Research attempts to balance more efficient uptake during cows’ digestion of nitrogen feed fertiliser to help reduce the level of cattles’ flatulences responsible for generating methane, a greenhouse gas

An additive for oxygen-based processing of sludge may be useful in specific cases in lowering the environmental impact of waste water treatment for the meat and dairy industries

Antimicrobial silver nanoparticles may enable people to use textiles in an environmentally more sustainable way, even though a question mark remains on their potential risks 

By studying the molecular mechanism of food nutrients from a Mediterranean diet in an elderly population, scientists hope to help countering their physical and mental decline

A new system called FIRESENSE detects fire and extreme weather conditions and could become the best insurance to protect cultural heritage monuments from fire and other hazards

To help decision makers mitigate the consequence of alien plant and animal invasion, an EU-wide database maintains a black list of these unwelcome biological invaders. 

Scientists are recruiting bacteria to spot pollutants spilling into our rivers and lakes.

Proving the health benefits of a new class of compounds extracted from seaweed may require undergoing lengthy trials and comparison with similar substances before they become available as food supplements

Strickbau buildings in Appenzell appear to be on the verge of disappearance. 

A conservation effort in Appenzell, Switzerland,  could lead to the revival of local heritage buildings made with the unique Strickbau construction technique

By making Strickbau wood log building more energy efficient, scientists are participating to their revival and use for modern living

Because plastic is widely available and not biodegradable, it is a material of choice to include as a component of light concrete

According to the current climate models, modifications in the amount and duration of snow cover, the magnitude and timing of the summer ice-melt peak, the headwater extension of streams as they follow glacier recession, decreasing groundwater recharge and elevated water temperature are expected to ...

Basic operations in the field of nanotechnology that are currently very difficult or impossible to perform can become easy with a new multi-nano tool called FIBLYS. Nanosized components in for example solar cells will be designed and studied in an entirely new way, which the researchers hope will ...

Solar cell production is still an expensive process. Thin solar cells consume less raw materials, energy and time, but their efficiency is still low and has to be improved through additional research efforts

To make solar cells a competitive alternative to other renewable energy sources, researchers are investigating different alternatives. A step in the right direction is through new processes that change the surfaces of silicon solar cells. By creating different nanostructures on the surfaces, the ...

Solar cells that are more effective and cost less in production: European researchers developed nano-tuned surfaces to gain both .

We expect our electronic devices, such as mobile phones and computers, to work properly and become even better with time and seldom think about the amazing innovations making this possible. Scientists are developing a cantilever array that can have an important impact on synthesis and analysis of ...

The blood vessel research conducted by Professor Markus Affolter and his team at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel could prove indispensable in the development of new cancer treatments

Professor Walter Gehring’s discovery of the Pax-6 gene, is now widely regarded as the surprising confirmation of the single origin of an organ as perfect as this, which Darwin had passionately postulated but found especially hard to defend. (Jun. '09)