Archive – Science

Cormorants return to nest in Switzerland

This content was published on Aug 8, 2001 The nests, discovered by canton Vaud ornithologists, Michel Antoniazza and Pascal Rapin, contained two and three hatchlings respectively. The bird experts came upon the nests while making their regular check on the nesting sites of seagulls and herrings in the Fanel reserve. The cormorant regularly comes to Switzerland around winter time but has chosen neighbouring…

Swiss researcher proposes brain model for future computers

This content was published on Aug 7, 2001 Quantum computers – often considered the next step forward in information processing – is still in its infancy, but this type of machine holds great promise, potentially offering far greater speed to the user. “Quantum computing represents a paradigm shift from traditional computers,” Trugenberger told swissinfo. Quantum computing has its roots in physics theory from…

Swiss charity pledges SFr100,000 to Polish flood victims

This content was published on Aug 6, 2001 The money will go into a special fund for emergencies, and will enable Caritas employees and volunteers to travel to the area to distribute food, drinking water, clothing and blankets to those worst hit by the disaster. The destruction caused by the flooding of the Vistula River in July was extensive, with housing, roads, public…

Is Switzerland game for a laugh?

This content was published on Aug 5, 2001 This might seem a tall order for even the best stand-up comedian, but Schutzbach, who set up a “Fun and Laughter Practice” in the village of Ins outside Bern in May, believes he has found a willing patient. “The Swiss have a lot of humour, but they don’t really laugh so loudly – it is…

Rock laboratory seeks safe answer to radioactive waste

This content was published on Aug 3, 2001 The Grimsel test site lies 450 metres under the Juchlistock in the granite rock of the Bernese Oberland. The tunnel system is about a kilometre long and was opened in 1984. Organisations from Germany, France, Japan, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan and the USA, as well as the European Union, participate in the programme. The partner organisations…

Switzerland records hottest day of year

This content was published on Aug 2, 2001 The hottest places in the country turned out to be Chur, where a temperature of 33.7 degrees was recorded, and Basel, where thermometers nudged 33.6 degrees. The Swiss meteorological office also reported temperatures of just under 33 degrees in various parts of canton Valais. However, the office said Thursday’s unusually high temperatures would also herald…

More than 200 jobs to go at Nortel in Zurich

This content was published on Aug 2, 2001 Following a massive profits warning and a dismal performance on the markets the Canadian firm announced that it was reducing its global workforce by a total of 30,000 positions. The Zurich factory will continue to operate with just 175 employees for the next six months at least, explained the spokesman on Thursday. It was only…

Swiss scientists show Neanderthals differed from humans

This content was published on Aug 1, 2001 Christoph Zollikofer, a neurobiologist at the University of Zurich, in collaboration with Marcia Ponce de Leon, a computer scientist and anthropologist, created virtual reality models of Neanderthal skulls from 16 fossils of the creatures who lived in Europe, North Africa and Asia from 125,000 to 40,000 years ago. The images of the skulls appeared to…

Air quality suffers as heat rises

This content was published on Jul 30, 2001 Temperatures touched the 30-degree mark over the weekend, while 13 of Switzerland’s 16 regional centres for measuring air quality recorded ozone levels higher than the official maximum limit. The high temperatures over the last 10 days, coupled with minimum amounts of rainfall, have lifted the amount of ozone in the atmosphere well above the accepted…

More Swiss opt for countryside burial

This content was published on Jul 30, 2001 Since the early 1990s the Swiss have had the option to have their ashes scattered under a tree in a private wood, rather than placed in an urn and buried in a cemetery. The idea has taken off to such an extent that there are now 25 “forests of rest” across the country. The brains…

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