According to the European Patents Office (EPO), once again Switzerland topped the per capita patents ranking in 2016, with 892 applications per million inhabitants. Second and third places went to the Netherlands (405) and Sweden (360), followed by Denmark (334) and Finland (331). The first non-European country was Japan in ninth place (166), well above […]
Archives for March 2017
Green politician wants to ban all petrol and diesel cars from Swiss roads by 2025
20 Minutes. National Councillor Balthasar Glättli tabled a motion that would require all cars in Switzerland to be electric by 2025. He sees this as a way to meet emission levels set out in the Paris Agreement on climate change which aims to limit the global temperature rise to 2 degrees by 2030. His plan […]
Geneva Motor Show wishes women a beautiful and sweet day
Today is international women’s day and the theme is Be Bold For Change. As the Geneva motor show prepares to open, we noticed they had posted something on their Facebook page to mark the day: “Women are honored today! We wish them a beautiful and sweet day!” The car industry has traditionally been male dominated. […]
Switzerland ranked best country despite relatively low GDP per capita
In a new ranking by US News, Switzerland is described as a nation with cultural contributions disproportionate to its small size. Swiss citizens have won more Nobel Prizes and registered more patents per capita than any other nation. Switzerland takes first place by being a solid all rounder. Out of the 80 countries included, Switzerland ranks […]
Thought provoking art meets the animal kingdom at Geneva’s Natural History Museum
To celebrate its 50th birthday, Geneva’s Natural History Museum invited two artists to transform parts of the building. French artist and engineer Alexandre Dang graced the windows with his dancing solar art, and Nicolas Righetti, a photographer from Geneva, created a photographic installation called “Guided Visits!” (Visites Guidées!). Dang’s provocative work comprising 2,000 solar-powered dancing figurines […]
Earthquake shakes Switzerland
An earthquake, measuring 4.6 on the richter scale, shook Linthal in the canton of Glarus at 21:12 on 6 March 2017, according to the Swiss Seismological Service. The quake occurred at a depth of 5 km. In addition, the Swiss Seismological Service tweeted that the quake occurred at Ortstock in the canton of Schwyz and measured 4.7. […]
A fresh look at symbolism at the Pierre Arnaud gallery, one of Valais’s best kept secrets
Wonder where the Sixties hippy art style came from? Or the fairytale animations we’ve seen lately from Hollywood? The Pierre Arnaud gallery in Lens below Crans-Montana has an answer in its current exhibition (open till 21 May 2017). Those diaphanous female figures, pastel patterns, dreamy landscapes and hokey mythological allusions: the 19th-century Symbolists had them […]
Switzerland ranked world’s worst currency manipulator
The Economist magazine placed Switzerland first in a recent ranking of currency manipulators. According to the analysis, China, commonly thought of as the world’s champion at keeping its currency’s value artificially low, appears to be doing the opposite: actively trying to push the value of its currency up. On the other hand, Switzerland that has […]
One Swiss resort suffers lowest snowfall in recorded history
This season, a resort on the southern side of the Alps received the least snow in recorded history, according to Meteo Swiss. Between December 2016 and February 2017, the resort of Bosco-Gurin in Ticino received snow cover of only 14 cm. This is the lowest depth since the region started recording snow depth in 1961. […]
High winds swept through Switzerland over the weekend
24 Heures. Strong winds swept through the Alps over the weekend forcing the closure of a number of ski lifts. SRF Meteo reported that the Joran, a wind which blows in the Jura, reached 111 km/h at Chasseral. Organisers of the Bienne carnaval were forced to close festivities between 15:00 and 17:00 on Saturday. In 2013, […]
