Located between Peru and Bolivia at over 3,800 metres above sea level, Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable freshwater basin in the world.
Maja Messmer Mokhtar from the Swiss embassy in Bolivia, several Peruvian and Bolivian ministers and oceanographer Xavier Lazzaro, who specialises in this endangered ecosystem, took part in the launch, said the Planet Solar Foundation.
Planet Solar II will help to investigate the increase in nutrients in Lake Titicaca – for example due to over-fertilisation – and resulting plant proliferation, which is exacerbated by pollution and motorised shipping. In contrast to combustion engines, solar energy is particularly powerful at high altitudes, according to the foundation.
The Planet Solar II mission in Lake Titicaca is supported by the Swiss embassies in Peru and Bolivia.
More
More
Student-built electric plane takes to the Swiss skies
This content was published on
A four-seater battery-powered electric plane, developed by Swiss students, recently completed its maiden flight.
We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate them into English. A journalist then briefly reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.
Did you find this explanation helpful? Please fill out the short survey below to help us understand your needs.
Train vs plane: would you take a direct train between London and Geneva?
Eurostar is planning to run direct trains from Britain to Germany and Switzerland from the early 2030s. Would you favour the train over the plane? If not, why not?
Swiss town rejects surveillance cameras at train station
This content was published on
Vevey does not want the station area to be monitored by cameras. In a vote held on Sunday, the population rejected a plan to install 44 cameras in the area in order to combat street dealing.
Palestine demo broken up at Israel-Switzerland basketball match
This content was published on
Around 150 pro-Palestine activists tried to force their way into Switzerland's match against Israel at the U-19 World Cup in Lausanne.
Swiss foreign minister: ‘EU was only given what was necessary’
This content was published on
After negotiating hard on the package deal with the European Union and finding a balance, Switzerland gave the EU only what was needed, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said on Saturday.
Passenger dies in helicopter crash on Swiss glacier
This content was published on
A helicopter crashed in the Fusshörner region on the Oberaletsch Glacier in canton Valais on Saturday afternoon. The passenger in the helicopter, which was carrying three people, died.
Abbot of Saint-Maurice steps down following sex abuse report
This content was published on
Jean Scarcella has decided to step down as Abbot of Saint-Maurice in the Swiss canton of Valais, the abbey announced on Saturday.
Philipp Matthias Bregy named new president of Centre Party
This content was published on
Valais National Councillor Philipp Matthias Bregy is the new President of the Centre Party. The delegates elected him as the successor to Gerhard Pfister on Saturday in Bern without discussion.
Global call for active neutrality launched from Geneva
This content was published on
A number of players have launched a worldwide appeal for active neutrality in Geneva at a time when the major powers are taking a tougher line. The city is competing with Vienna to attract an international congress on this issue in 2026.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.