Archive – Science

Piccard’s solar power dreams take flight

This content was published on Jun 26, 2009 There was much applause and cheering on Friday at a special ceremony at the Dübendorf airfield near Zurich as the curtains were pulled back to reveal the aircraft, which has taken six years to design and build. “Yesterday it was a dream. Today it is a plane. Tomorrow it will be an ambassador of renewable…

Piccard pulls it off

This content was published on Jun 26, 2009 An exclusive interview with Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard, just after the unveiling of the Solar Impulse, the first aircraft designed to fly day and night on solar energy alone. It was round-the-world balloonist Piccard who spearheaded the project. (Isobel Leybold-Johnson and Julie Hunt, swissinfo.ch)

Non-invasive brain surgery proves successful

This content was published on Jun 25, 2009 Swiss doctors have successfully carried out the world’s first non-invasive brain surgery with use of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU). Ten adult patients, who were awake during the revolutionary painless procedure, have been treated at University Children’s Hospital Zurich since September 2008 as part of a clinical study. The results were published this week. All interventions…

Swiss can’t live without their cars

This content was published on Jun 22, 2009 However, the poll also found that awareness of the environmental impact of cars had risen by more than ten per cent compared with the last report in 2007. The survey, conducted on behalf of the Swiss Association of Car Importers, Auto-Switzerland, asked 1,005 people about their attitudes towards their vehicles for the third time since…

Scientists pinpoint ice loss in glaciers

This content was published on Jun 22, 2009 But they also found that glaciers in the country have lost 12 per cent of their volume over the last decade. Until now, researchers have been able to estimate only roughly how much ice is stored in Swiss glaciers and how this has changed over the years, said Martin Funk, head of the glaciology department…

US scientific decline opens door to Swiss

This content was published on Jun 17, 2009 The US decline in the scientific domain is relative but significant. Significant enough for the US Congress to pass a law in 2007 designed to ensure the country’s supremacy in research. There has been a globalisation of innovation in a post-American world, according to Robert Wuebker, doctoral student in environmental technology management at the Rensselaer…

Privacy stepped up for Google Street View

This content was published on Jun 16, 2009 Passers-by must be informed before being captured on special roaming cameras used by Google to map streets, Hanspeter Thür announced on Monday. Sensitive data such as faces and car number plates must be obscured, he said. Thür said checks would be carried out to ensure the conditions were met. If faces were visible he would…

Swine-flu vaccine found faster than expected

This content was published on Jun 12, 2009 The Swiss pharmaceutical concern said scientists had been able to speed up the process greatly by using cell-based technology instead of chicken eggs typically used to grow the necessary cultures. “This advance has cut weeks off the time required to begin vaccine production,” Novartis said in a statement. The company hopes to produce millions of…

Woman’s case prompts contraceptive scrutiny

This content was published on Jun 12, 2009 A spokesman for the Swiss Agency for Therapeutics (Swissmedic) told Swiss television late on Thursday that it had collected extensive research on various birth control pills and would come to a finding on their health effects in the autumn. The announcement comes after a 16-year-old woman suffered a lung embolism that left her severely disabled.…

WHO declares “unstoppable” swine flu pandemic

This content was published on Jun 11, 2009 Switzerland, which has 20 confirmed cases, responded by saying it would not be introducing new measures to limit the spread of the disease as a result of the pandemic upgrade, but would follow the situation closely. WHO Director-General Margaret Chan told a news conference on Thursday that the scientific conditions for an influenza pandemic had…

Archive – Science

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Archive – Science

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Piccard’s solar power dreams take flight

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Piccard pulls it off

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Non-invasive brain surgery proves successful

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Swiss can’t live without their cars

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Scientists pinpoint ice loss in glaciers

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US scientific decline opens door to Swiss

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Privacy stepped up for Google Street View

More

Swine-flu vaccine found faster than expected

More

Woman’s case prompts contraceptive scrutiny

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WHO declares “unstoppable” swine flu pandemic

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