SPOTLIGHT: NORTH AND SOUTH KOREA SECRETLY MEET Just how dangerous is a nuclear-armed North Korea? Run by Kim Jong-un, the unpredictable 32-year-old scion of an autocratic dynasty, the country has been virtually sealed off from the rest of the world for decades. What we know is disturbing: The pace of both nuclear weapons and missile-delivery […]
Tag: switzerland
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That Pure Marketing Scam We Call Detox
Every November, the erudite British council behind Oxford Dictionaries picks a word of the year to signify the term that most influenced society in the previous 12 months. They picked the word “selfie” in 2013. “Vape” was the winner in 2014. Last year, it wasn’t even a word. It was an emoji (the one with […]
Swiss developers turn the business model of online gaming on its head.
Patrick Jan barely scratches out a living. He is too busy making his childhood dream come true.
You won’t find gold or weapons stored deep in the granite caves of Switzerland’s Bernese Alps. Instead, the mountain range holds more precious treasure — servers and hard drives.
Robots have always fascinated us. In fiction or in real life, they crossed our path, for better or for worse. But where do they really come from?
Just as Airbnb allows people to share their homes, a pair of new “table d’hôte” sites are giving amateur cooks a chance to share their tables.
LAUSANNE — Inside Studio Furinkazan’s offices, the Celestial Cascades suddenly appear. The heavenly jungle, naturally, can only be seen through your smartphone screen: A red light flutters around in the room until it is caught on the corner of a desk. Then it turns into a Tudù, a small iridescent blue bird with squirrel ears. […]
LAUSANNE — Imagine a brain the size of the tip of a ballpoint pen. Now imagine that this brain can spontaneously generate an electric charge, just like a human brain could. Well, imagine no more because this tiny human brain replica, a so-called mini-brain, actually exists. Over the past five years, techniques to manufacture these […]
An artist duo from Zurich is using sex-talk avatars to pose some burning questions about the future of human-computer relationships.
In Geneva and other Swiss cities, people are cautiously optimistic that Britain’s EU-exit vote could spur investment, boost real estate and maybe even help local universities.
GENEVA — Alain Thébault is working on making a small bubble-shaped electric catamaran that can “fly” over water. And perhaps be remotely controlled. This vehicle may sound like something that belongs to the realm of science fiction except for the fact that Thébault is a successful inventor. He created the Hydroptère, one of the fastest […]
FRIBOURG — The decision came like a bolt from the blue: In July 2007, the canton of Fribourg’s local government decided to hand over the management of asylum claimants to ORS, a private company from Zurich that was active in Germany. And just like that, the Fribourg Red Cross was out, despite its years of […]
What has become of the generation of people born in 1946? Le Temps‘ Joëlle Kuntz ponders the past seven decades and the findings of a watershed study of her age group.
Zurich researchers have developed a questionnaire to help schoolteachers, social workers and police officers recognize signs of student radicalization.
Rock music, tight spandex bodysuits and staged maneuvers aren’t just for audiences in working-class America. Wrestling is thriving in Switzerland and elsewhere across Europe, where it’s seen as a different kind of performance art that even
People who seek therapies to boost their health and outlook often experiment with a number of different methods, either simultaneously or in quick succession, hurting their chances for improvement.
GENEVA — Think you know everything there is to know about the person you’ve long shared your life with? Try sexting. You might have a few surprises — along with a few flashes of pure heat. The act of sending cheeky texts to one’s partner is, admittedly, nothing new. Sexting has been around as long […]
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Syria Vote, Panama Raid, Bye-Bye Kobe
SYRIAN TALKS, ELECTIONS, CEASEFIRE BREACHES Voting is underway in 12 of Syria’s 14 provinces where government institutions are still functioning, with voters required to choose 250 members of parliament among 3,500 candidates, AP reports. Supporters of President Bashar al-Assad are expected to win the vote, which has been dismissed by Western leaders as a sham. […]
Those people in your life who are always late have a predisposition that puts off decision-making. Question of freedom or lack of respect? A question even in Switzerland.
Ignored during the 20th century, mudbrick is reappearing in modern Swiss construction. Not only is it environmentally friendly, it takes less energy to produce and saves on heating and cooling costs.
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Age May Be Just A Number, But Which One?
Age can be measured in more ways than one, say both sociologists and biologists. There is of course chronological age, but there is also cellular and social aging. The search for new definitions of old — and young!
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Snows Of Yesteryear
It’s a two-hour drive between my hometown and this picturesque village of Morat in Switzerland. On our way home through the still white-capped Jura mountains, my then 10-year-old grandson and I got into a merciless snowball fight. That’s the kind of warm memory that sticks far more than any quaint village scenery.
And it’s cheaper than you think …
GENEVA — Imagine a banker getting on a helicopter loaded with bank notes and flying over the whole country, raining money down on the population. This idea came from none other than Milton Friedman. In the late 1960s, as the economy was struggling, the iconic American economist believed that people would jump on the falling […]
Can we determine whether a certain writer actually penned a certain work? Using technological analysis, the answer is a reliable ‘yes.’
Over-the-top expectations at universities, where researchers are required not just to publish but to generate significant grant revenue, are likely to dissuade young people from pursuing scientific careers.
Retreating glaciers are liberating bodies and objects lost thousands of years ago and revealing much about the people who once lived in these mountains.
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February 13
GENEVA — Unbeknownst to the general public, an international group of children and teengers, together with a swarm of Swiss-made robots, pulled off a stunning mission to save the future of Mars exploration. Their heroics took place on the “Campus des Nations,” part of the International School of Geneva in the Le Grand-Saconnex area, where […]
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February 3
We all have one in our lives, someone who is constantly grumbling about this or that, complaining without searching for solutions. How did they get this way, and what do we do about it?
Social media and advances in cosmetic medicine are pushing beauty standards to new limits and putting anyone who dares ignore their looks at risk of being rude.
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High Income
Gstaad is home to one of the largest ski areas in the Alps. The breathtaking mountainous views — not to mention Switzerland“s advantageous fiscal regime — draw in the rich and famous from around the world.
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Can Work Make Us Happy?
The pursuit of happiness has been the endeavor of all people since the dawn of time. But can work, the central value of modern civilization, be the answer?
Some believe names represent more than just a matter of taste, that they destine people to certain fates. But most everyone can agree that certain names are simply bad choices.
The nativity scenes, signs of hope and time for contemplation of modern Christmas is so retrograde! Let’s celebrate the secular and modern solstice. But really?
People these days demand trails that are easily mappable online, and don’t want to have to wait for optimal conditions. No time left in modern life for venturing into the unknown?
As boundaries between work and private life fall away, telecommuting has been a rising trend in recent years. But some now have begun to opt for living at work.
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