Switzerland Today
Greetings from Bern,
The Olympics has started: a minute of silence for victims of Covid-19 preceded the festivities in Tokyo. Swiss President Guy Parmelin was one of 1,000 spectators in the 68,000-capacity stadium. The competition will essentially be fan-free due to Covid measures. Parmelin cheered on the 117-strong (now 116-strong, see news below) Swiss squad, which was led by two flag bearers: sprinter Mujinga Kambundji and fencer Max Heinzer.
In the news
Swiss 400-metre-hurdler Kariem Hussein will not be travelling to Tokyo for the Games. At the national championships in June, Hussein tested positive for two substances found in common lozenges, it was reported on Friday. The athlete said he took the lozenges to raise his blood-sugar levels, not realising he was doing anything wrong. The substances are allowed during training, but not during competition. Hussein, the European champion in 2014, has been banned for nine months.
Researchers at the federal institute technology ETH Zurich have developed a seismometer for a Nasa probe investigating the geological development of Mars. According to three new studies in the journal Science, based on their research, Mars probably started off completely molten before cooling into a crust, mantle and core; the radius of this core is some 200 kilometres bigger than previously thought. The data “will help determine the formation and evolution of Mars and, by extension, the entire solar system”, ETH Zurich said.
Deep Dive
An Olympic medal is a dream for many athletes, for others the dream can turn nasty. Abuse in sport – bullying, intimidation, physical abuse, and sexual harassment – often affects vulnerable athletes, including children. High-profile cases are emerging, including in Switzerland, where accusations of harsh training treatment has targeted the National Sports Centre at Magglingen; Switzerland will roll out a new code of conduct for tackling abuse from 2022. But it’s a global issue, needing a global solution, says the Human Rights Watch NGO. Our feature story for today tracks the problem of abuse in sports; you can have your say on the issue here.
Back to the weather…
After storms and flooding, the dog days are upon us, writes SRFExternal link. Friday June 23 marks the start of the one-month period traditionally seen as the hottest of the year in the northern hemisphere. SRF explains that the term itself refers not to actual dogs but to the astrological beliefs of ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, who linked the period with the appearance of Sirius, a star in the Canis Major (Great Dog) constellation. For the Egyptians, Sirius brought prosperity thanks to rising waters on the Nile; for the Greeks however, Sirius joined forces with the sun to cause the savage heat of late summer…
SRF’s weather experts (who have been busy recently) say the irregular spinning of the earth also means the exact timing of the dog days is shifting and difficult to define. It also varies according to latitude, which would explain why National GeographicExternal link – based in the US – says the dog days this year run from July 3 to August 11. In around 13,000 years, meanwhile, they will happen in winter in the northern hemisphere. How best to pin it down? SRF, in a bold departure from its usual up-to-date scientific sourcing, cites the ancient Romans: July 23 to August 23. In fairness, the forecast for this weekend in Switzerland is hot…
Word from the street
In the latest science newsletter, correspondent Simon Bradley talks about hydropower in canton Valais, research into the consequences of “long Covid”, a new way of making lab-grown chocolate, microplastic traces in the Alps, and the new space race to Venus. There’s also some information about an upcoming SWI swissinfo.ch fiction series that will explore new technologies through sci-fi. Finally, the team is recruiting a freelance science editor: more details hereExternal link.
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