Archive – Science

Roche drug offers hope for Alzheimer’s sufferers

This content was published on May 16, 2002 Tests carried out by Swiss, British and Japanese researchers have found that the non-toxic drug, CPHPC, erodes clumps of the amyloid protein that builds up in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. Researchers think the protein may be responsible for causing the loss of brain cells in Alzheimer’s sufferers, leading to dementia. “I can’t describe how…

Nanotech group learns lessons from US tour

This content was published on May 16, 2002 The trip to Boston, Chicago and San Francisco was designed to showcase Switzerland’s expertise in nanotechnology and lead to an exchange of ideas between the Swiss participants and their US counterparts. “What I learnt here is that they focus much greater forces on one subject,” said Karl Höhener, general manager of Top Nano 21, a…

Yverdon looks for silver lining

This content was published on May 15, 2002 Suspended over the lakeside at the end of a long, metal walkway the cloud is created by spraying lake water through more than 30,000 jets evenly spread over a 78-ton structure. While the final product is impressive, its creation has given the Expo organisers headaches-a-plenty. After running into early problems when micro-organisms from the lake…

Scientists explore the frontier

This content was published on May 15, 2002 “It’s an age of exploration and discovery,” said Don Eigler, of the IBM Almaden research centre in Silicon Valley, California. Eigler earned renown in 1989 for a demonstration in which he spelled IBM with individual xenon atoms, showing for the first time that it was possible to build structures at the atomic level. “We’ve made…

Sulzer Medica announces job losses

This content was published on May 14, 2002 The company said the restructuring programme, which is expected to be completed by early 2003, would generate savings of SFr15 million a year, including SFr8-10 million in 2002. “We want to enhance our earnings potential, increasing investments in our products, our markets and in our customers,” said Sulzer Medica chief executive Stephan Rietiker. Sulzer Medica…

Paul Scherrer Institute forges ahead

This content was published on May 13, 2002 Presenting its annual report on Monday, the natural sciences and technology research centre said more than SFr65 million had been invested in projects. These include the Swiss Light Source (SLS), a giant microscope for use in structural research in the fields of chemistry, biology, physics and the material sciences. The institute revealed that government funding…

Expo.02: Sound Tower on arteplage Biel-Bienne

This content was published on May 13, 2002 The artistic concept Expo.02’s ringing symbol. The shell of the tower designed by Austrian architect team Coop Himmelb(l)au is the supporting beam for an interactive musical instrument. A unique constellation of loudspeakers produces a virtual acoustic kaleidoscope. Vertical whirls act as background for the projection of the most varied sound experiences : the result comes…

Top scientist praises Swiss potential

This content was published on May 12, 2002 Speaking to swissinfo, the director of Argonne National Laboratory, Hermann Grunder, said he was convinced the Swiss would do “great things”. Grunder, who was born and educated in Basel, is an internationally recognised physicist who emigrated to the US in 1967 and naturalised in 1978. His comments coincided with a visit of Swiss scientists and…

Swiss forests buckling under bark beetle infestation

This content was published on May 11, 2002 A new report by the Federal Office for the Environment says the infestation is the most serious in the past 200 years, and is spreading especially fast because so many Swiss forests were damaged by hurricane “Lothar” in December 1999. The report calls for a further SFr30 million to be made available to combat the…

The future goes bottom up

This content was published on May 10, 2002 “Nanostructures are the ultimate link between nature and engineered devices,” says Jürgen Brugger of the department of micro-engineering at the federal institute of technology in Lausanne. “I think nanostructure materials will eventually have better properties for mechanics and electronics. They will make new functions possible and better products available.” He was speaking to swissinfo during…

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Roche drug offers hope for Alzheimer’s sufferers

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Nanotech group learns lessons from US tour

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Yverdon looks for silver lining

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Scientists explore the frontier

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Sulzer Medica announces job losses

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Paul Scherrer Institute forges ahead

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Expo.02: Sound Tower on arteplage Biel-Bienne

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Top scientist praises Swiss potential

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Swiss forests buckling under bark beetle infestation

More

The future goes bottom up

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