Laboratory analysis of conventionally grown strawberries picked from strawberry farms in Thurgau and Bern’s Seeland region, along with samples from Switzerland’s supermarkets, shows they contain high levels of pollution. The study, requested by Greenpeace, involved testing samples of fruit and soil. Among the 20 different pesticides found across all of the samples, fungicides were the […]
Swiss solar plane takes on the Atlantic – video and live updates
Solar Impulse 2 left New York on Monday on its way across the Atlantic Ocean. The 100% solar-powered plane is expected to land at Seville Airport in Spain on Thursday 23 June, a four-day four-night non-stop flight. The Atlantic crossing is one of the most challenging legs the aircraft’s global flight. Swiss adventurer, Bertrand Piccard is […]
Switzerland’s longest day today
Switzerland’s longest day of the year is here. Every 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds, the earth travelling at around 110,000 km/h, completes a circuit of the sun. The longest day occurs in each hemisphere, when it reaches the point in this annual journey where it is most inclined towards the sun. In Switzerland that day […]
All but one of Switzerland’s five nuclear reactors meet radiation targets
Every year the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (ENSI) measures the radioactivity of liquid waste coming out of Switzerland’s nuclear reactors. A nuclear site emitting less than a gigabecquerel over a year meets ENSI’s target. A gigabecquerel is one billion bebecquerel, a measure of radioactive emissions named after French physicist Henri Bebecquerel. Figures released on 9 June 2016, show that […]
At a glance – Switzerland’s nuclear power stations
In 2015, Switzerland consumed 58 billion kWh of electricity. It exported 43 billion kWh, mainly to Italy, and imported 42 billion kWh, mainly from France, Austria and Germany. Around 35% of the total was produced from nuclear, 59% from hydro, and 6% from other sources, based on 2015 Swiss Federal Office of Energy SFOE numbers. The […]
Sun powered aircraft Solar Impulse lands in NYC, completing US crossing
Solar Impulse 2, the world’s first solar airplane capable of flying day and night without a drop of fuel, left Lehigh Valley International Airport, Pennsylvania, late yesterday evening and landed at John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport in New York, early this morning, after circling the Statue of Liberty. André Borschberg, a former Swiss military […]
One day in prison for breaking Swiss rubbish rules
According to Le Matin, a resident of the Swiss town of St-Légier-La Chiesaz, was shocked to receive a letter threatening her with a prison sentence for not putting her paper rubbish in the right place. Speaking to Le Matin she said “I received a penalty notice by registered post sentencing me to a 150 franc fine, or a day in […]
World’s longest train tunnel opens in Switzerland
The 57-kilometre-long Gotthard base rail tunnel was officially opened on 1 June 2016. It is the world’s longest train tunnel, longer than the Channel Tunnel and the Seikan Tunnel in Japan, which links the Japanese islands of Honshu and Hokaido. The 200 km/h tunnel journey, which starts in the German-speaking Swiss canton of Uri and […]
Nearly 4 tonnes of rubbish removed from Lake Geneva
20 Minutes. Early figures show nearly 4 tonnes of rubbish were removed from the lake and its shores by volunteers during the 8th edition of the lake cleaning event called Net’Léman. “Net” is short for the French word nettoyer and Léman the local name for Lake Geneva, although some locals at the Geneva end of the […]
Mercury passes in front of the sun today – timing in Switzerland
Today, planet Mercury will pass across the sun. Not everyone will be able to see it. Those in Australia, New Zealand and Japan will miss it. The event occurs 13 to 14 times a century. The last time our solar system’s smallest planet passed between the earth and the sun was in 2006. The next […]
