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Commercial astronaut reaches for the stars

This content was published on Jun 8, 2009 The flight, the first commercial venture of its kind, will climb up to a height of 110 kilometres above the globe, allowing the passengers to feel weightlessness and catch an exceptional view of the Earth. Von May, a keen amateur pilot, is one of just 100 founder astronauts who have already paid $200,000 (SFr217,000) to…

Employment situation still bleak

This content was published on Jun 8, 2009 The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) said in a report issued on Monday that the number of people registered at job centres at the end of May was 135,128, or 3.4 per cent of the workforce. This was down by 1,581 from April. However, the lower figure was the result of seasonal factors and…

Employers’ boss sees worsening unemployment

This content was published on Jun 6, 2009 His forecast is higher than that of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, which has put forward a figure of 5.2 per cent or more than 200,000 jobless by mid-March in 2010. “I fear an unemployment rate that is comparable with 1997,” said Daum in an interview with the French-language Le Matin newspaper. Commenting on…

Prices undergo greatest decline in 50 years

This content was published on Jun 5, 2009 The overall decline of one per cent for goods bought in May 2009 was more than analysts had expected and has not been matched since September 1959. While energy prices in May of this year actually increased 1.8 per cent over the previous month, prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages dropped 0.2 per cent. Household…

Invention takes bite out of being bitten

This content was published on Jun 5, 2009 Working out of a lab in Visp, Tim Saciri, 28, and his wife spent more than three years developing the Bite Guard, a Thermoplastic shield that slips over a dog’s incisors and front teeth much like a mouth guard a boxer might use. The mouth piece, which sells for SFr260 ($243) and includes a custom…

How to stop Aids in five seconds

This content was published on Jun 4, 2009 The spots show couples meeting in a bus, on the beach or at the bar and then hopping into bed – all within five seconds. The caption at the end asks, “Had sex too quick to think of condoms?” In situations where people meet unexpectedly and have sex, condoms are not always at hand, reminded…

Experts defend state help for finance sector

This content was published on Jun 4, 2009 At an international conference in the city, speakers warned, however, that these economic crisis measures should be temporary and that states should not return to the “bad old days” of protectionism. The three-day International Competition Network’s (ICN) annual conference, which started on Wednesday, brings together competition commission members from around the world to discuss policy…

More layoffs loom at Swiss companies

This content was published on Jun 4, 2009 Hit particularly hard will be employees in the industrial sector, where 55 per cent of companies will cut staff, according to a survey published by the Adecco Institute on Thursday. Soft measures introduced by many companies over the past six months, such as requesting employees to reduce their hours or imposing a freeze on hiring,…

Breakthrough announced in heart-failure research

This content was published on Jun 4, 2009 In the online journal “Cell Metabolism”, the scientists at Zurich’s Federal Institute of Technology reveal new information on how the heart muscle converts nutrients into energy when under stress. This is often the case with overweight people suffering from high blood pressure. In such instances the heart must work harder to pump blood through the…

Worst of the recession might be over

This content was published on Jun 4, 2009 Swiss National Bank’s Philipp Hildebrand said positive economic signals emerging out of Asia – particularly China – could herald a turning point for the global recession. “Trade is not in a free fall anymore,” Hildebrand told the weekly newspaper, WOZ. Oil and commodity prices have been climbing and consumption has been “robust” in Switzerland, he…

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