With artificial intelligence to a better wood product

Empa scientist Mark Schubert and his team are using the many opportunities offered by machine learning for wood technology applications. Together with Swiss Wood Solutions, Schubert develops a digital wood-selection- and processing strategy that...
19-Nov-2019 11:05 AM EST Add to Favorites

Rubber in the environment

The tread on the tyre is worn out, new tyres are needed. Everyday life for many drivers. But where do these lost centimetres of tyre tread "disappear" to? As micro-rubbers, they mainly end up in soil and water and, to a small extent, in the air. And...
14-Nov-2019 3:05 AM EST Add to Favorites

The Screw That Dissolves

Where bones fracture, surgeons often have to join the fragments with implants. Magnesium orthopaedic screws, which over time dissolve in the body, spare patients another operation after healing is completed and reduce the risk of infection. What...
5-Nov-2019 9:50 AM EST Add to Favorites

Super Light Dampers for Low Tones

A team of Empa acoustic researchers has built macroscopic crystal structures that use internal rotation to attenuate the propagation of waves. The method makes it possible to build very light and stiff materials that can also "swallow" low...
14-Oct-2019 4:05 AM EDT Add to Favorites

Babies burdened by environmental estrogens in mothers' wombs

Early childhood life in the womb is particularly sensitive to the effects of environmental pollutants. A team from Empa and the University of Vienna has now for the first time been able to show how a pollutant from contaminated food - the...
10-Oct-2019 1:20 PM EDT Add to Favorites

Wood on our Skin

Physiological parameters in our blood can be determined without painful punctures. Empa researchers are currently working with a Canadian team to develop flexible, biocompatible nanocellulose sensors that can be attached to the skin. The 3D-printed...
8-Oct-2019 11:05 AM EDT Add to Favorites

Wind power from the Sky

To harvest wind energy, you don't necessarily need rotors on steel masts – light kites on thin ropes can do the same. The Empa spin-off TwingTec has been researching this technology for some time now. Last autumn, it was possible for the first...
1-Oct-2019 6:05 AM EDT Add to Favorites

Best Treatment for Herniated Disc

A herniated disc is painful – and the most frequent cause of spinal surgery. But is the selected treatment always the right one? New research results show that the clinical criteria
5-Sep-2019 3:05 AM EDT Add to Favorites

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