Archive – Science

Sunday’s vote: Swiss consider ban on test tube babies

This content was published on Mar 6, 2000 An initiative to ban all medically-assisted procreation and sperm donation goes to a nationwide vote on March 12. The initiative “for procreation which respects human dignity” aims to stop all methods that might be “against nature”. Opponents of medically-assisted procreation believe that once fertilisation of a woman’s egg takes place, life exists, and add that…

Appeal for visits to elderly and sick

This content was published on Mar 3, 2000 On Sunday, Switzerland will be marking the National Day of the Sick, an appeal to visit the ill and the elderly. It is also an effort to hightlight the work done by nurses and thousands of voluntary workers in caring for the sick. The idea to mark the first Sunday of March as a day…

Swiss join relief effort for flood-stricken Mozambique

This content was published on Mar 1, 2000 Switzerland is supporting aid efforts for the flood victims in Mozambique. More than SFr2.2 million have been pledged by the government, non-governmental organisations and private donors. The foreign ministry has increased its aid to the stricken country to SFr1.8 million. The money will go towards food and medicine, as well as drinking water. The government’s…

Medical body condones sterilisation of handicapped

This content was published on Feb 24, 2000 The influential Swiss Academy for Medical Sciences says the sterilisation of mentally handicapped people without their consent is acceptable in specific circumstances. However, it emphasises that the welfare of the patient must be considered paramount at all times. Enforced surgical sterilisation of the mentally handicapped is not illegal in Switzerland. However, the Academy published directives…

Why the earth moves in Switzerland

This content was published on Feb 23, 2000 Two earth tremors hit eastern Switzerland on Tuesday night without causing serious damage or casualties. Although earthquakes in Switzerland are rarely severe, Switzerland is still considered seismically active. In an extensive study, the Swiss Seismological Institute in Zürich recorded a total of 226 earthquakes in Switzerland in 1998. The majority of them were in cantons…

Mikron benefits from mobile boom

This content was published on Feb 22, 2000 The boom in the worldwide mobile telephone market is driving the Biel-based Mikron Technology Group to expand production rapidly. The company announced Tuesday it is to open a new plant in Norway and enlarge its facilities in Europe and Asia. A statement said that both business segments of the group were being pushed by the…

Row breaks out in mobile phone dispute

This content was published on Feb 21, 2000 A fresh row has broken out between Switzerland’s mobile phone companies and environmental groups. In the latest twist in an increasingly acrimonious dispute over issues such as electrosmog, the electromagnetic microwaves generated by the phones, the phone companies have invited their detractors to attend round table talks to try to reconcile their positions. The three…

Profits down at Agie Charmilles

This content was published on Feb 21, 2000 The Agie Charmilles group, the world’s leading producer of electric discharge machining (EDM) systems and accessories, has reported a drop in net profit of 23.3 per cent last year to SFr37.2 million (1998 SFr 48.5million). Sales were down by almost four per cent at SFr901.3 million. However, a statement from the company’s Zug headquarters said…

All is revealed at Lausanne’s history museum

This content was published on Feb 17, 2000 Lausanne’s history museum is likely to look more like a strip-joint than an educational establishment, when an exhibition on the secret history of underwear opens there this week. But the organisers are stressing the serious aspect of the collection, which brings together exhibits from the end of the 18th century to the present day. “The…

Avalanche warning systems held under magnifying glass

This content was published on Feb 15, 2000 A new study looks at avalanche warning systems in Switzerland, exactly one year after a devastating series of natural disasters. The study concludes that notwithstanding the fatalities and huge material damage, Switzerland was better prepared than ever before. The study was carried out by the Federal Snow and Avalanche Research Institute in Davos. It is…

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