Researchers at the University of Bern are eagerly anticipating a unique scientific find this August. They announced on Wednesday that parts of the oldest ice from the Antarctic to date will arrive in Switzerland.
The 2.8-kilometre-long ice core holds climate data dating back over 1.2 million years. It was successfully retrieved earlier this year. At the University of Bern’s ice laboratory, researchers will analyse gases such as CO2 and methane in the ice to gather information about the climate during that period.
“This requires precision,” said Hubertus Fischer, who is leading the Swiss investigations. “We are very meticulous about this,” said the researcher. The university is ready. “Our methods have been extensively tested.” Parts of the ice are also being analysed by other universities in Europe.
More
More
Secrets revealed by melting Swiss glaciers could eat plastic and cure disease
This content was published on
Even though 2024 was another bad year for Alpine glaciers, their melting may release microorganisms potentially useful to medicine and industry.
At the moment, the ice cores are still in the Antarctic. They will soon be loaded into special refrigerated containers on an Italian research ship, which will transport them to Europe.
Translated from German by DeepL/sp
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
What factors should be taken into account when inheriting Swiss citizenship abroad?
Should there be a limit to the passing on of Swiss citizenship? Or is the current practice too strict and it should still be possible to register after the age of 25?
Is your place of origin, your Heimatort, important to you?
Every Swiss citizen has a Heimatort, a place of origin, but many have never visited theirs. What’s your relationship with your Heimatort? What does it mean to you?
Swiss federal prosecutor bemoans shortage of investigators
This content was published on
The Swiss Office of the Attorney General complains of unresolved shortage of investigators that hinder its efforts to prosecute serious criminals.
ECHR condemns Swiss failure to protect woman from violence
This content was published on
Switzerland did not provide a woman with sufficient protection against her partner who had been violent in the past, rules the ECHR.
This content was published on
In Switzerland, 2.2 million people are affected by non-communicable diseases, partly because people are not eating a balanced diet.
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.