Archive
When thawing glaciers release pollutants
As glaciers increasingly melt in the wake of climate change, it is not only the landscape that is affected. Thawing glaciers also release many industrial pollutants stored in the ice into the environment. Now, within the scope of a Swiss National Science Foundation project, researchers from the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Empa, ETH Zurich and the University of Berne have measured the concentrations of a class of these pollutants à polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) à in the ice of an Alpine glacier accurately for the first time.
Competitive thanks to high pressure
Various basic materials for the chemical industry are manufactured using technology developed by the Ticino based company, Casale. The chemical compounds produced serve to make products like synthetic fertilisers or Plexiglas. In co-operation with PSI, Casale aims to make these production processes even more efficient as basic chemical products are export goods that face stiff competition around the globe. Tiny differences in production costs can be decicive when it comes to which licence a plant operator goes for.
During winter smog fire places put cars in the shade
On winter smog days in Switzerland wood burning is the main source of harmful carbon-containing fine particles. This is revealed by a large-scale Swiss study on fine particle pollution conducted over a five-year period by scientists at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), the University of Bern and ETH Zurich.
Puzzling new behaviour observed in high-temperature superconductors
New effect might be important for emergence of High-Temperature SuperconductivityAn international team of researchers has observed a new, unexpected kind of behaviour in copper-based high-temperature superconductors. Explaining the new phenomenon à an unexpected form of collective movement of the electrical charges in the material à poses a major challenge for the researchers. A success in explaining the phenomenon might be an important step toward understanding high-temperature superconductivity in general. The crucial experiments were conducted at the Paul Scherrer Institute.
A large research facilities disappears in the woods
The building of the new PSI large research facility SwissFEL in Würenlingen forest could only enjoy the sunshine for a brief spell: it is now disappearing under a mound of earth. This superstructure is one of the measures taken to integrate the facility as harmoniously as possible into the natural environment.
Useful for spintronics: Big surprises in a thin surface region
The need for ever faster and more efficient electronic devices is growing rapidly, and thus the demand for new materials with new properties. Oxides, especially ones based on strontium titanate (SrTiO3), play an important role here. A collaborative project headed by scientists from the PSI has now revealed properties of strontium titanate that make it an important base material for applications in spintronics.
New Renewables on integration course
The Swiss government’s Energy Strategy 2050 includes a significant expansion of renewable energy such as solar and wind power. The integration of this electric energy, which is produced in a decentralised way and with temporal fluctuations, poses a major challenge for power grids. One possible solution involves using the electricity surplus that would otherwise overload the grid for the production of gases such as hydrogen or methane. The electric energy would thus be stored temporarily in form of chemical energy. These gaseous energy carriers can be converted back into electricity, heat or kinetic energy (in gas engines) at a later date as and when needed. Dubbed power to gas, the concept is the focus of the new Energy System Integration (ESI) Platform at PSI.
Foundation Stone Ceremony Marks Scientific Importance of ESS
Today, several hundred members of the European scientific community gathered at the European Spallation Source (ESS) construction site in Lund, Sweden, for the ESS Foundation Stone Ceremony. The event was held to lay the foundation’ both for the new facility, which has recently begun construction, and for a new generation of science in Europe.
The last piece of the puzzle
Julia H. Smith is a postdoctoral fellow working on detectors for the SwissFEL x-ray free electron laser, which can be envisioned as the eyes of the new PSI large-scale facility. During her time at PSI, she has a good chance of accompanying her detector up to its use at the new facility. Even more important than witnessing the first experiments at SwissFEL is acquiring new knowledge and skills during my time as a postdoc at PSI. Smith would like to continue working in the field of detectors and technology development after her postdoc à at a company or at another research institute.