wire - news in brief
« BACK
Environment - Earth Sciences - 19.06.2020 
Who’s evaluating Swiss landscapes?
If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, how do you define a beautiful landscape? Machine learning algorithms can be helpful here, says Adrienne Grêt-Regamey.
Astronomy / Space Science - Earth Sciences - 17.06.2020 
"My dream discovery would be to map the Moon’s geology."
Maria Schönbächler investigates how our solar system formed. Her work often reminds her of the importance of breaking out of established patterns.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 20.05.2020 
"We need to study biodiversity in a more holistic way."
Catherine and Florian, the theme of the International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) is "Our solutions are in nature".
Earth Sciences - 07.05.2020
Earth Sciences - 24.04.2020
Environment - Earth Sciences - 19.03.2020 
Interview on World Water Day on 22 March 2020
Martin, Switzerland is now known as the "water tower of Europe". Will Switzerland still have an excess of water in the future? Overall, Switzerland will still have enough water in the future.
Earth Sciences - 06.03.2020
Earth Sciences - 11.02.2020
Earth Sciences - Mathematics - 01.01.2020
Earth Sciences - 01.11.2019 
Seismology in the service of peace
News By: Michèle Marti and Felix Würsten Twenty years ago, Switzerland ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.
Earth Sciences - Environment - 01.11.2019 
EPFL champions energy geostructures
Energy geostructures provide a constant source of renewable heating and cooling in buildings and infrastructures and perform very well.
Earth Sciences - Computer Science - 11.09.2019
Earth Sciences - 30.08.2019 
Benoît Ferrari takes over as interim director of the Ecotox Centre
After studying biology and biochemistry at the University of Lorraine (Metz, F), Benoît Ferrari worked on the ecotoxicity of solid waste in his dissertation.
Earth Sciences - 26.07.2019
Earth Sciences - Environment - 24.05.2019
Earth Sciences - Event - 15.04.2019
Earth Sciences - 28.03.2019 
Of Scythes, Scythe Hammers and Work Songs
The agricultural technics of wild hay making in Switzerland and shifting cultivation in the eastern Himalayas have one thing in common: They are both performed on steep slopes.
Earth Sciences - 16.11.2018
Earth Sciences - 06.11.2018
Earth Sciences - Social Sciences - 03.10.2018 
Jacques Lévy wins the 2018 Vautrin-Lud Prize
Jacques Lévy has been awarded the 2018 Vautrin-Lud Prize, a geography award modeled on the Nobel Prize.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 28.08.2018
Environment - Earth Sciences - 16.08.2018 
Documenting the effects of climate change in Siberia
Annelen Kahl, a post-doc in environmental sciences and engineering at EPFL, will oversee a group of four EPFL students during a three-week stint at a high-tech research station on a Siberian island.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 09.07.2018 
Charcoal: Major Missing Piece in the Global Carbon Cycle
Due to its widespread occurrence and tendency to linger in the environment, black carbon may be one of the keys in predicting and mitigating global climate change. In wildfires, typically one third of the burned organic carbon is retained as black carbon residues rather than emitted as greenhouse gases.
Social Sciences - Earth Sciences - 28.06.2018
Earth Sciences - 26.06.2018
Earth Sciences - 10.04.2018
Environment - Earth Sciences - 14.03.2018 
Climate change drives mountain hares to higher altitudes
A warming climate will shrink and fragment mountain hare habitat in the Swiss Alps. Populations are likely to decline as a result, concludes an international study led by the University of Bern and the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL). Specialised species like the mountain hare, adapted to life at high altitudes, are particularly affected by climate change.
Earth Sciences - 31.01.2018 
Two months in Pyeongchang to study Korean snowfalls
Josué Gehring is about to spend two months taking part in an international meteorological measurement project in the mountains of South Korea, close to the 2018 Winter Olympics host venues.
Earth Sciences - Environment - 24.01.2018 
Exploring lakes in Vanuatu
A research team from the Surface Waters Research and Management Department is investigating the earliest traces of human life in the tropical Pacific. In July 2017, the team undertook an expedition to Vanuatu in Melanesia. The researchers took sediment cores from the lakes and marshes on seven islands in order to test these for indications of the earliest human activities.
