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Tag Archives: Science and technology

Swiss supercomputer aims to make AI open to all

Much of the progress being made in AI is captured within private companies aiming to keep it to themselves in order to profit from it. Open AI, a project started as an open-source non-profit has morphed into a largely closed-source profit-maximising project increasingly integrated into the software company Microsoft. Many see open-source as critical to the healthy development of AI. A super computer combined with the knowhow of Switzerlands world-leading federal universities could help to...

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Switzerland remains among top on R&D investment

Data published this week show that Switzerland invested CHF 24.6 billion into research and development (R&D) in 2021, a sum 4% higher than in 2019 before the pandemic struck. Photo by Chokniti Khongchum on Pexels.comWith an R&D investment equivalent to 3.4% of GDP, Switzerland was fourth internationally behind only the United States (3.5%), South Korea (4.9%) and Israel (5.6%). R&D investment in 2021 in Switzerland was 4% higher compared with 2019, the year of the last...

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Switzerland’s underground freight project gets start date

This week, a project to build an underground freight tunnel network stretching from Geneva to St Gallen, was given a start date of 1 August 2022 by the Federal Council, reported RTS. The Cargo sous terrain (CST) project will connect Switzerland’s key hubs starting in 2031. CST aims to take the strain off the road and railway networks, reduce the environmental impact of transport and improve the delivery of goods across the country. The project, which was launched in 2013, includes a...

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Swisscom fixed and mobile networks out on Tuesday

Swisscom’s telephone network went down on Tuesday for 30 minutes, reported RTS. On Tuesday 3 May 2022 between 22:23 and 22:53 customers across Switzerland using Swisscom’s fixed and mobile networks were unable to access the internet. According to Swisscom, the outage was related to maintenance work. Much to the frustration of football fans the outage occurred during the semi-final of the champions league football match between Villarreal and Liverpool. More on this:RTS...

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Nespresso capsules cannot be protected, says highest Swiss court

The shape of the Nespresso coffee capsules is ordinary and unmemorable, according to Switzerland’s highest court, reported RTS. © Daniel127001 | Dreamstime.comIn Switzerland, inventions are protected for 20 years. After that they become part of the public domain and can be copied by anyone. Trademarked brands on the other hand last for 10 years with the possibility of perpetual renewal. Trademarking the shape of the Nespresso capsule was Nestlé’s way to restrict competition beyond the...

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Swisscom network down for most of Switzerland this week

At 11:20am on Tuesday 3 August 2021, Swisscom’s network went down for 45 minutes, according to Fing, a network monitoring service. © Rostislav Ageev | Dreamstime.comThe outage stretched across nearly all of Switzerland’s highly populated plateau as well as the most southern part of the canton of Ticino, affecting most of the company’s customers – see image below. According to Fing, the network drop rate reached 71% of connections at its peak, affecting both fixed and mobile...

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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. © Thamrongpat Theerathammakorn | Dreamstime.comThis means that Switzerland can only participate in limited ways. It can put forward proposals to some projects but will not qualify for funding. As a work around, the...

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The invisible lock invented in Switzerland

Researchers in Switzerland have developed an invisible lock made of a printed transparent electronic material. [embedded content] 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 film photovoltaics. The polymer film has electronic circuits made from conductive metal oxide-based...

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Coronavirus: cheap drug substantially cuts severe case death risk, according to large UK trial

© Sudok1 | Dreamstime.com 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% to 20%. The findings are potentially the biggest breakthrough in Covid-19 treatment so far. Lead researcher Prof Martin...

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Swisscom network experiencing problems

Since 11:50 am on 26 May 2020, Swisscom’s mobile and landline networks have been experiencing problems. © Rostislav Ageev | Dreamstime.comLandline 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 website alert.swiss the network disturbance is affecting 14 cantons. Update: Swisscom...

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