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Throwing light on the age of the universe

This content was published on Aug 31, 2006 The researchers used a simple new technique based on gravitational lensing, which allows scientists to probe distant parts of the cosmos, to determine that the universe is 13-and-a-half billion years old. The results of their research will be published in “The Astrophysical Journal Letters”, Zurich University announced on Wednesday. Knowing the age of the universe…

Global warming pushes science to the limits

This content was published on Aug 31, 2006 There was a sense of urgency at the International Disaster Reduction Conference in Davos this week and a belief that an integrated approach was needed to prevent huge loss of life. “We observe that the threat is not necessarily increasing but is definitely changing,” geography researcher Christian Huggel of Zurich University told swissinfo. “People have…

Bell Shaking

This content was published on Aug 30, 2006 In Eastern Switzerland for the alp procession only the three leading cows wear huge bells made of welded sheet metal. The bells are valuable and on the way up, the herdsmen remove them from the cows in order to protect them. They are carried by the men over their arms or on yokes over their…

Stem cell breakthrough won’t cure all ills

This content was published on Aug 30, 2006 But the discovery is seen as more important for its scientific value than for the ethical dilemmas that it has supposedly resolved. Since stem cells were first extracted successfully from an embryo in 1998, the field has been dogged by concerns over the ethics of killing a “potential human being” for research purposes. Swiss law…

Employers urge greater focus on older workers

This content was published on Aug 29, 2006 The call comes as part of an ongoing debate over the financial future of the country’s pension scheme and an expected shortage of workers. Employers and society as a whole need to show greater flexibility over the question of Switzerland’s ageing workforce and be more aware of the qualities of older workers, the organisation said…

How to adapt the Disneyland approach

This content was published on Aug 29, 2006 Keller is the head of the tourism department of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) and is a professor at Lausanne University. He is also president of the International Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism (AIEST). It is holding its 56th annual meeting in the southeastern resort of Pontresina in the Upper Engadine Valley.…

Inga Beale leads Converium to better times

This content was published on Aug 28, 2006 Beale, 43, who is British and took over the helm of Converium in February after the company had suffered two years of crisis, says good results are now helping to increase confidence in the Zurich company. In 2004, Converium – the former reinsurance business of Zurich Financial Services – was hit for six with problems…

Science and technology under the microscope

This content was published on Aug 28, 2006 This was the warning behind an initiative launched jointly on Monday in the Swiss capital, Bern, by Interior Minister Pascal Couchepin and Economics Minister Doris Leuthard. The main aim of NaTech Education is to integrate an understanding of technology and the natural sciences – which deal with the natural world such as physics, chemistry, biology…

More rate rises loom as economy forges ahead

This content was published on Aug 28, 2006 Its president, Jean-Pierre Roth, said the bank would maintain its path of interest rate hikes to prevent the expanding economy from overheating although inflation remains under control. “All in all, Gross Domestic Product growth will be slightly above 2.5 per cent in 2006 and slow somewhat in 2007, although staying around two per cent,” he…

Disaster experts seek ways to lower risks

This content was published on Aug 28, 2006 Organisers of the International Disaster Reduction Conference (IDRC) say that recent mega-disasters have shown that risk management from a single approach is not enough to address the threats to today’s society. “The IDRC Davos 2006 will address a broad range of risks, including those relating to pandemics and endemics, terrorism, climate change and natural hazards,”…

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