News & events
Upcoming events
focusTerra conducts, in co-operation with the Earth Science Collections, guided tours and workshops. Please note that most events are only be available in German.
Earth and climate science news
Landscape evolution makes Madagascar a hotspot for plant species diversity
The famous biodiversity of the island of Madagascar owes much of its richness to geologic processes according to a new multidisciplinary study published in the journal Science.
Do we have cosmic dust to thank for life on Earth?
It might be that what set prebiotic chemistry in motion and kept it going in the early days of the Earth was dust from outer space accumulating in holes melted into ice sheets. Researchers at ETH Zurich and the University of Cambridge have used a computer model to test this scenario.
Looking deep into rocks and distant planets: geobiological research in the BedrettoLab
Cara Magnabosco and her team study subsurface environments at BedrettoLab, focusing on simple life-forms like bacteria surviving by "breathing rocks". They explore conditions for life emergence and survival, discovering rare microorganisms and conducting experiments to understand their lifestyle.
LunarLeaper - a big leap for human mankind
Anna Mittelholz and Simon Stähler from the Department of Earth Sciences, together with Hendrik Kolvenbach from D-MAVT, are leading an international team that is proposing a cost-effective method for exploring lava tubes on the Moon.
Switzerland needs to do a better job of exploiting its innovation potential
Switzerland offers tremendous opportunities for technological and entrepreneurial innovation. Thomas Zurbuchen asks, “How can we generate the momentum needed to maintain an edge in the face of international competition – especially when times get tough?”