Teaser channel

"Living materials" could contribute to future building materials with their ability to sense and react to environmental changes, capture CO2, or self-repair. At the Dept. of Civil, Environmental, and Geomatic Engineering three research groups are exploring the potential of living materials. An inside look at the ETH ALIVE initiative.

David Kammer¡¯s research focuses on a rather unpopular phenomenon: fracture. He uses computer simulations and laboratory experiments to study fractures at all sizes. He is particularly interested in minimal changes that can have large effects on the properties of a material.

As the speaker at this year's Paul Bernays Lectures, Michel Devoret,?Chief Scientist at Google Quantum AI, discussed quantum information processing with superconducting circuits ¨C and took the time to find out about the variety of research activities in the ETH physics department.

Researchers have further developed the use of light to control cell functions. This allows them to control cells in culture in a more specific, precise and dynamic way than before. For example, it is now possible to grow tissue in specific patterns or shapes, both in conventional cell culture and in three-dimensional tissue culture. This enables the production of more sophisticated tissue and organ models for research.

Exporting agricultural products from tropical regions to China, the USA, the Middle East, and Europe is three times more harmful to biodiversity than previously assumed. Researchers from the Technical University of Munich and the ETH Zurich have shown this by tracking agricultural exports.