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(Video: Omar Zeroual / ETH Zurich)
January
New year, new inventions: ETH researchers created an 18-carat gold that is ten times lighter than normal 18-carat gold. They achieved this by replacing metallic alloy elements with a matrix of protein fibres and plastic.
Another invention celebrated its world premiere: a research team developed a machine that can keep a liver alive outside the body for a week, making it possible to treat a liver prior to transplantation.
Blackstone’s Solid-State Battery Project Receives Grant from Innosuisse Blackstone Resources AG (SWX: BLS) is pleased to announce that the
Swiss Innovation Agency Innosuisse has approved its grant application and will fund 50 percent of the CHF 1.3 million development project. The project aims to develop solid-state electrolytes and the grant will be used to co-finance a sophisticated manufacturing simulation of 3D-printed solid-state batteries. A research consortium of Blackstone Resources (
BLS), the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (
Empa) and the Bern University of Applied Sciences (
BFH) will upscale the synthesis of solid-state electrolytes developed by
Empa. A solid-state battery can provide repeated, reliable and safe discharges without the potential risk of thermal runaway, explosion or outgassing during frequent use. This means that it can be used within areas and constructions that were previously unthinkable for other batter
Doctoral College
Summary
Within Europe, all member states are required to define and implement the Near Zero Energy Building (NZEB) standard for all new buildings from 2020 on. The EU requires member states to ensure that each country’s NZEB standard is not undermined by performance gaps between theoretical and actual use, and by poor indoor environmental quality. This provides challenges for all stakeholders, from those writing the building regulations, through to the architects, engineers, developers and tradespeople and ultimately to the owners of the dwellings built to these new standards.
In November 2019, Part L of the building regulations in Ireland for dwellings was updated to implement the NZEB standard, but is this fit for purpose, does it address the EU’s concerns about energy performance gaps and indoor air quality, and is the industry prepared to deliver the new regulations along with complimentary regulations such as the Smart Readiness Indicator? Thus there is a