Earth Sciences - 27.10.2017
Earth Sciences - Environment - 03.10.2017 
Swiss people may be ready to live car-free
Swiss people may be ready to live car-free under certain conditions. The findings of PostCarWorld, a cross-disciplinary study into Swiss people's contradictory relationship with cars, will be presented at EPFL on 3 October.
Earth Sciences - Event - 21.08.2017
History / Archeology - Earth Sciences - 20.06.2017 
A Wooden Toe: Swiss Egyptologists Study 3000-Year-Old Prosthesis
It is likely to be one of the oldest prosthetic devices in human history: Together with other experts, Egyptologists from the University of Basel have reexamined an artificial wooden big toe. The find is almost 3000 years old and was discovered in a female burial from the necropolis of Sheikh ŽAbd el-Qurna close to Luxor.
Earth Sciences - Economics / Business - 16.06.2017 
A new view of the world
The Swiss World Atlas has been published in a completely revised new edition. In addition to the usual topographic relief maps, it also contains maps on current global issues such as the environment, energy and conflicts. Since 1910, the Swiss World Atlas has accompanied generations of secondary school pupils through their geography lessons, conveying not only a comprehensive picture of the earth, but also the specific geography of Switzerland.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 01.06.2017
Earth Sciences - Environment - 16.05.2017 
Reconstructing a lake’s history by simple means
Media releases, information for representatives of the media Media Relations (E) The sediments of Lake Van in Eastern Anatolia (Turkey) are a valuable climate archive.
Earth Sciences - Innovation - 02.05.2017 
Two's company when it comes to 3D mapping
EPFL researchers have developed the terrestrial and aerial components of a European spatial and urban mapping project.
Earth Sciences - Economics / Business - 27.03.2017 
Archival photos offer research value
A crowdmapping project developed by EPFL and HEIG-VD gives volunteers the chance to compare the Switzerland of the 1960s with that of today through archival photos.
Earth Sciences - Materials Science - 16.03.2017 
The dream of building bridges
The French geologist Matthieu Galvez is one of the winners of the Branco Weiss Fellowship 2016. We discuss how he will be using this fellowship, how it will benefit him and why he chose a career as a researcher.
Earth Sciences - 06.02.2017 
Bern study rehabilitates climate models
Media releases, information for representatives of the media Media Relations (E) With new methods of reconstruction, climate researchers in Bern have been able to demonstrate that some 9,000 to 5,000 years ago, the Mediterranean climate was considerably warmer than previous studies had suggested. Among other things, previous concerns regarding the reliability of climate models could thus be dispelled.
Earth Sciences - 23.01.2017 
Chronicle of a catastrophic landslide
Dramatic developments have been documented at the Aletsch glacier, where the ice has retreated at such a pace that an adjoining slope has also started to move rapidly. With the help of a unique dataset, researchers are able to demonstrate a direct connection between the ice loss of the Aletsch glacier and the slippage of the Moosfluh slope.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 20.12.2016 
Three months in the Antarctic to unlock the secrets of our climate
The Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition (ACE), the first project run by the Swiss Polar Institute (SPI), will set sail this evening from South Africa.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 01.11.2016 
Preserve the Alps by giving up the chalets
An isolated chalet in the mountains is a dream for nature lovers. However, this dream is responsible for most of the problems that winter resorts face today.
Earth Sciences - 31.10.2016 
Cadmium, cocoa beans and chocolate
Cocoa from Latin America tends to show higher cadmium levels than cocoa from other growing areas. ETH researchers have been investigating the underlying cause in Honduras and Bolivia. A few years ago, the press picked up on worrying reports by German scientists that dark chocolate can sometimes contain significant amounts of cadmium, a poisonous heavy metal.
Astronomy / Space Science - Earth Sciences - 24.10.2016
Environment - Earth Sciences - 31.08.2016 
Freshening of the Southern Ocean
Over the past decades, the northward drift of sea ice surrounding Antarctica has strengthened.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 18.04.2016 
Newly created Swiss Polar Institute to launch a Antarctic expedition
18.04.16 - The Swiss Polar Institute will study the Earth's poles and extreme environments.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 05.04.2016
Earth Sciences - 29.03.2016
Environment - Earth Sciences - 22.03.2016 
«Watchdog» for greenhouse gas emissions
Mistakes can happen when estimating emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. Researchers from Empa, the University of Berne and ETH Zurich funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation have developed a method to independently validate national statistics. The signatory countries of the Kyoto Protocol and the new Paris Agreement have committed to reduce global warming.
