The University of Basel is struggling to find participants for a study into how to reduce fear of snakes but not for the reason you might expect. The team behind the study from the university’s department for cognitive neuroscience are hoping to recruit around 90 people aged 18 to 35 to take part in the study. Researchers are offering 120 …

Swiss firm Servipier has passed an important milestone in its ambitious plans to cover Swiss freeways with solar panels. The Zug-based company has now received the green light from the Swiss Federal Roads Office (Fedro) to run a pilot project on a stretch of the A9 freeway in the sun-drenched canton of Valais. The plan would see at least 1.6 …

A new study based on analysis of satellite images shows how much snow cover Switzerland has lost in the last 20 years. Although Switzerland’s mountain areas saw record snow fall in the winter of 2017–18, the country is rapidly losing its snow cover and global warming is probably the cause, a new study suggests. While just over a third of …

A special Mars camera developed at the University of Bern has sent back a dramatic image of the surface of the planet after a recent planet-wide dust storm. The image was captured on September 2nd by the Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System (CaSSIS) which is on board the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter 400 kilometres above the surface of Mars. …

Swiss and Belgian researchers say they have devised the first tiny motion detector that could help find microscopic life forms on distant planets. Until now, scientists have tried to find signs of extraterrestrial life by listening for sounds that might be emitted from an alien world, by scanning the skies with potent telescopes and by sending robotic probes and rovers …

From seriously mind-bending substances to direct democracy, the Swiss have made some major contributions to the world as we known it. First things first: contrary to popular belief, the Swiss most likely did not invent cuckoo clocks (that honour probably goes to the Germans) or the world wide web – despite some serious contributions to its development taking place in …

A dramatic dawn and sunset in parts of Switzerland on Tuesday was caused by smoke from wildfires in the Canadian province of British Colombia, meteorologists have said. Soot and ash from the fires affecting almost 5,000 square kilometres in Canada’s westernmost province were carried across the Atlantic by westerly winds, SRF Meteo said in statement. The smoke from the fires …

The organisers of Switzerland’s Techamsee Electronic Dance Openair event are planning to make the event free of plastic to set a green example. Techamsee, held in the canton of Zug, attracts around 8,000 people according to organisers. This year is the eighth edition of the lakeside festival. But caterers at the 2018 event will be replacing plastic with paper products …

Swiss insurance Baloise has come up with a novel way to try and reduce payouts for hail damage – by using a plane to attack ice-containing clouds. Hail is great news for auto body mechanics but bad news for almost everyone else. Insurance companies in Switzerland pay out hundreds of millions of francs every year to farmers who have had …

The Mühleberg Nuclear Power Plant in the canton of Bern has announced it is reducing its output due to the rising temperature in the river Aare, which cools the plant’s reactor. The plant this week announced it has reduced its energy production by more than 10 per cent because of the record temperatures in Switzerland. The hottest summer since 1864 …