The Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology or Empa (German acronym for "Eidgenössische Materialprüfungs- und Forschungsanstalt") is an interdisciplinary Swiss research and service institution for applied materials sciences and technology. As part of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Domain ("ETH-Bereich") it is an institution of the Swiss federation. For the longest time since its foundation in 1880, it concentrated on classical materials testing. Since the late 1980s it has developed into a modern research and development institute.

Website
http://www.empa.ch/
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empa

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Converting solar energy into chemical energy like nature does

The need for a sustainable energy supply is now a hot topic. Companies are investing in it, and scientists around the globe are looking for alternatives to the production of energy from oil and gas. One such project, which ...

Inexpensive and stable—The salt water battery

Water could form the basis for future particularly inexpensive rechargeable batteries. Empa researchers have succeeded in doubling the electrochemical stability of water with a special saline solution. This takes us one ...

A new world record for solar cell efficiency

In a remarkable feat, scientists at Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, have developed thin film solar cells on flexible polymer foils with a new record efficiency of 20.4 percent for ...

A flexible material that generates electricity when stressed

Researchers from Empa have developed a flexible material that generates electricity when stressed. In future, it might be used as a sensor, integrated into clothing or even implanted in the human body, for instance, to power ...

The 17th-century man who was buried face down

In 2013 archaeologists discovered a cemetery in use as long ago as the early Middle Ages in the Bernese Lakeland region of Switzerland. One of the bodies interred there was buried in an unusual way, and in order to better ...

Mini electricity generator made from quantum dots

Machines and electronic devices often generate waste heat that is difficult to utilize. If electricity could be generated from this waste heat, it would offer a means for a clean and sustainable power production: Such a technology ...

The lightest electromagnetic shielding material in the world

Electric motors and electronic devices generate electromagnetic fields that sometimes have to be shielded in order not to affect neighboring electronic components or the transmission of signals. High-frequency electromagnetic ...

Record efficiency for a gas engine

At the end of May, the final meeting of the "Horizon 2020" project "GasOn" with the EU Commission took place in Brussels. The aim of this EU project was the further development of gas engines for cars and vans. Around 20 ...

Varnish affects the sound of a violin

Varnishes protect works of art and wooden instruments from environmental damage. However, until recently, little research had been carried out into the effects of varnish on the sound of violins. Empa researchers have now ...

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