Earth Sciences
Results 1 - 50 of 58.
If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, how do you define a beautiful landscape? Machine learning algorithms can be helpful here, says Adrienne Grêt-Regamey.
Maria Schönbächler investigates how our solar system formed. Her work often reminds her of the importance of breaking out of established patterns.
Catherine and Florian, the theme of the International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) is "Our solutions are in nature".
WIITE, the exoskeleton for backcountry skiing
While backcountry ski racers are disappointed that they won't be starting the Patrouille des Glaciers, one disabled skier is happily strapping on the climbing skins once again.
While backcountry ski racers are disappointed that they won't be starting the Patrouille des Glaciers, one disabled skier is happily strapping on the climbing skins once again.
Martin, Switzerland is now known as the "water tower of Europe". Will Switzerland still have an excess of water in the future? Overall, Switzerland will still have enough water in the future.
Postglacial erosion: new insights from the Mont Blanc massif
Assessing the impact of Quaternary glaciation at the Earth's surface implies understanding of the long-term evolution of alpine landscapes.
Assessing the impact of Quaternary glaciation at the Earth's surface implies understanding of the long-term evolution of alpine landscapes.
News By: Michèle Marti and Felix Würsten Twenty years ago, Switzerland ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.
Energy geostructures provide a constant source of renewable heating and cooling in buildings and infrastructures and perform very well.
After studying biology and biochemistry at the University of Lorraine (Metz, F), Benoît Ferrari worked on the ecotoxicity of solid waste in his dissertation.
The agricultural technics of wild hay making in Switzerland and shifting cultivation in the eastern Himalayas have one thing in common: They are both performed on steep slopes.
Jacques Lévy has been awarded the 2018 Vautrin-Lud Prize, a geography award modeled on the Nobel Prize.
A 60-day trip around Greenland to measure climate change
In the summer of 2019, the GreenLAnd Circumnavigation Expedition (GLACE) will make its way around the island of Greenland.
In the summer of 2019, the GreenLAnd Circumnavigation Expedition (GLACE) will make its way around the island of Greenland.
Annelen Kahl, a post-doc in environmental sciences and engineering at EPFL, will oversee a group of four EPFL students during a three-week stint at a high-tech research station on a Siberian island.
Due to its widespread occurrence and tendency to linger in the environment, black carbon may be one of the keys in predicting and mitigating global climate change. In wildfires, typically one third of the burned organic carbon is retained as black carbon residues rather than emitted as greenhouse gases.
From Wooden Combs to the Lives of the Saamaka Marron in Suriname
Video preview of the exhibition "Encountering - Retracing - Mapping. The Expedition Collections of Heinrich Harrer".
Video preview of the exhibition "Encountering - Retracing - Mapping. The Expedition Collections of Heinrich Harrer".
Earthquake engineering: an EPFL laboratory stands out
Three researchers from the Resilient Steel Structures Laboratory (RESSlab) beat 11 other teams to win an international computer simulation contest on earthquake engineering.
Three researchers from the Resilient Steel Structures Laboratory (RESSlab) beat 11 other teams to win an international computer simulation contest on earthquake engineering.
A warming climate will shrink and fragment mountain hare habitat in the Swiss Alps. Populations are likely to decline as a result, concludes an international study led by the University of Bern and the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL). Specialised species like the mountain hare, adapted to life at high altitudes, are particularly affected by climate change.
Josué Gehring is about to spend two months taking part in an international meteorological measurement project in the mountains of South Korea, close to the 2018 Winter Olympics host venues.
A research team from the Surface Waters Research and Management Department is investigating the earliest traces of human life in the tropical Pacific. In July 2017, the team undertook an expedition to Vanuatu in Melanesia. The researchers took sediment cores from the lakes and marshes on seven islands in order to test these for indications of the earliest human activities.
Swiss people may be ready to live car-free under certain conditions. The findings of PostCarWorld, a cross-disciplinary study into Swiss people's contradictory relationship with cars, will be presented at EPFL on 3 October.
