Marco Steinberg, former associated Professor at Harvard Design School in Boston and founder at Snowcone & Haystack

Our governments’ functions were established in the 18th century for the 18th century. Hence it does come as no surprise that they often fail to address appropriately modern day challenges.

A radical break with administrative patterns of thought is needed, as real innovation is only going to happen by challenging the current categories, not by working within them.

What does it need to reform our governments? What methods and perspectives do provide change and how can they foster innovation – not within single departments but of the whole system?

Marco Steinberg, former associated Professor at Harvard Design School in Boston and office mate of the former Finnish Premier Esko Aho will talk about the way we can help governments transform themselves to meet 21st century challenges.

The event will be held in english 

Seats are limitied, registration is recommended.

Cabaret Voltaire
Spiegelgasse 1
8001 Zürich

Dr. Robert Grass, Departement of Chemistry and applied Bioscience of the ETH Zurich, talks about how we can conserve knowledge with DNA.

We generate more data today than we can store, the performance of conventional media is reaching its limits. Now, Mother Nature is opening up new solutions: DNA for use as data storage. It means that the future of genetics doesn't lie solely in developing new medical therapies, or in cloning extinct dinosaurs as in Jurassic Park, but may also lay the foundations of a new age for the information society.

But what opportunities and what risks will arise from biological storage media? For companies, society and us citizens? And what challenges do scientists face before they can really make DNA into a usable data storage medium?

ETH chemist Dr Robert Grass explains at the Zmittagslabor how DNA could change the knowledge society and what we have to think about today in order to shape tomorrow.

Cabaret Voltaire
Spiegelgasse 1
8001 Zürich

* The event is being held in German

Thoughts on energy, space and time at the Zmittagslabor with Prof. Dr Anton Gunzinger, Institute for electronics, ETH Zurich

Freedom of movement has been a human right since the French Revolution. Individual mobility is seen as the ultimate symbol of freedom and self-determination to this day. The consequences of mobility as we know it today are an increasing demand for space and energy, an overloaded transport system and – despite our being on the move more and more often and at higher speeds - less time. The existing mobility system is living on the Earth’s capital and becoming less and less viable for the future.

If mobility is to make sense for coming generations as well, what form does it have to take? Entrepreneur, ETH professor and book author Anton Gunzinger considers the matter at the Zmittagslabor.

>> To Prof. Dr. Anton Gunzingers presentation (German only)

Clothes protect people and make them look good. If the technology giants have their way, they will soon also monitor our vital functions and map every move we make – a development triggered by GPS and acceleration sensors in smartphones. Wearable computers are generating a new flood of data that’s just waiting to be used. Professor Gerhard Tröster of ETH Zurich talks about how the technology works, where Big Brother could be watching you, and how the technology can be put to good use.

W.I.R.E.LAB
Bärengasse 20 | 8001 Zurich

Professor Angelika Steger (Professor for Computer Science at the Institute of Theoretical Computer Science at ETH Zurich and Fellow of the Collegium Helveticum) Heads or tails? When a coin is tossed the outcome is random and therefore not predictable. That statement is hardly surprising. But the next one possibly is: many processes in science are based on the fact that the outcome of tossing a coin a large number of times does have predictable characteristics. Angelika Steger explains this principle using widely contrasting examples from computer science and the neurosciences.

W.I.R.E.LAB, Bärengasse 22
Mit Prof. em. Andreas Pospischil; Institute of Veterinary Pathology, University of Zurich

Can a person be a swine; conversely, how do swine arrive at the dubious honour of being compared with humans? Pigs have evolved from being sacrificial animals to organ donors for humans, once more prompting the question as to whether men really are swine. Prof. em. Andreas Pospischil delved into this and other issues at an extremely entertaining and vividly presented Zmittagslabor event.

W.I.R.E.LAB, Bärengasse 22
Prof. em. Wulf Rössler; Clinical Psychiatry, University of Zurich

Are “extraordinary experiences” genuine occurrences or mere psychiatric aberrations? Psychiatry professor Wulf Rössler got to the bottom of this interesting question. The term “extraordinary experiences“, seeing ghosts for example, describes a world of experiences beyond the tangible grasp of our senses which we cannot explain with a rationally scientific outlook. At the “ZmittagsLabor“, fascinating examples were presented and a basis was created for discussing how the perception of such experiences – for example near-death experiences – shapes our understanding of the world and our daily lives.

Cabaret Voltaire, Zurich
PD Dr Hartmut von Sass; Systematic Theology, University of Kiel

Three weeks before Christmas, the “ZmittagsLabor” addressed the biblical theme of God and the devil with the help of theologian Hartmut von Sass. The devil generally appears as God‘s ultimate adversary who testifies to the power of God through his very strength. The “theology of the diabolical” takes a different constellation: the clear-cut opposition of God and the devil dissolves, with Satan involving the Almighty in a deal that puts God Himself in a dubious light. On the basis of biblical evidence such as the Book of Job, this fascinating aspect was considered afresh, together with the audience. The question was asked: how diabolical can God be without ceasing to be God?

Cabaret Voltaire, Zurich
Professor Philipp Theisohn

In this "ZmittagsLabor“ session, literature professor Philipp Theisohn talked to us about communication with extra-terrestrials. What would be the concrete prerequisites to enable us to make contact with extra-terrestrials? And what message would we actually have for them? He talked about real-life, fictional and frequently amusing attempts to contact intelligent beings from outer space. For example, the time when audio files were taken on board the two space probes Voyager 1 and 2 in 1997. Among other things, they contained greetings in 55 languages, including whale song, pieces of music and a message of peace from the UN Secretary-General of the day. Ultimately, Theisohn and the audience were in agreement that human conceptions of extra-terrestrial life and our attempts to communicate with extra-terrestrials also tell us a lot about ourselves.

Cabaret Voltaire, Zurich
Prof. Gerd Folkers, Director of the Collegium Helveticum

Reflections and the accompanying phenomena provided the theme for the launch of a new series of events: “ZmittagsLabor – the lunch lab that feeds an appetite for knowledge”. Gerd Folkers gave an entertaining explanation, accompanied by all manner of vivid examples, of the extent to which the physical properties of reflections differ in the natural world, and why the distinction between left and right is not always as clear as we think.