News 2007

a592-2007-04-17-b0s stopper Empa unterwegs.jpg
17.04.2007 | Empa-Forschung «on the road» – Teil II
Am 26. April öffnet die Wanderausstellung «Empa unterwegs» erneut ihre Pforten. Nach dem Besuch von fünf technisch ausgerichteten Hochschulen in den verschiedenen Landesteilen im Herbst 2006 ist sie in diesem Frühjahr an...
a592-2007-04-16-b1s fluglaerm.jpg
16.04.2007 | 33. Empa-Wissenschaftsapéro
Als Mittlerin zwischen Forschungsinstitution und Bevölkerung führte die Empa-Akademie kürzlich am Standort St. Gallen einen Wissenschaftsapéro zum Thema „Krach im Himmel – Was tun gegen Fluglärm?“ durch. Anne Satir,...
a592-2007-03-22-b0s stopper MM-Schwert.jpg
Mar 22, 2007 | Japanese material investigation technique applied to historic swords
Japanese swords are considered to be the non plus ultra of the swordsmith’s art. They were (and still are) made of steel folded several thousand times. In contrast to this, ancient European swords were apparently made...
a592-2007-03-28-b0s-stopperbild.jpg
21 mars 2007 | L’Empa force des cadenas de vélos: une protection contre le vol pas toujours efficace
Dans le cas idéal, un cadenas à vélo ne s’ouvre qu’avec sa clé ou sa combinaison exacte. Bien des cyclistes connaissent toutefois la mauvaise surprise de ne plus retrouver leur vélo mais seulement des fragments d’un...
a592-2007-03-07-b0s stopper ewaste.jpg
Mar 7, 2007 | Growing need for recycling precious elements in high-tech scrap – often incinerated in poor countries.
Under the auspices of United Nations University (UNU), an international initiative called «Solving the E-Waste Problem» (StEP) is officially launched Wednesday, March 7. Its goals are extending the life of computers and...
a592-2007-02-28-b0s stopper GEOMON.jpg
Feb 27, 2007 | European Union project GEOMON for the observation of air quality and climatic change
The GEOMON project to be financed over the next four years in the amount of 6.6 million Euro by the European Union, creates a network connecting 38 research establishments in the European Union, Norway, Russia and...
a592-2007-02-20-b0 stopper schwingung.jpg
Feb 26, 2007 | Empa technology will keep the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world from severe vibrations
Technology transfer to the Far East: in January Empa researcher Felix Weber and his industrial partners tested for the first time their newly developed, smart cable damping system on site. The “smart” damping system...
a592-2007-02-22-b0 stopper Wasserstoffges.jpg
Feb 22, 2007 | International symposium as "launch pad" for the new Empa lab
Researchers and industry representatives met at Empa on Friday at the international «Hydrogen & Energy» symposium organized by the laboratory of the same name in order to compare notes on the progress of work in the...
a592-2007-02-16-b1s stopper Nanowires.jpg
Feb 19, 2007 | Molecules organize themselves spontaneously into long parallel chains on a prepared surface
The trend to miniaturization in the microelectronics field makes it increasingly difficult to manufacture these tiny devices. It would be much easier if all that was necessary was to mix together the substances from...
a592-2007-02-14-b0-m_stopper.jpg
14 févr. 2007 | L’hydrogène – support énergétique de l’avenir – un symposium international à l’Empa
Il y a une année qu’Andreas Züttel et son équipe ont commencé leurs travaux dans le laboratoire « Hydrogen & Energy » nouvellement créé à l’Empa. Leur domaine est l’hydrogène – que nombreux considèrent comme LE support...
a592-2007-02-12_b1m_CLEVER.jpg
12 févr. 2007 | Projet commun de l’Empa, de l’EPFZ et de l’industrie dans le domaine des moteurs à gaz
L’Empa (Laboratoire fédéral d’essai des matériaux et de recherche) et l’EPF de Zurich (Ecole polytechnique fédérale) ont conclu un accord de recherche avec Volkswagen-Forschung à Wolfsburg et Robert Bosch GmbH à...
a592-2007-02-09-b1m_FKW.jpg
Feb 9, 2007 | Empa develops an “early warning system” to detect new halogen-containing air pollutants
Just about as soon as they are manufactured and released into the atmosphere, new air pollutants can be identified and measured by Empa researchers. Ever more sensitive environmental analysis instrumentation make this...
a592-2007-02-08-b1m_wap beton.jpg
8 févr. 2007 | 32e Apéro scientifique de l’Académie Empa
Il y a bien des années, l’industrie du bois a mené une campagne publicitaire pour ses produits avec le slogan: «le bois est chaleureux». Avec le béton cela ne serait guère pensable. Pour beaucoup, sa teinte grise est...
a592-2007-02-02-b1m_verabschiedung_muster..jpg
Feb 2, 2007 | Honorable retirement after 35 years at Empa
On 26th January Walter Muster’s decades of scientific work at Empa were honored by the award of the Mirko Roš Medal. At a festive ceremony in the Empa Academy the research institution took leave of the erstwhile member...
a592-2007-02-01-b0x stopper blimp.jpg
Jan 31, 2007 | Powered by artificial muscles
Conventional propeller driven airships have their disadvantages. They are inefficient, and thereby wasteful of energy, and they are noisy too. Empa scientists are looking to solve both these problems by using a...
a592-2007-01-24-b1s_stopper..jpg
Jan 24, 2007 | Fiber-reinforced polymers lend new life to old buildings
Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites are frequently used today to strengthen buildings to make them suitable for new applications and uses, as well as to prevent them suffering earthquake damage. The success...
a592-2007-01-23_b1m_tilgner_stopper..jpg
Jan 23, 2007 | Near East expert Ulrich Tilgner reports about current developments in Iran
Ulrich Tilgner, the prominent near east correspondent and director of the ZDF office in Teheran, lectured on January 17, at a well attended Empa Academy gathering in Dubendorf, about „Education, Technology and Economic...
a592-2007-01-12-b1s_stopperbild_partikelfilter.jpg
Jan 12, 2007 | On the test bed: How efficient are retrofitted exhaust gas particle filters on diesel motors?
A study conducted by Empa shows that diesel engines with particle filters fitted after manufacture emit about 40 per cent less particulate matter than those without filters. This is, however, significantly less efficient...