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?
Trump tariffs: ‘I’m a bit perplexed’, says former US ambassador to Switzerland
This content was published on
The former US ambassador to Switzerland, Edward McMullen, says he is optimistic for the Alpine country with regard to the 31% tariff on imports imposed by US President Donald Trump.
Swiss Federal Court upholds Beny Steinmetz’s bribery conviction
This content was published on
Switzerland's highest court has upheld the conviction of French-Israeli mining magnate Beny Steinmetz for bribery of foreign public officials.
This content was published on
The Trump administration has imposed a 31% tariff on imports from Switzerland. Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter has warned against "giving in to alarmism" in an interview published on Saturday,
This content was published on
Scientists have shown that bonobos combine their calls into complex sound sequences that resemble combinations of human words.
This content was published on
US parliamentarians have threatened the UN Human Rights Council with sanctions similar to those against the International Criminal Court (ICC).
This content was published on
Thanks to abundant snowfall, lift operators benefited from increased visitor numbers, with the number of guests jumping by 12% year-on-year.
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.