Engineers at EPFL’s DESL lab, working in association with EPFL spin-off Swisspod, have built a Hyperloop test track on the Lausanne campus in Switzerland. They will use the loop – a large vacuum tube for ultra-high-speed travel – to test a linear induction motor, an electric motor that can produce a levitation effect. Hyperloops, viewed […]
Switzerland locked out of EU research project
On 14 July 2021, Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation reported that it had been told by the European Commission that Switzerland will be treated as a non-associated third country in the EU’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme. This means that Switzerland can only participate in limited ways. It can put forward […]
Swiss anti-5G initiative fails to reach enough signatures
To launch a referendum in Switzerland, organisers must collect 100,000 signatures within 18 months. The organisers of an initiative aimed at making telecommunication companies legally responsible for any damage caused by mobile phone technology managed to collect only 92,000 signatures by the 3 July 2021 deadline, 8,000 short of the 100,000 signatures required for a […]
All new Swiss cars to have black box recorders
When an aircraft crashes, one the first actions is searching for the black box, which is typically bright orange, in order to understand what went wrong. Switzerland’s road authority would like to see similar technology added to all new cars from 7 July 2024, according to RTS. These black boxes would record information such as […]
Switzerland’s underground tunnel project gets green light from upper house
On 1 June 2021, a project to build an underground freight tunnel network stretching from Geneva to St Gallen, gained almost unanimous support in the Council of States, Switzerland upper house. The project, which was launched in 2013 by private investors, won favour with 39 members of the Council of States with 1 abstention. In […]
Swiss fighter jet crashes in Alps
On 26 May 2021, the Swiss government announced that one of its Tiger F-5 military aircraft had crashed in the Alps at around 9am. The aircraft crashed in the region of Melchsee-Frutt in the canton of Obwalden at around 9am. The pilot was able to eject before the aircraft crashed into the ground and was […]
CERN discovers highly suspicious particle behaviour
On 23 March 2021, Geneva-based CERN, the world’s largest particle physics laboratory, announced evidence of strange particle behaviour. The idea that matter is made up of tiny indivisible particles is ancient. The word atom is derived from the ancient Greek word atomos, which means uncuttable. However, as particle physics has progressed, the uncuttable atom has […]
The invisible lock invented in Switzerland
Researchers in Switzerland have developed an invisible lock made of a printed transparent electronic material. The transparent touch sensitive material can be placed anywhere, which means, unlike a traditional keypad, making it very difficult for an intruder to even know where to press. The team at Switzerland’s EMPA research centre is focused on developing thin […]
Coronavirus: cheap drug substantially cuts severe case death risk, according to large UK trial
A trial at Oxford University suggests an existing low-cost drug can cut the risk of death from Covid-19 substantially. Tests involving 6,000 hospitalised Covid-19 patients suggest the drug can cut the risk of death for those on ventilators from 40% to 28%. For patients needing oxygen the risk of death could be cut from 25% […]
Swisscom network experiencing problems
Since 11:50 am on 26 May 2020, Swisscom’s mobile and landline networks have been experiencing problems. Landline and mobile network calls are currently impaired for business and private customers, according to Swisscom. The company said its specialists are working on rectifying a fault that started at 11:50am on 26 May 2020. According the Swiss government […]
