Archive – Science

Future web will “rock the boat”, says creator

This content was published on Mar 13, 2009 British scientist Sir Tim Berners-Lee made the remark on Friday at his former place of work, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or Cern, in Geneva. While speaking of his fond memories of his time at Cern – “an excellent place to start a new idea” – Berners-Lee stressed the importance of looking to the…

Dinosaurs in the workplace

This content was published on Mar 13, 2009 During a conference in February in Geneva called Lift, participants could reminisce over the earliest days of computing thanks to the Mémoires Informatiques foundation. Founded in Lausanne in March 2007, the group seeks to safeguard the knowledge of computing pioneers and their programming languages to guarantee obsolete computers will still work years from now. Here’s…

Roche grabs Genentech deal amid fusion frenzy

This content was published on Mar 12, 2009 Roche, which already owns 56 per cent of the biotech firm, will buy the remaining stake if Genentech shareholders end a protracted takeover battle by agreeing to a $46.8 billion (SFr54 billion) valuation. News of the agreement between the two company boardrooms came after an unsuccessful Roche offer last year followed by a lower hostile…

Testosterone doping test “not fit for purpose”

This content was published on Mar 12, 2009 Scientists at Lausanne’s anti-doping laboratory claim that tests commonly administered to top-tier athletes to detect testosterone should be replaced by a system that tracks a competitor’s biological patterns. The study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, claims the test is “not fit for purpose”. It was funded by Fifa, football’s international governing body,…

Epitestosterone

This content was published on Mar 12, 2009 Epitestosterone is a natural steroid with a chemical composition only slightly different from testosterone. The ratio of epitestosterone to testosterone in a healthy male is usually 1:1. Injecting testosterone into an athlete’s body as a sports-enhancing measure does not change the levels of epitestosterone. Therefore, changes in the ratio between the two compounds can provide…

Parliament greenlights nuclear participation

This content was published on Mar 3, 2009 Tuesday’s vote by the House of Representatives comes after the Senate gave its full backing to the initiative in September. ITER was established on October 24, 2007. Seven members are engaged in the project: China, the European Union, India, Japan, Korea, Russia and the United States, with the costs being shared among them. Switzerland has…

Tech conference explores future innovations

This content was published on Feb 27, 2009 swissinfo talked to Laurent Haug about what the future might hold at the start of the fourth new technology Lift conference, which brings together some 800 people from around the world. This year’s event asks “Where has the future gone?” It looks at how people predict the future and why certain things promised by science…

Cold winter doesn’t buck global warming trend

This content was published on Feb 24, 2009 Bern University climatologist Heinz Wanner tells swissinfo that although the current winter season may appear colder and snowier than usual the larger historical picture shows it isn’t as severe as it seems. The head of the Climatology and Meteorology Research Group (Klimet), Wanner has for three decades been studying the climate to reconstruct conditions as…

Online therapy gives hope to Iraqi victims

This content was published on Feb 17, 2009 Around 250 people have already contacted the InterapyAid treatment programme which Zurich University scientist Birgit Wagner helped create in 2008. Although life has improved in Iraq, the country remains volatile. Only last Friday a female suicide bomber killed 32 pilgrims in a city south of the capital, Baghdad. For many people, violence forms a backdrop…

Measles debate flares up again

This content was published on Feb 17, 2009 The Conference of Cantonal Health Directors said on Monday that mandatory vaccination might have to be considered if current methods did not stop the disease spreading. More than 90 cases have been reported since the beginning of January. This is far from the peak of March 2008, when 572 cases were registered, but still a…

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