Switzerland’s 1,400 glaciers have lost more than half their total volume since the early 1930s, a new study has found, and researchers say the ice retreat is accelerating at a time of growing concerns about climate change. ETH Zurich, a respected federal polytechnic university, and the Swiss Federal Institute on Forest, Snow and Landscape Research on Monday announced the findings from a first-ever reconstruction of ice loss in Switzerland in the 20th century, based in part on an analysis of changes to the topography of glaciers since 1931. A person stands in front of the Bernina mountain group with the Pers and Morteratsch glaciers in Pontresina, Switzerland, Wednesday, August 10, 2022. (Gian Ehrenzeller/Keystone via AP) The researchers estimated that ice volumes on the glaciers ...
Read MoreTag: ETH Zurich
Steep sections on slippery ground, high steps, scree and forest trails full of roots: the path up the 1,098-metre-high Mount Etzel at the southern end of Lake Zurich is peppered with numerous obstacles. But ANYmal, the quadrupedal robot from the Robotic Systems Lab at ETH Zurich, overcomes the 120 vertical metres effortlessly in a 31-minute hike. That’s 4 minutes faster than the estimated duration for human hikers – and with no falls or missteps. This is made possible by a new control technology, which researchers at ETH Zurich led by robotics professor Marco Hutter recently presented in the journal Science Robotics. “The robot has learned to combine visual perception of its environment with proprioception – its sense of touch – based on direct leg contact. This allows it to tack...
Read More
You must be logged in to post a comment.