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Swissair pilots affected by airline turbulence

This content was published on Mar 30, 2002 When the new airline formally begins operations on Monday, replacing Switzerland’s 70-year-old Swissair, thousands of former employees of the defunct airline group will be watching, including a number of pilots. Even pilots who found jobs following the Swissair debacle faced financial troubles and uncertainty. Some lost their savings, or were forced to take severe pay…

Hare numbers leap in Switzerland

This content was published on Mar 29, 2002 Although the bunnies – known in Switzerland as Easter hares – will be everywhere in chocolate form on Sunday, the real thing is more likely than ever to put in an appearance. Since 1998 the number of hares in Switzerland has slightly increased following a 25 per cent drop between 1992 and 1997. The outsized…

Experts reject gene patenting

This content was published on Mar 27, 2002 The Swiss Ethics Committee on Non-human Gene Technology was stating its case ahead of a proposed revision of the patenting law. It took the view that genes, even if modified, were essentially “discoveries” and not inventions, and that it was therefore questionable as to whether someone could claim ownership of them. The committee also questioned…

Mikron crippled by losses

This content was published on Mar 25, 2002 The company, which makes electrical components and parts for the automotive industry said the losses were due to restructuring costs and a SFr88 million ($52 million) “goodwill” gesture to write off certain areas of its business. The 2001 results were in stark contrast to 2000, when the company recorded SFr34.1 million profit. The multi-million franc…

Cern employees fear jobs big bang

This content was published on Mar 23, 2002 In an unprecedented move this week, some 500 Cern staff belonging to three Swiss and two French trade unions staged a two-hour demonstration outside the facility. Management issued a statement saying they were looking at various strategies for absorbing the extra SFr880 million needed to complete the construction of Large Hadron Collider, or LHC, and…

Old wood offers new lessons for climate debate

This content was published on Mar 23, 2002 A new study – which involved careful scrutiny of ancient tree rings from 14 sites on three continents – has found that, 1000 years ago, the northern hemisphere experienced a period of climactic warming similar to that observed today. Coming amid the heated debate over global warming, the Swiss study is likely to fuel conjecture…

Deiss defends outcome of poverty talks

This content was published on Mar 22, 2002 But the Swiss foreign minister, Joseph Deiss, who attended the meeting along with representatives from 171 countries, dismissed the criticism as unfounded. Deiss said the talks – in Mexico’s industrial capital Monterrey – had galvanized a new global consensus in the fight against poverty. “There still remain a lot of problems to be solved, but…

Lausanne inflammation specialist wins Naegeli prize

This content was published on Mar 21, 2002 The Otto Naegeli prize is one of the most prestigious science awards in Switzerland and is given out once every two years, by the Bonizzi-Theler Foundation in collaboration with the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF). Wahli, who is also the university’s vice rector, won the SFr200,000 prize for his contribution to biomedical research on the…

Sulzer spinoff’s pump gentler on blood

This content was published on Mar 21, 2002 A team of researchers at a Zurich based startup called Levitronix GmbH has come up with a better blood pump. The invention is based on a motor that has no ball bearings. Because there are no bearings that rotate and “squeeze” the blood, there is less chance that red blood cells, or hemoglobin, will be…

Royal start for isotope laboratory

This content was published on Mar 21, 2002 The isotope geochemistry laboratory is being used to carry out groundbreaking research into fields as varied as the origins of the sun and planets, the development of life and the history of climate change. It is also being used to study the birthplace and subsequent migration of Ötzi, the Neolithic iceman, whose 5,300-year-old mummified remains…

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Swissair pilots affected by airline turbulence

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Hare numbers leap in Switzerland

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Experts reject gene patenting

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Mikron crippled by losses

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Cern employees fear jobs big bang

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Old wood offers new lessons for climate debate

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Deiss defends outcome of poverty talks

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Lausanne inflammation specialist wins Naegeli prize

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Sulzer spinoff’s pump gentler on blood

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Royal start for isotope laboratory

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