It is likely to be one of the oldest prosthetic devices in human history: Together with other experts, Egyptologists from the University of Basel have reexamined an artificial wooden big toe. The find is almost 3000 years old and was discovered in a female burial from the necropolis of Sheikh ŽAbd el-Qurna close to Luxor.
The Swiss World Atlas has been published in a completely revised new edition. In addition to the usual topographic relief maps, it also contains maps on current global issues such as the environment, energy and conflicts. Since 1910, the Swiss World Atlas has accompanied generations of secondary school pupils through their geography lessons, conveying not only a comprehensive picture of the earth, but also the specific geography of Switzerland.
Landscapes remain under pressure
Bern, 01.06.2017 - Landscapes play an important role in Switzerland's quality of life and attractiveness as a location. They remain under considerable pressure: the latest results of the Landscape Monitoring Switzerland programme reveal a continuous deterioration in the quality of the country's landscapes.
Bern, 01.06.2017 - Landscapes play an important role in Switzerland's quality of life and attractiveness as a location. They remain under considerable pressure: the latest results of the Landscape Monitoring Switzerland programme reveal a continuous deterioration in the quality of the country's landscapes.
Media releases, information for representatives of the media Media Relations (E) The sediments of Lake Van in Eastern Anatolia (Turkey) are a valuable climate archive.
EPFL researchers have developed the terrestrial and aerial components of a European spatial and urban mapping project.
A crowdmapping project developed by EPFL and HEIG-VD gives volunteers the chance to compare the Switzerland of the 1960s with that of today through archival photos.
The French geologist Matthieu Galvez is one of the winners of the Branco Weiss Fellowship 2016. We discuss how he will be using this fellowship, how it will benefit him and why he chose a career as a researcher.
Media releases, information for representatives of the media Media Relations (E) With new methods of reconstruction, climate researchers in Bern have been able to demonstrate that some 9,000 to 5,000 years ago, the Mediterranean climate was considerably warmer than previous studies had suggested. Among other things, previous concerns regarding the reliability of climate models could thus be dispelled.
Dramatic developments have been documented at the Aletsch glacier, where the ice has retreated at such a pace that an adjoining slope has also started to move rapidly. With the help of a unique dataset, researchers are able to demonstrate a direct connection between the ice loss of the Aletsch glacier and the slippage of the Moosfluh slope.
The Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition (ACE), the first project run by the Swiss Polar Institute (SPI), will set sail this evening from South Africa.
An isolated chalet in the mountains is a dream for nature lovers. However, this dream is responsible for most of the problems that winter resorts face today.
Cocoa from Latin America tends to show higher cadmium levels than cocoa from other growing areas. ETH researchers have been investigating the underlying cause in Honduras and Bolivia. A few years ago, the press picked up on worrying reports by German scientists that dark chocolate can sometimes contain significant amounts of cadmium, a poisonous heavy metal.
Swiss Researchers Fly Into Weightlessness
The dream of weightlessness came true on Saturday for two researchers from the University of Basel. During a parabolic flight, the scientists tested a newly developed measuring device under reduced gravity. The instrument analyzes the deposition of sediments and is intended to support the search for life on Mars.
The dream of weightlessness came true on Saturday for two researchers from the University of Basel. During a parabolic flight, the scientists tested a newly developed measuring device under reduced gravity. The instrument analyzes the deposition of sediments and is intended to support the search for life on Mars.
Over the past decades, the northward drift of sea ice surrounding Antarctica has strengthened.
18.04.16 - The Swiss Polar Institute will study the Earth's poles and extreme environments.
Off to Tierra del Fuego
Levels of greenhouse gas CO2 continue to rise and are about to exceed the next threshold. Empa makes sure that this and other air pollutants can be measured correctly and in a globally comparable way.
Levels of greenhouse gas CO2 continue to rise and are about to exceed the next threshold. Empa makes sure that this and other air pollutants can be measured correctly and in a globally comparable way.
Mistakes can happen when estimating emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. Researchers from Empa, the University of Berne and ETH Zurich funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation have developed a method to independently validate national statistics. The signatory countries of the Kyoto Protocol and the new Paris Agreement have committed to reduce global warming.
