Science that matters

Diseases caused by Legionella bacteria are on the rise, despite national and international efforts to contain them. A joint paper by an international panel of researchers in this field highlights the important steps that need to be taken in the coming years to combat the pathogen.

Surprisingly little is known about the climate history of the greater Tibet-Himalaya region. However, this information is urgently needed to predict how climate change will alter the water cycle there. Information stored in the sediments of Tibet's Nam Co Lake should now allow new conclusions to be drawn. A video presents the project.

At the beginning of the month, Eawag spin-off Ranas celebrated its anniversary. After five years, companies founded at Eawag are ‘released’ from their spin-off status and stand on their own two feet. During this time, Ranas has developed into a successful, independent company that supports clients in implementing campaigns aimed at behavioural change and prevention.

Wastewater monitoring became well known during the coronavirus period from 2020, when Eawag and its partners began monitoring whether and which coronaviruses could be detected in wastewater throughout Switzerland. However, the researchers are now able to make far more statements about the health of the population because other pathogens and traces of medicines and drugs are also being monitored in parallel. The combination of data from both programmes opens up new perspectives.