Swiss Stories

Smixin © Smixin

The Swiss tap that can meet the world's water challenges

Science & Education
Freshwater is an essential resource and global needs keep rising, particularly because of population growth, agricultural development and industrial demand. But the world's water resources haven't changed, nor are they unlimited. The UN estimates there will be a 40% shortfall in the amount of water the planet needs by 2030. The cleantech sector has the potential to develop solutions to reduce how much of this valuable resource we use on a daily basis. Switzerland has extensive experience in the water sector and a network of tech companies that can help meet water-related challenges. One such start-up is Biel-based Smixin, which has come up with a novel type of tap.
10 Climeworks Plant Greenhouse Background Copyright Climeworks Photo by Julia Dunlop

The Swiss CO2 vacuum cleaner

Environment
Swiss company Climeworks has developed a technology called direct air capture, which removes carbon dioxide from ambient air. Since the company was founded in 2009, its technology has made its mark in several different sectors. Climeworks aims to inspire one billion people to remove CO2 from the air.
Ursula Keller

Ursula Keller has seen the light at the end of the laser

Science & Education
Ursula Keller, the well-known Swiss physicist, has more than one string to her bow: as the first woman to obtain a professorship in physics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, this inventor specialised in ultra-fast laser technology won the 2018 European Inventor Award and was awarded a gold medal in 2020 by the international society for optics and photonics (SPIE). She is also committed to encouraging women to pursue careers in science or engineering.
VANILNOIR

Swiss wheat breeding know-how

Science & Education
Swiss bread is famous for both its quality and diversity, with each region of the country boasting its own speciality. Switzerland's success story is down to the work of its wheat breeding programme, which is more than a century old and continues to produce new varieties for the bread of tomorrow.
Gavillet & Rust, Biennale Venise, 2011 © Gavillet & Rust

Swiss (new) style

Society
The Most Beautiful Swiss Books is a prestigious annual award that has become an international cultural benchmark, building on the golden age of Swiss graphic design that began after the Second World War. The success story of this Swiss speciality is far from over.
Julien Gremaud

by Julien Gremaud

Cylinder music box at CIMA © T. Tissot

The captivating delights of Swiss mechanical engineering

Science & Education
Though closely related to watchmaking, Swiss music boxes and automated dolls are still less well known than Switzerland's famous watches. And yet their inner workings are just as complex - sometimes even more so…

by Tatiana Tissot

The 2019 Women's World Floorball Championships will take place in Neuchâtel

Floorball, one of the most popular sports in Switzerland

Society
Floorball attracts relatively little coverage from the leading media, but in Switzerland this young sport is becoming one of the most popular sports. With over 33,000 licensed players, floorball is already the second biggest team sport in the country.