February 2017

ETH material scientists have developed a new method of manufacturing ceramics that does not require the starting materials to be fired. Instead, they are compacted under high pressure at room temperature in a significantly more energy-efficient process.

Researchers in the Singapore-ETH Centre’s Future Cities Laboratory developed a method to quantify ecosystem services of street trees. Using nearly 100,000 images from Google Street View, the study helps further understanding on how green spaces contribute to urban sustainability.

Good weather and lack of pack ice allow Akademik Treshnikov to travel to Mount Siple on the Ross Sea Coast before completing the second stage of the expedition. Iris Thurnherr reports on daily routines and exceptional situations during her fourteen-week stay on the research vessel.

Federal Councillor Alain Berset was invited by Lino Guzzella to visit ETH Zurich on Friday. Berset seemed very impressed by what he saw at the Disney Research Zurich research laboratory.

Some organisms are able to survive in hot springs, while others can only live at mild temperatures because their proteins aren’t able to withstand such extreme heat. ETH researchers investigated these differences and showed that often only a few key proteins determine the life and heat-induced death of a cell.

ETH Zurich’s Collection of Prints and Drawings is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. To mark this occasion, it is not only opening up its extraordinary collection and displaying selected treasures, it is also focusing on attracting a younger audience and intensifying collaboration with ETH researchers.

As a result of climate change, concentrations of the trace element selenium in soils are likely to decrease. Because the selenium content of crops may also be reduced, the risk of selenium deficiency could be increased in many regions of the world. This was shown by a recent study which used data-mining to model the global distribution of selenium.

ETH President Lino Guzzella welcomed Alexander van der Bellen to the University on Friday, where the Austrian President was shown how ETH is encouraging innovation.

ETH Zurich researchers and Disney Research have produced a new algorithm that allows non-invasive reconstruction of the teeth and gums from digital photos.

On the second leg of the journey around the Antarctic, the research vessel Akademik Treshnikov sets out from Tasmania to the frozen edge of Antarctica, before heading on eastwards to Chile. An oceanographer, whose knowledge of the Southern Ocean was previously limited to theory, blogs from on board.