ETH News

Researchers at ETH Zurich recently developed highly realistic simulations of the proteins on sperm and egg cells coupling together before they fuse. These findings enabled the research team to solve several mysteries of fertilisation at once, which could help to accelerate development of more targeted infertility treatments.

The term "high-performance computer" already implies a high energy demand. Energy efficiency is therefore a central consideration in the procurement and use of supercomputers at the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS) ¡ª just as it was during the planning of the new building in Lugano more than a decade ago.

As wave specialists, seismologists map the structure of planets from the information that seismic waves carry. Now, the team led by ETH professor Andreas Fichtner is also using this knowledge for medical imaging.

Whether on top of a cappuccino or in the wake of waterfalls, foam is omnipresent. Until now, simulating foams realistically with a supercomputer has been almost impossible, but a method further developed by the research group of ETH and Harvard professor Petros Koumoutsakos has overcome the hurdles.

The flagship supercomputer of the CSCS, "Piz Daint", needs to be replaced. Installation of the successor computer, "Alps", is taking place in three phases and will be completed in 2023. CSCS Director Thomas Schulthess explains in an interview why the new computer is so special.

A digital twin of our planet is to simulate the Earth system in future. It is intended to support policy-makers in taking appropriate measures to better prepare for extreme events. A new strategy paper by European scientists and ETH Zurich computer scientists shows how this can be achieved.

For the first time, researchers at ETH Zurich have successfully automated the modelling of turbulence. Their project relies on fusing reinforcement learning algorithms with turbulent flow simulations on the CSCS supercomputer "Piz Daint".

A team of researchers from ETH Zurich has used simulations on the CSCS supercomputer "Piz Daint" to investigate how ageing mechanisms of soot particles in the atmosphere affect cloud formation. The results show that the influence of ozone and sulfuric acid on soot ageing alters cloud formation and, ultimately, the climate.

Since the discovery of graphene, two-dimensional materials have been the focus of materials research. Among other things, they could be used to build tiny, high-performance transistors. Researchers at ETH Zurich and EPF Lausanne have now simulated and evaluated one hundred possible materials for this purpose and discovered 13 promising candidates.

Researchers from the Swiss Seismological Service SED and ETH Zurich are working with the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre CSCS and the Universit¨¤ della Svizzera italiana USI to develop a way of utilising geothermal energy safely with the help of supercomputers.

Two research groups from ETH Zurich have developed a method that can simulate nanoelectronics devices and their properties realistically, quickly and efficiently. This offers a ray of hope for the industry and data centre operators alike, both of which are struggling with the (over)heating that comes with increasingly small and powerful transistors.

An international research team used a computer model to reconstruct the history of glaciation in the Alps, visualising it in a two-minute computer animation. The simulation aims to enable a better understanding of the mechanisms of glaciation.

Scientists can spend a long time in heated debates over tiny details ¨C for example, how and whether atoms in a crystal move when heated, thereby altering the symmetry. Using computer simulations for the mineral lead telluride on the CSCS supercomputer ¡°Piz Daint¡±, ETH researchers have resolved a long-standing controversy.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have clarified the previously unresolved question of whether fish save energy by swimming together in schools. They achieved this by simulating the complex physics on the supercomputer ¡®Piz Daint¡¯ and combining detailed flow simulations with a reinforcement learning algorithm for the first time.

ETH Professor Petros Koumoutsakos wanted to embark on a career at the United Nations. Today, he is one of the world¡¯s leading researchers in the simulation of fluid dynamics using supercomputers.

Computer simulations have helped a team of researchers led by ETH professor Viola Vogel to develop a peptide that is able to detect the tensional state of tissue fibres. This paves the way for completely novel research approaches in medicine and pharmacology.

Earth¡¯s magnetic field has reversed direction hundreds of times in the course of our planet¡¯s history. But the cause of those reversals remains unclear. 4 million CPU hours of simulations on the ¡®Piz Daint¡¯ supercomputer at CSCS offer fresh clues that point to a phenomenon called ¡®dynamo waves¡¯ playing a possible role.

This week, the Swiss National Computing Centre (CSCS) in Lugano celebrates its 25^th anniversary. Christoph Sch?r, ETH professor with the Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, was there from the very start. In the following interview, he describes how supercomputers have developed over this period.

Every year at the SC conference, the Gordon Bell Prize is presented to recognise outstanding work in the field of high-performance computing. This year, two research groups from ETH Zurich competed in the finals, a remarkable achievement considering only five teams have been preselected world-wide.

Computer scientist Torsten Hoefler is the winner of this year¡¯s Latsis Prize awarded by ETH Zurich. His Scalable Parallel Computing Laboratory is one of the few laboratories to combine theory and application in the field of high-performance computing. Although mentors warned him against uniting these two aspects, it is precisely by doing so that he has now achieved his success.

Thanks to a special computer programme, researchers from ETH Zurich are able to simulate electronic nanocomponents and help materials science and industry in the development and production process.

Hail, thunderstorms and heavy rainfall. These extreme events are supposedly on the increase in the course of global warming. High-resolution simulations conducted by ETH-Zurich researchers on CSCS¡¯s supercomputers now add more certainty to the projections.

The surface of the earth-like planet Venus features structures that may have been formed by mechanisms that are also found inside the Earth, as simulations conducted by ETH-Zurich professor Taras Gerya reveal.

In March 1926, four young men failed to return from their ski tour on Aletschgletscher. Working on the basis of where their remains were found, a mathematician and a glaciologist are now attempting to reconstruct what happened.

The origin and stimulus behind plate tectonics has been simulated with the aid of high-performance computers. A new study sheds light on the role continents play in the formation of oceanic crust.

Until recently, how supervolcanos become active remained a mystery. Geologists have now demonstrated that the pressure generated through the difference in density between magma and the surrounding rock alone can be sufficient to cause one of these geological giants to erupt.

Researchers from ETH Zurich have developed an algorithm that simulates high-temperature superconductivity much faster.

With ¡°Piz Daint¡± the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS) is putting a new supercomputer system in operation that will provide the necessary compute performance and consume less power.