Explora

With Audio

NEWEST STORY

Do animals declared dead live longer?

On the trail of aquatic insects thought to be extinct

When a small group of insect specialists set out for the Wehrenbach ravine on the outskirts of Zurich at the beginning of June 2021, they wanted to make history – at least in entomological terms. The Wehrenbach ravine is a popular recreational area and home to some of the rarest species in Switzerland.

June 2025 –

Naturwissenschaften

Albert Einstein

From mediocre student to Nobel Prize winner

Albert Einstein was a student and a professor at ETH Zurich. This year marks the 100th anniversary of his Nobel Prize in Physics.

June 2025 –

Geschichte

Mini Series

LATEST

When cows meet robots

Agricultural Sciences at ETH Zurich

Agricultural Sciences have been studied at ETH Zurich for 150 years. What was the significance of this discipline towards the end of the 19th century – and where do we stand today? In this mini series, we dive into the agricultural world of ETH Zurich.

June 2025 –

Naturwissenschaften

Across rivers and gorges

Switzerland and its bridge-builders

Modern bridge-building began more than 150 years ago and since then has undergone great changes, which continue up to the present day. Engineers from ETH Zurich played an important role in this regard. Not only did they develop technical fundamentals, but they also created true works of art both in Switzerland and abroad.

June 2025 –

Architektur

With Audio

Georeferencing

Making knowledge a new experience in 3-D

Do you want to browse old maps with your smartphone? Experience the history of where you live from a new perspective? Discover fascinating facts about geographical points along the way? You can do all this and more through georeferencing, with which spatial information is added to digital media.

December 2020 –

Forschungsdienstleistung

Mini Series

Protecting coral reefs

Art and science pursuing a common objective

In the fourth episode, Marie Griesmar will provide insight into how they tested the prototypes, what she experienced underwater and what she learned throughout the project.

December 2020 –

Naturwissenschaften

With Audio

Taking our seat at the table!

Women at ETH Zurich – from the early days to the present

For a long time there were few if any women at ETH. However, throughout its 150 year history, female trailblazers have repeatedly shattered the glass ceiling at ETH – with tenacity, knowledge and, occasionally, a bit of humour. They have achieved a great deal, but there is still much work to be done when it comes to providing equal opportunities for women.

August 2020 –

Geschichte

With Audio

Faculae, spots, flares

Solar research at ETH Zurich

Researchers from the ETH Sternwarte have observed the sun for over a century. Their chief interest lay in the mysterious sunspots. Their legacy is a data series which today is of inestimable value for climate research, among other disciplines.

December 2019 –

Naturwissenschaften

With Audio

Yearning for the world

Switzerland and the sea

It is said that all rivers flow to the sea. If that is the case, then Switzerland, source of the Rhine, the Rhône and many other rivers, must be one of its greatest wellsprings. And yet the country lies at a considerable distance from the world’s oceans. The sea has inspired writers and explorers, stimulated tourism and incited engineers to develop adventurous ideas.

September 2019 –

Sammlungen und Archive

With Audio

So close to the moon

Attracted by Earth’s satellite

The moon has influenced and fascinated humans ever since the year dot. It has been our constant companion, yet seemed out of reach – until that moment 50 years ago, when the first man set foot on the moon. Although Earth’s satellite has been conquered, surveyed and researched, it still puzzles us.

June 2019 –

Naturwissenschaften

Organise your files!

Digital continuity in the personal archives of scientists

The digitisation of society and science has many advantages, but it also has its fair share of risks. Preserving documents in the analogue world is relatively straightforward in comparison to the digital world. Data needs to be actively curated so it can endure for decades or even centuries. Paper is patient, data is not.

April 2019 –

Forschungsdienstleistung

Fascinating bird’s eye view

Aerial photographs and their scientific importance

What a revelation the first photographs of a place taken from the air must have been for the people who lived there! Until then – in the 18th and 19th centuries – only a handful of (wealthier) men and even fewer women had the time, courage and means to climb high mountains and see what the world looked like from above.

December 2018 –

Fotografie

Open access

Academic publishing in transition

Open access – free access to research results – is currently a hot topic: research funders and universities are issuing guidelines for scientists, publishers are developing new business models for open access journals and books, entire countries are cancelling journal subscriptions for their research institutions.

September 2018 –

Forschungsdienstleistung

Calculating without electricity

Calculating machines as forerunners of the computer

Based on selected calculating devices, the story "Calculating without electricity" traces snippets of their development. In doing so, it reveals that calculating machines were forerunners of the computer thanks to their continual improvement and expansion.

June 2018 –

Technologie

Digitize, share, connect

Data from natural history collections go mobile

The digitization of natural history collections is time-consuming and expensive, but it opens up new possibilities for science: By merging collection data into global databases and with free access for everyone, researchers can gain new insights.

March 2018 –

Naturwissenschaften

We love data

Why data management matters

ETH Library loves data in many ways – by providing them, taking care of their management, storage and preservation, helping them reach a wider audience and instructing their creators about how to best handle them.

February 2018 –

Forschungsdienstleistung

With Audio

Swiss glaciers

An eternal world of ice?

December 2017 –

Naturwissenschaften

Open Data

Transparency for everyone

Open data enables new insights into science, industry and society. The concept relates to the unrestricted use of digital data, including text, images, music and video. But how is data made open and what characterizes ‘open data’? The latest story on Explora finds the answers to these and other questions.

October 2017 –

Forschungsdienstleistung

With Audio

marble architecture power

A construction material with a history

Since antiquity, marble has stood for power and elevated status. Based on the Feliciani Collection, a repository of ancient Roman coloured marbles in possession of ETH Zurich, the latest story on Explora traces how marble and other decorative types of stone were deployed in different architectural epochs.

June 2017 –

Architektur

With Audio

Mallow, iris, orchid

Scientific plant images over the centuries

The aesthetics of scientific representations of plants and flowers are very appealing. Now, as ever, domestic and exotic plants seem within our reach thanks in part to perfect illusionistic representations. As a result of technical advances, drawings, photography, microscopy and computer-aided visualisations enable the beauty of botanic details to be seen in ever more facets.

February 2017 –

Wissenschaftliche Illustration

Surfing the sea of data

Handling data storage and preventing degradation

Data degradation affects everyone. Be it the ageing of storage media or the loss of data through imperfect copying. Preserving data for future generations has been an ongoing challenge for mankind. Read on to learn more about the problem of data storage and data degradation and what to do about it.

February 2017 –

Forschungsdienstleistung