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Environment - Earth Sciences - 01.09.2021
Environment - Earth Sciences - 24.08.2021 
Helping engineers better predict clay landslides
Norway experiences dangerous landslides due to its clay-rich soil. For her Master's thesis in civil engineering at EPFL, Mathilde Metral outlined steps that the country's geotechnical engineers can take to improve the predictive computer model they're currently developing. The heavy rains that sweep across Europe with growing frequency can be particularly damaging in Norway, where the clay-rich soil is susceptible to landslides.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 28.05.2021 
Untapped solar and wind potential in Swiss mountains
Scientists at EPFL and the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF have issued recommendations for what type of renewable energy should be produced in Switzerland's various regions, to help achieve the country's goals of carbon neutrality and energy self-sufficiency. According to a new study, the most effective way for Switzerland to become carbon-neutral and energy self-sufficient is to install a combination of wind turbines and solar panels in its Alpine regions.
Earth Sciences - Chemistry - 03.05.2021
Event - Earth Sciences - 28.04.2021
Environment - Earth Sciences - 19.04.2021
Research Management - Earth Sciences - 04.03.2021
Environment - Earth Sciences - 18.02.2021 
Climate change and Swiss lakes
A new simulation study shows that climate change risks significantly altering water temperature, ice cover and mixing of many Swiss lakes. Mid altitude lakes are especially under pressure, running the risk of completely losing ice cover and no longer fully mixing twice per year. Such a change would have fundamental consequences for the functioning of lake ecosystems.
Earth Sciences - 28.01.2021 
Using science to explore a 60-year-old Russian mystery
Researchers from EPFL and ETH Zurich have conducted an original scientific study that puts forth a plausible explanation for the mysterious 1959 death of nine hikers in the Ural Mountains in the former Soviet Union.
Earth Sciences - 28.01.2021 
A new take on an old mystery
Researchers from EPFL and ETH Zürich have conducted an original scientific study that puts forth a plausible explanation for the mysterious 1959 death of nine hikers in the Ural Mountains in the former Soviet Union.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 11.01.2021 
Extreme weather from the stratosphere
ETH climate researcher Daniela Domeisen has documented how the stratosphere influences extreme weather events.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 29.10.2020 
Leading European universities unite to battle climate change
Researchers from four leading European technical universities, all members of IDEA League, are looking for new solutions against climate change in the EASYGO project.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 08.09.2020
Environment - Earth Sciences - 19.08.2020 
Modeling avalanche protection in forests
Two EPFL students have compared the ability of a forest in Vaud Canton to protect against avalanches before and after it was ravaged by fire in 2018.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 28.07.2020 
Thallium: highly toxic, but little studied
In Agatha Christie's novel The Pale Horse, the victims die of thallium poisoning.
Earth Sciences - 28.07.2020
Environment - Earth Sciences - 14.07.2020
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 ´Abd el-Qurna close to Luxor.
Earth Sciences
Results 1 - 50 of 75.
New report details Switzerland's geo-energy potential
Switzerland has considerable capacity for carbon storage and a bright future in shallow geothermal energy. These are the two main findings presented in Innosuisse's final report on the 2013-2020 Energy Funding Programme, in the chapter on geo-energy. Lyesse Laloui, a full professor in civil engineering at EPFL, is the chapter's author and the head of a research group on this topic.
Switzerland has considerable capacity for carbon storage and a bright future in shallow geothermal energy. These are the two main findings presented in Innosuisse's final report on the 2013-2020 Energy Funding Programme, in the chapter on geo-energy. Lyesse Laloui, a full professor in civil engineering at EPFL, is the chapter's author and the head of a research group on this topic.
Norway experiences dangerous landslides due to its clay-rich soil. For her Master's thesis in civil engineering at EPFL, Mathilde Metral outlined steps that the country's geotechnical engineers can take to improve the predictive computer model they're currently developing. The heavy rains that sweep across Europe with growing frequency can be particularly damaging in Norway, where the clay-rich soil is susceptible to landslides.
Scientists at EPFL and the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF have issued recommendations for what type of renewable energy should be produced in Switzerland's various regions, to help achieve the country's goals of carbon neutrality and energy self-sufficiency. According to a new study, the most effective way for Switzerland to become carbon-neutral and energy self-sufficient is to install a combination of wind turbines and solar panels in its Alpine regions.
Europe’s largest capacity research centrifuge
The most capable geotechnical research centrifuge in Europe is currently being built on the Hönggerberg campus.
The most capable geotechnical research centrifuge in Europe is currently being built on the Hönggerberg campus.
A new simulation study shows that climate change risks significantly altering water temperature, ice cover and mixing of many Swiss lakes. Mid altitude lakes are especially under pressure, running the risk of completely losing ice cover and no longer fully mixing twice per year. Such a change would have fundamental consequences for the functioning of lake ecosystems.
Researchers from EPFL and ETH Zurich have conducted an original scientific study that puts forth a plausible explanation for the mysterious 1959 death of nine hikers in the Ural Mountains in the former Soviet Union.
Researchers from EPFL and ETH Zürich have conducted an original scientific study that puts forth a plausible explanation for the mysterious 1959 death of nine hikers in the Ural Mountains in the former Soviet Union.
ETH climate researcher Daniela Domeisen has documented how the stratosphere influences extreme weather events.
Researchers from four leading European technical universities, all members of IDEA League, are looking for new solutions against climate change in the EASYGO project.
Two EPFL students have compared the ability of a forest in Vaud Canton to protect against avalanches before and after it was ravaged by fire in 2018.
In Agatha Christie's novel The Pale Horse, the victims die of thallium poisoning.
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 ´Abd el-Qurna close to Luxor.
