Archive – Science

Swiss sign up to heart health charter

This content was published on May 28, 2008 Every year 50,000 people die of cardiovascular disease in Switzerland and it is also a major cause of disability and of reduced quality of life. Representatives of 14 organisations came together in Bern to sign the European Heart Health Charter, which aims to reduce the incidence of preventable heart disease. Swiss president and health minister…

Gene manipulation issue revived in Switzerland

This content was published on May 27, 2008 Swiss legislation permits excess stem cells to be used for research, but forbids the production of clones or hybrids for this purpose. Many scientists think the time has come for the law to be relaxed if Switzerland is to keep its place at the cutting edge of research. Hans Hengartner, professor of immunology at the…

Search for life on Mars set to begin

This content was published on May 26, 2008 The lander touched down early Monday morning in the northern polar region after travelling through space for ten months, and will spend the next 90 days probing the surface. Just hours after its arrival, Phoenix was already dazzling scientists with the first-ever glimpse of Mars’ arctic plains. Images sent back by the probe revealed a…

“Love hormone” helps people trust again

This content was published on May 21, 2008 The results of a study, which appears in the science publication Neuron, have brought the research team closer to understanding the physiological mechanism behind this response. Whether in love, politics, family life or business, humans rely on trust to live together. Understanding what promotes trust can also be useful in treating mental problems associated with…

Research offers hope amid obesity epidemic

This content was published on May 16, 2008 Researchers from the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich found that 16.7 per cent of boys and 13.1 per cent of girls aged 6-13 were overweight in 2007, compared with almost 20 per cent in 2002. The survey was presented on Thursday at the 2008 European Congress on Obesity that runs in Geneva until Saturday.…

Do you have Swiss-Italian ancestry?

This content was published on May 14, 2008 The English service of swissinfo plans to produce an interactive, multimedia series of reports on Ticino with descendants of Ticino emigrants as the main target audience. The aim is to come into contact with second, third and fourth generation descendants who use English as their main language and would like to know more about the…

Switzerland records first over-60 mothers

This content was published on May 11, 2008 The two 61-year-old mothers, one of whom had twins, will no doubt be receiving special attention this Mother’s Day. But their actions have reopened the debate on how far fertility treatment should defy natural limits. The women, who remain anonymous, became pregnant after being implanted abroad with embryos conceived from donor eggs, a procedure which…

Is Switzerland ready for the next flood?

This content was published on May 1, 2008 The country has been hit by serious flooding three times during the past nine years. Experts say preparedness has improved over this period but much more progress is needed. Areas north of the Alps received up to 80 litres of rain per square metre on April 21 and 22, causing some flooding in eastern Switzerland.…

Father of LSD dies aged 102

This content was published on Apr 30, 2008 Hofmann died at his home on Tuesday, according to the registrar in Leimental in Basel where he lived with his wife Anita. The Swiss chemist discovered lysergic acid diethylamide-25 in1938 while studying the medicinal uses of a fungus found on wheat and other grains at the Sandoz pharmaceuticals firm (which later merged with Ciba-Geigy to…

Brain training boosts reasoning skills

This content was published on Apr 29, 2008 The discovery that so-called fluid intelligence (FI), which is closely related to professional and educational success, can be improved contradicts previous findings. FI is recognised as a complex human ability that allows us to adapt to new problems or situations, in other words our capacity to carry out on-the-spot reasoning. Because of this, it is…

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Swiss sign up to heart health charter

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Gene manipulation issue revived in Switzerland

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Search for life on Mars set to begin

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“Love hormone” helps people trust again

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Research offers hope amid obesity epidemic

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Do you have Swiss-Italian ancestry?

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Switzerland records first over-60 mothers

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Is Switzerland ready for the next flood?

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Father of LSD dies aged 102

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Brain training boosts reasoning skills

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