration potential of agricultural soils. As the agricultural sector strives to reduce its carbon footprint, promoting biodiversity in agricultural practices could be the key to more sustainable and climate-friendly food production systems.

Biologists who worked for several years at the University of Neuchâtel report on induced plant resistance in a special multimedia dossier published today in the prestigious journal Frontiers in Science . The method is presented as a kind of vaccination, making it possible to reduce dependence on pesticides not only to combat crop diseases and pests, but also to ensure healthier, more sustainable harvests.

Its preservation benefits many others: the umbrella species. This is the role played by the white-backed woodpecker for beetles that feed on dead wood. This rare bird is therefore an indirect indicator of biodiversity, as researchers at BFH-HAFL have shown. Deciduous or mixed forests with lots of dead wood - this is the preferred habitat of the White-backed Woodpecker.

ETH spin-off Terensis is able to forecast the harvest yield and climate risks such as droughts and frost with the help of satellites.

Food, feed, fiber, and bioenergy: The demand for agricultural raw materials is rising. How can additional cultivation areas be reconciled with nature conservation? Researchers at the University of Basel have developed a land-use model that provides answers. By 2030, global cultivation areas are expected to expand by 3.6 percent, increasing global agricultural production by two percent.

In wealthier countries with greater gender equality, men are more likely to eat meat more frequently than women, a new study reveals. The research team, led by the University of Zurich, examined the meat consumption patterns of more than 20,000 people from 23 countries. The findings could inform strategies for promoting plant-based and cultured meat as viable alternatives to traditional meat consumption.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have teamed up with the food industry to produce a whole-fruit variety of chocolate. This helps increase the value creation of cocoa farming - and is healthier. For many people, chocolate is a sweet delight: its main components are cocoa mass and cocoa butter, which are extracted from the cocoa fruit.

Like forests, grassland provides numerous ecological, economic and social benefits. Researchers in the Swiss canton of Solothurn have investigated ways to maintain and improve these benefits. Grass, clover and herbs are the foundation of Swiss agriculture: two-thirds of Switzerland's agricultural land is grassland, much of which is barely suitable for arable farming.