This week, Swisscom became the first Swiss mobile phone company to switch on its 5G network, according to a press release. Swisscom spokesperson, Esther Hüsler, said that at midnight on Wednesday Swisscom flipped the switch to become the first Swiss operator to put its 5G network into service. It’s 5G network went live across 102 […]
New exhibition opens at Lausanne’s Olympic Museum – We are Olympians, and You?
The latest exhibition at Lausanne’s Olympic Museum is all about the athletes and their stories. And while their record-breaking exploits might be difficult to relate to, the human stories of passion, heartbreak and solidarity that lie behind them, contain something we can all connect with. For the exhibition, the Museum interviewed 50 athletes on what […]
Campaign launched for permanent winter time in Switzerland
Yvette Estermann, a member of the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP), is leading a campaign to collect 100,000 signatures for a referendum aimed at switching Switzerland to permanent winter time, also known as normal time, according to the newspaper Le Matin. When Swiss clocks are set to winter time the sun is at its highest point […]
60% of insects in Switzerland threatened with extinction
The Swiss Academy of Sciences estimates that around 60% of the 1,143 insects studied in Switzerland are threatened with extinction. Another long term study in Germany shows that insect biomass, or combined weight, has declined by 76% over the last 30 years. According to the Swiss Academy of Sciences, the main drivers of insect loss […]
Switzerland to vote against animal experimentation
A vote aiming to make experimentation on animals and humans illegal has passed the first official hurdle. Late last week, the administration gave the initiative a green light after validating 123,640 signatures, a number exceeding the 100,000 minimum. Launched by a group in the canton of St. Gallen in 2017, the initiative aims to make […]
Question of the week: if aging populations are good for the environment why don’t we promote them?
Ageing demography leads to population decline and reduced consumption, which eases the impact of humans on the environment. However, most analysis on the subject presents this as a problem, something to be actively reversed. If we really care about climate change and long term human survival, wouldn’t learning to embrace and adapt to ageing societies […]
Swiss government pushes to get refugees and asylum seekers working
Every year around 11,000 people apply for asylum in Switzerland. The first challenge many face is learning the local language. The next is finding a job or getting an education. Poor language proficiency and cantonal labour market restrictions are the main reasons why refugees don’t work, according to various studies. The employment rate among refugees […]
Climate change negatively affecting Lake Geneva
Since 2012, the depths of Lake Geneva have not been properly replenished with oxygen because of a lack of cold weather. Normally, cold winter weather cools surface water. This denser cold water then falls creating a mixing action, which oxygenates the water. The colder the surface the more vigorous the mixing. According to the Commission […]
Swiss unemployment above northern european average
Switzerland is often assumed to have low unemployment. However, there are many countries in Europe with lower rates. There are several ways to measure unemployment. The official measure in Switzerland is focused on those officially registered as unemployed still collecting unemployment benefits, a measure that delivers a lower figure than the one calculated by the […]
Harmful levels of pesticides found in Switzerland’s small streams
Two recently published studies by Eawag and the Ecotox Centre have once again shown that surface waters in agricultural catchment areas in Switzerland are heavily contaminated with a mixture of herbicides, fungicides, insecticides and other chemicals. In most of the samples, 30 or more different active ingredients were detected. Studies of stream biodiversity and bioassays […]
