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 […]
Would you like to take your dog to work? Staff at Nestlé can.
24 Heures. At one Nestlé office, the company is experimenting with allowing employees to bring their canine friends to work. Project boss, Simone Gravante, said “We can see that dogs make office life better.” At the Swiss food giant’s office in La Tour-de-Peilz, near Vevey in Switzerland, staff can come to work with their dogs. Around 15 dog […]
Swiss men top world life expectancy
20 Minutes. According to World Health Organisation (WHO) data released this week, Swiss boys born in 2015 will live longer than any other men on the planet. A boy born in Switzerland in 2015 can expect to live on average for 81.3 years, 12.2 years more than the global average of 69.1 years. The lowest […]
How many solar panels does it take to power a whole town?
Earlier this month the town of Payerne switched on Switzerland’s largest solar installation on the La Bouverie industrial zone next to the township. It will produce an impressive 6,600 mega watts of electricity per year. A hot bed of solar innovation, Payerne is also home to the 100%-solar-powered round-the-world aircraft Solar Impulse, which recently flew […]
Rare super moon lunar eclipse coming to the sky near you
This coming Monday a rare super moon lunar eclipse will be visible from Switzerland. It is known as a super moon eclipse because the moon is at its closest to the earth, appearing 14% larger. Only five have occurred since 1900. The last was in 1982 and the next will be in 2033. In addition […]
First snow expected in Switzerland
Today is the September equinox, the day when the sun rises directly in the east and sets directly in the west. It also marks the start of autumn, however if you live above 1,500m it is likely to feel more like the beginning of winter. According to the weather forecaster Meteonews, snow is predicted above […]
Scientists explain Swiss heatwave
24 Heures. Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH) have come up with a new explanation for the heatwave that has taken hold in Europe. Two forces appear to be at work. The first is a large body of hot or high pressure air in the troposphere, at 5,000 to 10,000 […]
Solar impulse grounded until next year
The long trip from Nagoya, Japan to Hawaii, taking 5 days and 5 nights has taken its toll on the 100% solar powered aircraft. The large batteries that are so essential to the functioning of the Swiss plane overheated on this flight and have suffered irreversible damage. Despite the hard work of the Solar Impulse […]
CERN experiment proves 1960s particle theory
Geneva. On 14 July 2015 CERN’s Large Hadron Collider discovered a class of particles known as pentaquarks. “The pentaquark is not just any new particle,” said LHCb spokesperson Guy Wilkinson. “It represents a way to aggregate quarks, namely the fundamental constituents of ordinary protons and neutrons, in a pattern that has never been observed before […]
Swiss post parcels could soon arrive by drone
Swiss Post, Swiss WorldCargo (the air freight division of Swiss International Air Lines) and Matternet (a logistics drone manufacturer based in California) are jointly testing the commercial use of logistics drones. The three companies are investigating specific uses of drone technology and examining their cost-effectiveness. Testing is being done in July 2015. Possible areas of […]
