Archive – Science

Why spring can be miserable for some

This content was published on Mar 20, 2010 Saturday is National Allergy Day and experts have clubbed together to raise awareness of pollen allergies, which, left untreated, can sometimes cause asthma. The symptoms are familiar: running nose, itchy eyes, sneezing and wheezing. Having a pollen allergy – the most common allergy in Switzerland – can mean a miserable spring and summer. In addition,…

Forests spread in size and diversity

This content was published on Mar 16, 2010 The Federal Environment Office and the Institute for Forests, Snow and Landscape Research said on Tuesday that woodlands now cover 1.28 million hectares of Switzerland, about 600 square kilometres more than 11 years ago. That new growth is about the same size as canton Glarus. The forestry inventory report, released ahead of World Forestry Day…

Small is beautiful at Geneva motor show

This content was published on Mar 14, 2010 Almost all big carmakers, including premium brands, are betting their future on smaller models as they compete for a slice of the compact sector, which should account for more than half of the global market by 2016. There has been a roadblock at the Audi stand at this year’s 80th Geneva International Motor Show. The…

New antibiotic offers hope against “superbug”

This content was published on Mar 13, 2010 They hope that mechanism by which it works – which has never been seen before – could eventually be applied to other such bugs. Big pharmaceutical companies have already expressed an interest. The joint research team from Zurich University and Swiss biotech company Polyphor has described the new drug class as a rare and significant…

Swiss support trade ban on bluefin tuna

This content was published on Mar 12, 2010 Swiss delegation co-leader Mathias Lörtscher told swissinfo.ch that Switzerland supported a ban on the international commercial trade in the fish, whose numbers have dropped drasticallly. In 1997 there were an estimated more than 200,000 tonnes of the massive tuna in the east Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean. By 2007 this had fallen to under 80,000 tonnes.…

Climate scientists get hot under the collar

This content was published on Mar 12, 2010 The InterAcademy Council (IAC), a Netherlands-based group of 15 national academies of science, will examine the work of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced earlier this week. The IPCC acknowledged in January that several of its key warnings in a 3,000-page report published in 2007 were exaggerated. The…

Voice of nature

This content was published on Mar 10, 2010 Swiss books are often among the most beautiful around. The Buchkunst Foundation in Leipzig, Germany, recently awarded prizes to various Swiss publishers, among them editor Marco Müller for the Pro Natura book, the Voice of Nature (Die Stimme der Natur). It has been published by Kontrast in German and Editions Slatkine in French.Pictures by Markus…

More silver surfers want to take the plunge

This content was published on Mar 9, 2010 But, as a study shows, one third of these “offliners” might be encouraged to use the net if they had a bit of help. Experts say family support and more training are needed. The research, which was presented in Zurich on Tuesday, was carried out by Zurich University’s Centre for Gerontology on behalf of the…

New hope in treatment of childhood leukaemia

This content was published on Mar 8, 2010 Leukaemia is a malignant disease of the blood and bone marrow, which accounts for a third of childhood cancers. Despite great progress in leukaemia treatment, recurrence of the disease is common. Treatment in these cases is often challenging because of the resistance of the cancer cells to the drugs currently available. Modern treatment processes are…

Stress sensors created to combat burnout

This content was published on Mar 8, 2010 The team at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology has found ways of measuring perspiration, heart rate, breathing rate, movement and the amount of the stress hormone cortisol in saliva. Their work is described in an article published on Monday on the institute’s website. One device was tested on a group of 30 people who…

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