This plastic alternative breaks down into sugar
While banning plastics is an important measure for curbing pollution, replacing plastics as a practical consumer material is important. Researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne have developed a plant-based alternative for plastics that decompose into Read More...
Switzerland built a huge water battery to store surplus energy
Switzerland is famous for hosting a number of scientific and engineering marvels, such as the Large Hadron Collider. Now, engineers in Switzerland have achieved an incredible feat — building the world’s largest water battery. Located in the Swiss Alps, in a subterranean cavern in the Canton of Read More...
Scientists discover prehistoric dolphin species in landlocked Switzerland
Paleontologists have recently made an extraordinary discovery in landlocked Switzerland: two new species of dolphin dating back to 20 million years ago. Ancient dolphin species Located in the heart of Europe, Switzerland is entirely landlocked. Millions of years ago, however, the area used to Read More...
'Ghost particle' spotted for the first time in Hadron Collider
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), nicknamed the world’s greatest atom smasher, is the most powerful particle accelerator in the world. Consisting of a 27 kilometer long ring of superconducting magnets, it sits in a tunnel 100 meters underground at CERN, a research facility in Switzerland. The Read More...
Swiss voters approve legalization of same-sex marriage
Switzerland is celebrating the legalization of same-sex marriage this week after a referendum resoundingly approved the measure. In a vote held on Sunday, 64.1 percent of Swiss voters confirmed the right of same-sex couples to marry and adopt children. Swiss lawmakers voted to expand the Read More...
Pasturs Voluntaris program uses shepherding to bridge a cultural gap
Back in March, we shared a story about a Spanish village keeping its tradition of shepherding alive with a school for female shepherds. Now, a Swiss program is taking a similar approach to preserve its cultural history and protect its remaining flocks. The newly-established Pasturs Voluntaris, Read More...
This technology allows plants to communicate with farmers
Scientists at the Swiss deep tech company Vivent have created technology that allows us to know exactly what our plants need. Before this, farmers have relied on secondary indicators for finding problems with their crops, looking, for example, for signs of drought by checking out their roots. But Read More...
Medical gun that fires off ‘skin substitute’ is now treating patients
In July of 2019, we shared exciting news out of Israel when a startup invented a mechanical contraption shaped like a toy gun that spins out a ‘skin substitute’ to cover and heal wounds. Today, we’re happy to share that the device has moved beyond the prototype phase, with doctors across Read More...
Lockdown-shuttered nightclub gets new life as a blood donation center
After more than 10 months of being under lockdown, a Swiss nightclub in the student town of Lausanne has once again opened its doors. This time though it’s nurses and blood donors who are bringing new life into the empty multi-floor warehouse rather than revelers ready to strut their Read More...
Drying fruit is energy-intensive, but “ionic wind” could change that
Dried fruit is delicious and can serve as a great alternative to candy. The only problem is that producing it is quite energy-intensive. In order to dry fruit, commercial food producers typically utilize a “non-thermal drying” process. This involves fans blowing unheated air across the fruit Read More...