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- Feed Preview Sciences & Tech - SWI swissinfo.ch
Switzerland’s long-standing love of cartography
Switzerland’s long history of cartography stretches back to an era of military nation-building efforts. But since then it’s been interest in mountaineering, tourism, and – more recently –...
Google Maps – a Swiss story
Few people know that behind Google Maps lies a Swiss entrepreneur’s intuition and Switzerland's extensive experience in cartography. This is how Switzerland contributed to the success of the wo...
Switzerland signs international space agreement
Swiss Economics Minister Guy Parmelin signed the Artemis Accords at NASA's headquarters in the US capital of Washington D.C. on Monday. As a result, Switzerland has agreed to promote the peaceful...
Record-breaking Switzerland: from the world’s steepest railway to the largest igloo
A Swiss train last week set a world record by travelling almost 3,000 kilometres without refuelling. But Switzerland is home to many other technological records. Here are some of the most impress...
Zurich Zoo unveiled: animal life as you've never seen it
A three-hour documentary on the inner life of one of the top zoos in the world has premiered in Berlin. Its creator, Romuald Karmakar, explains what made him shift his gaze from wars and techno m...
Moon robots learn to walk – in Zurich
For over ten years researchers at the federal technology institute ETH Zurich have been developing robots that will one day explore the terrain or search for raw materials on the Moon or Mars. In...
European court’s climate ruling ‘could be own goal’ for green ideas
Political reaction has been mixed to the Swiss government’s conviction by the European Court of Human Rights for failing to act on climate change. In an interview, political scientist Marc Büh...
Basel researchers find more plastic in Antarctic than previously thought
Far more plastic is floating in the Antarctic Ocean than previously assumed as a large proportion of it was so small that previous studies failed to detect it, researchers from Basel have shown i...
Valuable meteorites sinking in the Antarctic due to climate change
Rapid action is needed as climate change is causing thousands of meteorites to sink into Antarctic ice every year. That is according to an international research team quoted in a study published ...
Zurich retains first place in ‘Smart City’ index
For the fifth time in a row, the city of Zurich has taken first place in the International Institute for Management Development’s (IMD) ‘Smart City’ index. Two other Swiss cities also made ...
Say hello to the ‘Chuchichäschtli’ squid from the Triassic period
Researchers from Zurich have discovered fossils of a previously unknown species of squid in Ticino - and given them a Swiss-German moniker. The fossils had been stored in a cabinet at the Univers...
Swiss space telescope observes exoplanet ‘rainbow’
The Swiss space telescope CHEOPS has found a type of rainbow on a planet 637 light years away. The observation of a so-called “glory” is likely the first evidence of this phenomenon outside o...
Chuchichäschtli: squid species named after tricky Swiss-German word
Researchers in Zurich have discovered fossils of a previously unknown species of squid from Ticino, which they have christened "Chuchichäschtli". The name refers to the fossil, which is around 2...
Swiss researchers boost efficiency of vertical axis wind turbines
Vertical wind turbines could produce more electricity if optimised with tweaks identified by Swiss researchers. As they are quieter, require less space and are less dangerous for birds, such vert...
Swiss develop 'cockroach drone' to explore forest canopy
Inspired by cockroaches, Swiss researchers have developed a new drone which can push away obstacles and move past them. In the future, it will be used to measure biodiversity in remote areas. Env...
Saharan dust blankets Switzerland, skies turn cloudy and yellow
Switzerland finds itself under a peculiar phenomenon as an extraordinary volume of Saharan dust settles over the country. Meteorologist Roman Brogli from SRF Meteo reveals that Saturday witnessed...
Progress towards gender equality in Swiss academia remains slow
Switzerland’s prestigious Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) this week appointed the first female president in its 141-year history. Despite more women studying at Swiss universiti...
Avalanches killed 14 people in Switzerland this winter
Fourteen people died in avalanches in the Swiss Alps this winter, mostly ski tourers, the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF) reported on Wednesday. This is slightly below the lon...
Anna Fontcuberta i Morral named as first female EPFL president
The Swiss government has appointed Anna Fontcuberta i Morral as the new president of the Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL). The 49-year-old professor of materials science and engine...
De-iced Euclid space telescope regains sight
The Euclid space telescope can see clearly again after a de-icing operation went better than expected, the European Space Agency (ESA) announced on Tuesday. Do you want to read our weekly top sto...
Invasive Black Sea goby threatens Swiss native fish species
Introduced by cargo ships, the Black Sea goby is rapidly and aggressively displacing native Swiss fish. Can it still be stopped? The goby actually originates from the Black Sea. But because all t...
Hydrogen train from Switzerland sets world record
A hydrogen-powered train from the Swiss railroad company Stadler has secured a place in the Guinness World Records. The Flirt passenger train covered 2,803 kilometres without refuelling or rechar...
Le Corbusier’s Punjab album sheds light on India’s modernist drive
Urban spaces in India mirror centuries of invasions and colonial domination. The publication of a facsimile edition of the sketchbooks of Swiss architect Le Corbusier for the creation of the city...
Science and diplomacy: two Swiss strengths help anticipate tomorrow’s world
What can science contribute to solving global crises? This question was the focus of a panel discussion organised by SWI swissinfo.ch and the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA) foun...
Is Swiss water aid for Jordan just a drop in the ocean?
No issue is as crucial for the Jordanian royal family as ensuring water for the population. Switzerland is trying to help, but how can a country not troubled by water scarcity help the desert nat...
Swiss Federal Railways successfully tests remote-controlled train
Swiss Federal Railways has carried out successful tests that allowed engineers to remotely control a train near Zurich amid ongoing operations - a European first. In the future, trains could be c...
Code breakers: how the Swiss came up with their own cipher machine
Before the Second World War, Switzerland had no experience of cryptography. Nonetheless, a group of mathematicians and engineers started work on their own cipher machine in the middle of the war....
Swiss researchers regain access to certain European programmes
With the start of negotiations with the European Union, Swiss researchers once again have access to certain Horizon Europe programmes, says the Swiss president. Swiss proposals will be treated in...
Former CERN head has served science and peace for 100 years
He is the grandfather of the world’s most powerful particle accelerator, helped promote peace through a Middle Eastern science hub, and has his qualms about the Nobel Prize. If former CERN dire...
Why university rankings are being given poor grades
For internationally oriented students and researchers, university rankings provide an indication of where they should study or do research – in London, Berlin or Zurich? So what’s behind the ...