Archive – Science

How sustainable economics can save the planet

This content was published on Jan 10, 2008 The Worldwatch president, Christopher Flavin, tells swissinfo why the authors of the institute’s 2008 State of the World report are optimistic that the challenges of climate change can be overcome. The 253-page report claims that businesses, government and non-governmental organisations “are inventing the Earth’s first sustainable economy”. Some Swiss communities are showing the way forward…

Damselfly named animal of the year

This content was published on Jan 8, 2008 Pro Natura, the country’s leading conservation agency, awarded the insect the special honour to highlight the problem of its steadily shrinking aquatic habitat. The banded demoiselle, or calopteryx splendens, is a European damselfly traditionally found along watercourses in north-facing alpine regions, especially in canton Valais. The damselfly is part of the lucky 50 per cent…

Edelweiss could soon be in the shops

This content was published on Jan 7, 2008 Scientists at the Agroscope research station said on Monday that they had managed to grow the bloom at ground level and with stems long enough for bouquets. The whitish star-shaped edelweiss normally grows at between 2,000 and 3,000 metres in altitude. It has been a protected species in Switzerland since 1962. A research project, launched…

Waste not, wood not

This content was published on Jan 4, 2008

Zurich professor takes major US award

This content was published on Jan 4, 2008 Kalman has been awarded the Charles Stark Draper prize by the National Academy of Engineering in Washington. The prize is a $500,000 (SFr558,300) annual award that honours engineers whose accomplishments have significantly benefited society. Kalman was the inventor of the Kalman filter, a mathematical technique that can from incomplete information optimally estimate and control the…

The year in pictures

This content was published on Dec 27, 2007

2007 was year of people power

This content was published on Dec 26, 2007 Groups began collecting signatures, among other things, to limit sales of four-wheel drive vehicles, deport relatives of foreign residents committing crimes and to ban minarets. It was the highest number of initiatives since 1998 when nearly twice as many were started. Groups have 18 months to collect at least 100,000 signatures to force a vote…

Bilateral science agreement reached

This content was published on Dec 21, 2007 Details of an accord on bio- and nanotechnology as well as on energy research were worked out in Moscow between the Swiss State Secretary for Education and Research, Charles Kleiber, and his Russian ministerial counterpart, Andrey Fursenko. A total of SFr30 million ($25.6 million) is to be invested in joint projects. Bern and Moscow will…

LSD set to make a medical comeback

This content was published on Dec 20, 2007 Swiss medical authorities have given a doctor approval to carry out LSD-assisted psychotherapy trials on patients suffering from advanced-stage cancer and other terminal illnesses. This will be the first government-approved study looking into LSD’s therapeutic benefits on humans in over 35 years. Lysergic acid diethyladmide, better known as LSD and famed for its hallucinogenic trips,…

Christmas lights spark electricity concerns

This content was published on Dec 20, 2007 There are concerns about the climate and a shortage of electricity in Switzerland after the year 2020. Many towns and villages used to decorate a local tree with lights at Christmas, but nowadays street decorations and illuminated shop windows shine alongside the rising number of electric window displays put up in private homes. Giuseppina Togni…

Archive – Science

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Archive – Science

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How sustainable economics can save the planet

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Damselfly named animal of the year

More

Edelweiss could soon be in the shops

More

Waste not, wood not

More

Zurich professor takes major US award

More

The year in pictures

More

2007 was year of people power

More

Bilateral science agreement reached

More

LSD set to make a medical comeback

More

Christmas lights spark electricity concerns

Popular Stories

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